Magazine Article Review: Room to Grow

 Room to Grow by Julia Ubbenga, Kansas City, Kansas, Guideposts Magazine, Dec, Jan 2025, Danbury, CT.

Julia Ubbenga first tells her story of overcome stress and anxiety by turning to minimalism.  She says sometimes less is more.  She says she buried emotions in stuff.  SHe feels she has more room for what matters, husband and kids, by having less.

She ends the article with a page devoted to ideas fo decluttering; Five Tips for Decluttering your Home and your Life.

1. Change your mindset.  This is hard because we invest in stuff.  Her idea is to think of stuff as transient.  We are stewards only.  Stuff is transient like a firework, or a bubble or a wave.

2. The best time to start is now.  Ubbenga suggests starting with a basket, and go through the house and put clutter in the basket, countertops, table tops, drawers, where ever clutter accumulates.  Then take 15 minutes a day to go through the clutter.  You can do this whe doing something fun, listen to a book or podcast.  A little can go a long way.

3. HALTS before you buy.  HALTS stands for hungry, angry, lonely, tired and sad/sick/stressed.  Before buying run through the question would I want to by this if I weren't hungry/angry, lonely etc.  If the answer is no then don't buy.  If yes wait 24 hours and then buy.  Also look for patterns.  When do you scroll or go shopping.

4. Memories are found in you, not your possessions.  She uses the spontaneous combustion method.  How would I feel if this item spontaneously combusted.  If the answer is relief then it can go, if the answer is good but guilty take a picture of it and let it go.  If the answer is devastated then keep the item.

Free yourself from digital clutter.  Media can get in the way of what matters, relationships with God and friend and family.  Maybe turning off media is OK.  We do not need to check social media over and over.