It starts here

It's November and the year is about to come to an end and all I can think about is the year I've had and the state my home is in.  My year has been a whirlwind with medical emergencies, surgeries and chaos. I've started two new jobs since this time last year.  I work at a company with a focus on leaving a softer foot print and more and more I want to change my approach to the world around me to leave it a slightly better place than how I found it.

The problem is, I love stuff.  My wardrobe is packed with favorite t-shirts and pants that are "weekend-only" fare.  I have a mountain, literally, a mountain of stuffed animals with my husband.  I've accumulated stationary and markers and stickers with the intent of having pen-pals. I've got BUCKETS of fabric piled up in one of my closets, and the husband has TWO indoor buckets of Nerf-guns (and about 3 more in the garage).  I have hundreds of items for projects I always meant to start, but never found the desire to finish.  Part of it is my ADHD which  has been an issue since forever, but some part of me is starting to think I just like accumulating.

I don't want to be 90 and living in a house filled with magazines and phone books and empty boxes because of all the "what-ifs" I can think of in my life and how those random things might pertain to them.  I want a clutter free life. I want to cut back on my consumption.  I want to be sustainable and minimalist and really feel like I can make a difference.

SO I'm starting here.  This is my accountability.  These are the choices I want to live my life based on going forward.

• I'm going to buy sustainable clothes and only buy pieces I love.  No more chasing a fad or shopping out of boredom.  I have to TRULY love a piece to put it in my closet.
• NO SHOPPING OUT OF BOREDOM.  Amazon is trouble.  I know it is. I still buy crap I don't need.
• Aesthetics are nice, but think of the price.  I want my living room to be soft and warm greys, creams, and metallic rose golds.  The only piece of that I have right now is my couch.  We have been gifted the majority of our furniture, and I will endeavor to use it until it breaks.
• Even if I want not, I shall not waste.  things can be redone, recolored, refinished. I need to take an active part in re-using what I can, reducing where I can, and recycling what I can.
• The only hobby projects I will start will be ones that mean something to me and set my soul on fire.  I am a cosplayer. I have been for over a decade.  I need both hands to count the number of costumes I have that I've never actually worn.  I need both hands and a foot to count the number of costumes I've only worn once.  Cosplay is already an expensive hobby, by flitting my way from fad to fad, I'm wasting my own time, energy and resources.  These could be put to such better use.
• The hobbies that I DO chose to spend a little more money on, should at least also stand for something.  I want to do so much, I want to be so much.  I want to see SO MUCH. Memories and experiences are always sustainable.

I want to try. I want to make an earnest effort at living the life I should be living, not wasting my time shopping or wishing I was doing something else. This is my accountability.  This is where I start.