An update on fall decorating via minimalism seems in order.
This is starting off as the most shallow thing I've written about but hang with me.
A week ago I begrudgingly drug my seasonal fall box upstairs to decorate. I had almost forgotten I had it. Up until then, I had been enjoying the mini pumpkins I'd bought and put around the house.
Sure enough, the box held things most of which I was inclined to get rid of. The results of that decision ended with four items on ebay, a bag to the thrift store and the merging of fall and spring decorating boxes.
Now the table has a nice candle in the middle with small pumpkins on each side as well as fall leaves from real trees that I collected when I went on a real walk.
I dried the leaves in a giant book and I realized I've never done that just for myself before. Why have I never done this for myself before? Why have I never dried leaves just for me? Am I waiting for some special day or when I'm a teacher again and it's official that the teacher has you dry leaves?
So I think this is what you do when you stop shopping; you have time for things like walks and drying leaves. I really think that. I'm also kind of shocked at having a tradition that involves bringing the outside, inside, and doing that every year. That's the collecting part; the doing of the thing, not the permanent storing of the things.
I got rid of a ton of stuff and something simpler and infinitely more beautiful emerged in its place.
I had to get rid of the clutter to make room for the beauty.