Read an Excerpt
Life wasn’t always so simple for me.
In fact, it was the presence of way too much of everything that encouraged me to pursue a simpler, slower motherhood. To chase after a life intentionally absent of all the extra: stuff, people, commitments, standards. I was six months postpartum and absolutely drowning in the weight of it all.
From the outside, my life looked exactly as I had dreamed it would. I was a stay-at-home mom with our beautiful son. We owned a lovely four-bedroom cape cod in one of the best school districts in the city. We drove expensive, pretty cars, owned pretty new things, and wore pretty new clothing.
And yet, I was pretty dang miserable.
We were doing our best to survive on one income - and yet we spent every penny we made. The stress rose in my chest each month as we dutifully made all the payments to our student loan debt, a mortgage payment slightly too large for our means, and credit card bills for frivolous, unnecessary purchases that we didn’t need – especially on such a tight budget.
I was a floundering first-time mom. My son and I took daily trips through the Starbucks drive-thru, me ordering up a Grande flat white while he nodded off for his morning nap in the car seat. I made weekly visits to Target, browsing the aisles in search of items that would make motherhood easier, better and prettier. I spent my days glued to Google, searching for the perfect cleaning routine. The perfect sleep schedule. The perfect meal plans. And then I’d collapse at the end of the afternoon, too exhausted to cook dinner. So, I’d pick up the phone and order pizza delivery or sushi takeout instead of eating what was already right there in the fridge.
By all accounts, I had “made” it. I was living the suburban mom dream. Yet ironically, I was more unsettled and unsatisfied than I’d ever been. I was consuming and doing too much of everything. I was measuring my success by the tasks I accomplished; the schedules I adhered to; the projects I completed. The good days were marked by a completed to-do list; an obedient, well-dressed and well-napped baby, and a perfectly tidied home. And yet, I’d go to bed at the end of the day with a sense of emptiness. Something was missing.
It was then that the voice started. At first, it was just a whisper. A gentle request to slow down; to stop the constant hustle; the relentless quest for the perfect motherhood. It quietly rose, echoing through our newly redecorated halls and over the piles of unworn baby clothing, tags still attached. It urged me to listen; to change my ways. To stop focusing so intensely on how everything in my life looked—and to instead care more about how everything felt. And yet each time it rose above a whisper, I quickly quieted it back down by loading up the Amazon cart with a few more unnecessary items, reorganizing the playroom toys into a color-coordinated order, or scrubbing my baseboards, intently certain that it would make everything better.
Except it didn’t.
***
Less is more. Less stuff, less work, less commitments, and less expectations all equal more happiness, more time, and more overall success. I know this sounds cliché, and I understand that this concept goes against everything society has ever taught us about success. We are told “if something is worth doing, it’s worth doing right” and that “practice makes perfect.” We are told to hustle, work harder, and earn more money so that we can buy more things. We are misled down this impossible path of over-complication and overwhelm.
You can make your own path—a simple path that you don’t have to run down. A beautiful path that leads exactly where you want to go.
Just by choosing to read this book, you have already taken the first step down your brand-new path. This book is the shortcut to a simplified life that I wish I had fifteen years ago. Emily will walk you through exactly how to simplify every aspect of your life so that you can make space for what matters most.
—Cassandra Aarssen, creator of Clutterbug™ (excerpted from the foreword)
