DECLUTTER your life!

I have been listening to a Belgian coach based in Canada, called Jean-Jacques Crèvecoeur. Every Friday, he posts a free Life talk on Youtube. I love the “Declutter your life” one.

In order to welcome change and move on, he says, we need to get rid of all the clutter in our life. This will allow to make room for the new. Think about it: wouldn’t it be great to move into a white canvas and start all over again? How exciting! New décor, new colours, new lifestyle, new adventures!

This time, after three important moves in our lives, Steve and I have decided to move light, with just our clothes in our suitcase.

Here is how:

1. Steve sold his machines as the Awl Leather Workshop in Australia, where he’ll set up his new workshop, has them all. When (if) we come back, he’ll just buy new ones or hopefully, he will find people who can make the bags for him!

2. I sent his tools, templates, cutting blades for his most popular bags as well as a few skins of leather via Airmail with Parcelforce. In all, 2 boxes and a roll for a total of £200 cost of shipping. Another 4 boxes of less important tools will be travelling by sea to be delivered in approximately three months.

3. Steve put his – very worn out – work jeans in the bin and bought new ones in Oz.

4. He has started looking at ways to import leather from our agent in the UK. They send leather to Oz all the time! What a great discovery! Plus, this could be an opportunity to source new types of leather and surprise you!

5. I shall buy a very large suitcase to take all my summer clothes (updated), best winter clothes, about 5 pairs of shoes and 2 winter jackets as well as some essential beach wear and towels. And of course, a few Pepe backpacks!

6. Move without the possessions that possess you! The crockery, inherited furniture and plates that are sleeping in the cupboards… when was the last time you used them? Do you really need them? We’ve given them to Charity shops and friends who wanted them.

7. Photos and photo albums: I am uploading the really important ones onto my laptop. Who needs framed photos on the walls? As Jean-Jacques Crèvecoeur says, if you surround yourself with the past (photos are a reminder of the past), how can you really move on? Your energy is kept in the past instead of nurturing your present and future.

8. Music: ditch the CDs (or sell them on Ebay), Spotify is way better!

9. DVDs: with Youtube, Netflix and other networks on the net, do you really need to keep them?

10. Books: use Kindle and Play Books when you travel. I have finally parted with most of my books to give them to Oxfam. Books I haven’t read for the past 30 years, books I have never read, even books I loved but I know I won’t read again. Instead, someone will discover those at Oxfam bookshop and they may make their life better!

I feel so much lighter and liberated now that I am not attached to so many material things!

I can’t wait to start a new life down under without all the stuff that kept me busy too long, tidying, cleaning, sorting it, when I could just relax, enjoy a new book, a stroll on the beach, a conversation with friends, a more meaningful life!

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