Melinda Chandos

Day 1, down! I regretfully couldn't click off my processed/sugar challenge, as after a long day, I did treat myself to a little apples+nutella. Considering I had turned down all the other sweets in my day (mochas, candy, etc!), it was still a victory! I also decluttered like MAD yesterday, it was awesome. I recycled two full paper bags of paperwork alone. Just paperwork! I knew it was stressing me out, but to see it in bulk like that and to finally say goodbye--amazing! I have a laundry basket filled with the paper+trinkets stuff I didn't want to part with yet, but I suspect that will be purged down a time or two yet.

hooray, hooray, today's the day! I'm viewing my collection of challenges (eliminate processed foods, declutter, and limit social media) almost as a detox--to live a little more simply and recognize the excess in my life. It's an incredibly busy first week for me, so it will take some true commitment to push through and not just ease back into familiar routines.

I'm so excited to get started! I spent this past spring devouring everything I could get my hands on about minimalism. I started to make a dent in our home, but plateaued as some major life events hit us in waves. We realized, as part of embracing the vision of living a more minimalist-to-our-values-life, that we need to move out of Portland--to get off the treadmill of work/finances that wasn't allowing us to live the our best life. The transition will be super messy, not only disengaging with the physical stuff...but also digging ourselves out of the backlog of years of emotional effects cluttering our personal journeys. Change stresses me out, but I can see the joy on the other side. It's exciting and terrifying, and I'm pleased to have this challenge serve as a kickstarter of confidence and commitment to a months-long (years-long) cycle of change.

I'm excited to focus on simplicity and striving towards a more minimalist, lower-impact lifestyle with this year's Eco-Challenge. I'm taking on less social media, daily decluttering, avoiding processed foods, and learning about the toxicity of products in my home. I've been devouring books about Minimalism since my mom-in-law passed away January and left behind an apartment filled with things. Beautiful, interesting things, but decades-loads of things nonetheless. It inspired me to think about what I want of my lifestyle and how I can streamline it for my family's present and future. I include this image of a dahlia because I've also been trying to keep small pieces of beauty in my world.