Photo courtesy of Jelena Mirkovic on Unsplash

Honestly, I have always been a bit of an introverted homebody. I actually prefer to stay home most of the time. Even when given the option, I'll typically choose to do most things from home. Sure, I do enjoy going shopping at the mall every now and then, and I do enjoy going for walks to get some fresh air, but for the most part, if it can be done at home, I will almost always opt to do it at home. I workout at home, I do my work at home, I entertain myself at home, I do pretty much everything at home. I like home. Home is my happy place, my safe place. I think you get the idea by now, I enjoy spending time at home. At least most of the time.

I can't say that I haven't been missing the option to go to the shop, see the people that I care about, visit the park, or anything else I may feel like doing during the quarantine. I have a newfound appreciation for having the option to do what used to seem like the most simple of things. I have a newfound appreciation for ordinary life in general. But I also have a heightened appreciation for the comforts of home, even the things that may seem silly or trivial. Why shouldn't I take a moment to truly appreciate all of these things, and have a little bit of gratitude for them? Even if quarantine has been my lifestyle all along, now is the time to truly embrace being a homebody.

Photo courtesy of Alesia Talkachova on Pexels

As a girl who loves her tech, the Wi-Fi going down can throw me for a bit of a loop, and cause me to panic for a moment. But after saying a few choice words, I am generally able to entertain myself without using the internet. However, when the power goes out, it's an entirely different story. Not only is there no Wi-Fi, but there is pretty much no anything, and you're quite literally in the dark. Granted, during the daytime you can use natural daylight, and at night you can use candles and battery-operated lights. But still. Every time the power goes out, it's a potent reminder of how much I appreciate something as simple as being able to turn on the lights. Let alone watch TV, browse the internet, or charge my phone.

That being said, our power has gone out twice in the last month. Well, actually, I should say it's gone out one and a half times; we'll discuss that in a minute. Anyway, even though neither outage lasted for more than a couple of hours, it still got me thinking, what can I do when the power goes out? What should I do when the power goes out?

Photo courtesy of Sarah Brown on Unsplash

A year ago, I never thought I'd be writing a post like this. Not just because I hadn't even started my blog yet at this point last year, but because for the longest time, the thought of thoroughly decluttering scared me a little. I couldn't fathom the idea of letting go of something if there wasn't anything wrong with it, or if I knew there was a way that I could possibly repair it. My yearly "decluttering" consisted of nothing more than just tossing damaged or worn-out items and donating clothes that didn't fit. It was rare that I'd throw away much more than what could fit in a Walmart bag, and at most, I'd have about one or two pieces to donate. Yet going into my closet was stressful. Opening my desk drawers was stressful. Opening my makeup drawer was stressful. Dusting was stressful because of all the little knick-knacks I had to move out of the way. Sometimes just being in my room was freaking stressful! 

I think you get the idea. I had so much shit that it was stressing me the fuck out. Excuse my language, but seriously. I had to do something about it. I knew it wasn't going to be easy, not just because I had so much shit I had to go through, but because I was going to have to change my mindset as well. But it needed to be done. It should have been done a long time ago. But rather than guilting myself for not doing it sooner, I'm just going to focus on the fact that I finally made cutting the clutter a part of my life. And that it really does feel amazing to live with less clutter!

Photo courtesy of Heather Ford on Unsplash

If you've recently done a deep clean of your home, either for Spring cleaning or just because you felt extra motivated to clean, or maybe because you had to because you were about to have guests over for a holiday or family dinner, you're likely enjoying how satisfying having a clean home is. Seriously though, despite how unpleasant some tasks may be (I'll always despise dusting), you can't deny how satisfying it is to have everything clean and organized. So now the thing is, trying to keep up with it; because odds are you aren't going to want to spend your Saturdays going through that whole entire chore list again, some chores you probably don't even want to do every week, but you also don't want to just let your space go unmaintained. Especially considering the fact that some chores are even more unpleasant if you procrastinate on them for too long.  

There are a few things I actually feel I may do more often than some people, but there are also some things I do (way) less often than others; mainly either because those tasks are a hassle to do on a daily or weekly basis, or because it's unnecessary to do them that often with my lifestyle, and in a relatively small household of three people (all adults), and a dog. So of course, you should build your cleaning schedule based on your lifestyle, your household, and your own needs and preferences; as well as what you feel you can easily keep up with.