There were pieces of my life, while familiar and comfortable, that were slowly overtaking my soul. Pruning became necessary and my 90-Day Summer Simplifying Challenge began with letting go. Read my 90-Day Summer Simplifying Manifesto!!
A Recovering Magpie’s Pruning
The pruning of the last three months has been an amazing growth experience. Initially the letting go was painful. Now it has become more game-like. Above is a box of notebooks I opened today (yes, I am still opening boxes). On top of the box are some pieces for my graphic design portfolio. Trust me, after some 28 years of graphic design, I have a huge portfolio. I may need a Portfolio Simplifying Challenge as well, for I have kept a piece of most of those thousands of projects since 1986. Pruning my portfolio added to the list. I digress…
A box of notebooks would be an easy prune, except this is probably the forth box of notebooks I have pruned during my Summer Simplifying Challenge. The amazing thing to me is that I have written in most of them. A page in this one, ten pages in that one. You get the picture. Almost none are whole and untouched by me. As it is back to school time, they are easily donated to children who may not be able to afford notebooks. Call the school on my To Do list.
{Coming clean} I ‘collect’ notebooks it seems!
My Summer Simplifying Challenge
Pruning felt scary and painful at first because it meant cutting back and letting go of things that made me feel secure. Pruning required cutting back and cutting off those comfort things that added no true value to my life. They were just things.
Pruning required trimming away the dirty little secrets of my life. Those pieces that I desperately tried to hang on to by cleverly organizing them in drawers, closets, attics, and finally boxes and boxes and boxes…
I needed this pruning to refresh my soul. I needed this pruning to clear the dark underbrush of my life that was slowly and ever-so-effectively keeping me stuck from moving forward with my purpose. I was so tangled in this underbrush, I could not even imagine a way out. If I struggled, I became more tangled. The more storage devices I bought, the more tangled I became until the storage pieces became part and parcel of the clutter. It was a mess!
I have prayed my way through this season of letting go. I had to. I needed power greater than my own to walk beside me during my 90-Day Summer Simplifying Challenge. I learned how weak I am without my God. I learned that He want me to be strong and peaceful and balanced.
Tell me about your steps to living a balanced life in the comments please.
Today’s Accomplishments
- One box, sorted and things placed into the ‘outta here’ boxes!
- The house is clean and orderly.
Today’s Setbacks
- None.
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