Hi friends—today I’m bringing you into a very real, very messy declutter of my “covid hobby hoard.” Over the past few years I went from minimalist to…whatever this is now, and I could feel the mental weight of all the stuff. My step one is always the same (and it looks horrible): I pull everything out and lay it all in front of me. Then I start grouping by category/hobby so I can actually see what I’m dealing with and make decisions from a calmer, more honest place. In this video I walk through how I’m consolidating hobbies (I grouped sewing, crochet, knitting, and an embroidery kit into one “garment making” bin), and how I decide what stays vs. what goes. I talk about the difference between minimalism (keeping essentials) and the KonMari idea of keeping what sparks joy—like my skates, which I don’t really use but genuinely make me happy. I also share the “practical essentials” side of decluttering, like why I’m keeping a small camping stove after seeing how an ice storm could’ve left me without power. I also get honest about my biggest struggle: feeling like I have to sell everything to “recover” the money, and my discomfort with donating to Goodwill. To help myself move forward, I created a donate basket for anything that doesn’t sell—because progress matters more than perfection.