Enough

It's been 2011 for about an hour and a half now, and the house is blissfully quiet. The kids are sound asleep, and hopefully Phil is too. I don't hear him hacking up a lung right now, so maybe he finally drifted off -- and maybe he will be on the upswing of his cold tomorrow.

With this rare bit of peace, I've been thinking about the new year, and what my goals are. Not resolutions -- they are too constricting -- but goals. What would I like to achieve; where can I improve; how can I be a better mom/wife/daughter/sister/friend.

Now that the kids are getting older -- William is going on 9! -- it's become more important for me to parent with purpose. To really think about what example we are setting for the kids, what values we are imparting to them, and what we are teaching them about how to engage with the world.

One key concept I've been mulling around is the notion of consuming less. The minimalist movement seems to be gaining momentum. But here in Southern California, it's like swimming against the tide to want to have less, buy less, need less. It's definitely a struggle within myself too. Just coming out of the Christmas season, it's obvious to me that I haven't quite internalized the concept. But this excerpt from missminimalist.com explains its allure so eloquently:

Minimalism is determining when you have enough, so you can do something extraordinary with the excess.

That may mean working fewer hours so you can spend more time with your kids; buying less stuff to preserve more of the Earth’s resources; or ... spending less money on material goods and donating more to those in need.

In short, living with less means you have more to give.

That’s the beauty of enough – and that’s how minimalism can change the world.

In 2011, my goal is to know what is enough. And to use what's left -- of my time and my resources -- to do more.