Squeezing my life into a Toyota Yaris

De-cluttering is a necessity as I attempt to squeeze my life into my Toyota Yaris. I am by no means a hoarder. But I am maybe a ‘I cant throw that away because I feel guilty’ kind of human. What is it about throwing away clutter that makes us feel so guilty? Is it because we may have spent a few quid on it? Or we don’t wanna be wasteful? Or do we worry that because it was gifted to us the person might mention something about it. ( seriously Ciara.. your aunt isn’t gonna interrogate you about the bag she bought you 8 years ago!!!)

As I am moving overseas and entering a new phase in my life I feel its time to reduce my ‘baggage’. Time to unleash the minimalist buried beneath the guilt. Enter ruthless Ciara.  If  it hadn’t worn it in a year – IT’S GONE, no excuses. I initially set an intention to take the organised approach and sort one possession at a time, Less mess, less stress kinda theory. Silver space boots- GONE. Blue dress my mum got me for an U16’S GAA dinner dance (that I couldn’t come to wear cause I wouldn’t look cute but didn’t have the heart to throw it out and thought maybe possibly one day I would find an occasion it would suit)- GONE. Mermaid blanket- GONE. Guitar once promised to learn but never played- GONE. Might seem like I’m doing okay but jayyyyyyysus five minutes in I’ve had a breakdown and I’m lying on a mountain of clothes on my bed mindlessly scrolling through my news feed.

Okay so I’m back at it and I get a good run for about half an hour and get rid of heaps! Then I find a bag full of tickets from my travels to Croatia last year  and BOOM  before I know it I’m back on the mountain of  shite, posting throwbacks of island life, clutter continuing to invade my personal space.

Isn’t it funny how we become emotionally attached to our things. I know I don’t need things but sometimes feel unwilling to let go.  A shirt might hold the memory of a cherished loved one now gone. A dress might carry stories from travels. Silver boots might remind you how your not cool enough to carry out that trend. Turns out fabric and thread held more meaning than I thought.

So as my Wicklow journey comes to an end, my suitcase filled with de-cluttered belongings that are packed with years of memories and dodgy style phases will bring all of my girlfriends together, for an evening of food, chats, laughs and suitcase rummaging one last time. As the saying goes one mans trash is another mans treasure. Could my possessions have a second life? I feel so content, so satisfied, I have changed internally and feel like what surrounds me should too. I have removed what no longer serves me and I now feel like my life may fit in my Toyota Yaris. Seriously though? What was I thinking with the silver spaceboots?

 

If I could give you any advice, have a little clear out, it’s good for the soul.

T H A T   C O R K   O N E

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New Year, New Habits?

Well its been awhile, so Happy New Year beautiful humans. Christmas came and went like a fart in the wind, I cannot believe its the middle of January already. I know they say Christmas is a time for ate’in and drinkin’ but this year I tried to break away from that. Christmas this year was the perfect opportunity to just kick back, disconnect from the everyday stresses and  reconnect with what life’s truly about, family, friends, love, gratitude, and continuing traditions, even if time does cause them to change, we just gotta adapt them as we grow.

So now its all about ‘New year, new me’, I actually cringe so bad when I hear it. 9/10 it’s coming out of my own mouth.  See I work in a cafe inside a gym, there is a lot of ‘New-year-new-me’s,  I small talk and well, its out of my mouth  before I even have a chance to stop it. Recently at a yoga class ( @yogawithjoquinn she’s an angel) we were reminded to stop worrying about New Years resolutions and to just live each day in the moment and as a result we will live a calmer happier life. New beginnings, new chapters, new identities are all well and good but why are we bursting our balls to try new things when the greatest thing is right infront of us… our own selves!! Sound corny? Its obviously great to use NY as an incentive, but we also need to realise that new years resolutions have the ability to set ourselves up for disappointment and are potentially damaging to our self confidence.

We need to get out there, live life, and become satisfied with who we are. If your not satisfied, change it for that reason and not because you feel you have to because you flipped over a new calendar. So I’ve decided to give resolutions the boot and to focus on habits. Habits you may ask. Sounds as bloody boring! wow I really sound like an aul one,  but in the later half of last year I began to learn that a little thing done often enough over time is far more effective then paying little attention on unrealistic resolutions. So rather than asking yourself ‘what are my resolutions this year?’ ask yourself ‘what are the habits I’m gonna commit to?’And with this ‘new year new habits’ malarkey… go on, go mad, start tomorrow, next month, this summer, next year who cares, DO.IT.FOR.YOU!!

Habits become who you are and here is a list of some of which I incorporated into my life as of this passed 6 months:

• to try and roll out my mat once a day, even if its just for 15 minutes, movement is medicine
• practicing gratitude, even for the little things in everyday life.
• daily meditation, allowing for head space
• not drinking fluids with  meals ( this is tough 🙂 )
• prepping healthy snacks to avoiding temptations
• using every possible spare moment for an adventure
• allowing one evening a week to share a story on my blog.
• being out and immersed in nature at least 30 mins every day regardless of weather

 

Swimrise at The Cove Greystones on a chilly January morning 

Let me know how you go 🙂

Stay wild lovelies,

T H A T   C O R K   O N E

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