It has become entirely too easy to buy anything with just a few key strokes. As part of my #YearOfIntentionalLiving project I am challenging myself to go 30 days with out online shopping.
Yes, no online shopping of any sort.
This will truly be a challenge for me because I order a lot of our groceries online, diapers and other essentials online. I mean really it’s so easy to just have everything sent straight to my house rather than heading to the shops but I also wonder is it too easy? Just today I made two Amazon orders without even thinking twice. That right there is enough for me to say, yes this is what you need.
So for the next 30 days I will go without ordering:
food.
take-out.
clothes.
books.
anything off amazon.
basically anything.
This is not a buy nothing challenge. This challenge is about shopping a little bit slower, more locally and with more intention.
Goal:
Spend Less.
Save More.
Create less waste.
Be a more mindful consumer.
Have more time for personal goals and passions.
I’m curious how we will feel after this month.
How will I feel? Empowered? Frustrated? Exhausted?
Will we see more cash in our bank account?
Will our trash & recycle be smaller?
Will we come to find we really don’t need as much as we think?
I recently shared my intentions for 2018. It’s one thing to set intentions but it’s important to dive a bit deeper and to really define those intentions. So this week I want to dive a bit deeper into why I am choosing to live more intentionally. What are the benefits of living with intention? For me the benefits are…
To Be Free From Debt. While we are not swimming in debt we do have a bit from travel, student loans, and moving that we would like to be free from by the end of the year.
To Spend More Time With My Children. Clutter and cleaning are both huge mental blocks for me. Too often, I end up telling myself and my littles that I need to clean first or I end up staying home on the weekend to clean while Neil goes out with the kids for a few hours.
To Get Better Sleep. I am not looking for 8 straight hours but rather more restful sleep when it does happen (I have a baby so sleep is all over the place).
More Time For Me (and the blog). I have notebooks filled with ideas for blog posts but between a clingy baby, exhaustion, the never ending cleaning and the guilt I feel when I take time for myself nothing has been getting done and it’s weighing on me. For me, living more intentionally means making time for myself and my passions a priority so that I can fill my cup and better take care of my family and our home.
The ability to travel. We love to explore and travel and by living more intentionally we are providing ourselves with the space, time and financial stability to tap into our never ending wanderlust.
Reduce anxiety. I have struggled with anxiety for most of my life. It comes in waves and currently it’s high. My hope is that living life with more purpose and being more present will help to reduce my anxiety.
Increase quality time. Days will be filled with more purpose and presence which leads to a higher quality of life and time with those who are most important.
Stronger relationships. Being more intentional about how we live our lives helps us to foster stronger relationships with each other and ourselves.
As you can see these benefits embrace so many facets of life from health, to relationships, to money, to stress.
Do you seek a more intentional life? What does this look like for you? What steps are you taking?
I should start this by stating these are not my New Year’s Resolutions. Rather, they are my intentions for this year and for my life. Resolutions just feel too restrictive and limiting which is why most people abandon their New Year’s Resolutions by the second week of February.
For me, setting intentions is about living with more focus and purpose. My goal is not to accomplish my intentions by the end of the year but rather work towards living more intentionally from this day forward. My intentions may evolve over time but each one of these intentions has no expiry or finish date.
So what are my 2018 intentions?
1. Find balance as a mama, partner and creative. Balance is another one of those tricky terms. What is balance? Well for each one of us that is going to be different. For me it means ensuring that Neil and I have quality time together as a couple, that I have time carved out each week for me to work on writing, photos and projects that ignite my creative side and that while I am a mama that it isn’t the only thing that I am. Will there be equal time each week for all of these items? No, but that’s not my intent – rather it’s about finding a balance that respects each of these areas of my life.
2. Make self-care a priority. This looks like time for me to sit quietly and re-group, it also looks like a shower without a screaming baby or children popping their head in to ask for a snack. It looks like a trip to the chiropractor, acupuncturist or to do a float. It looks like moving my body or simply sitting still in meditation. There are so many ways to manifest self-care. What does self-care look like for you?
3. Shop with more intention. Online shopping and the dollar area at Target are making it so easy to mindlessly shop for things. Anything that you can think of can be ordered and delivered in two days or even within an hour which is great when the stomach bug hits your house and all you need is more towels but it’s also a curse because we can mindlessly order anything.
4. Create a home that is filled with love, laughter and creativity (without all the clutter). While our home is already filled with these things it is also filled with clutter and just so many things. So it’s time to create a space that is calming and inspirational and not a chaotic, cluttered mess.
5. Listen More Than I Speak. I am very reactionary and feel emotions in a big way and voice them quickly and often sharply. As I focus on living this year with more intention the way I listen and speak is a huge part of this especially with children and my husband.
6. Focus on being present. Yes I am talking about stepping away from screens and spending more time connecting in the moment. Focusing on what is going on right now and giving less time and energy to anxieties, worries and mindless scrolling.
7. Acknowledge my feelings and emotions and take responsibility for them. We are responsible for how we feel, how we react and how we respond.
8. Find the light in everyday. It’s so easy after a hard day to feel like everything has just gone to shit and forget about the little moments that brought a smile and light to the day. So I want to find the light in each day and focus on that and release the dark, frustrating moments.
So now tell me – what are you intentions for 2018?
