Collaberations

5 Steps To Living More Intentionally in 2023

I’d like to thank Michelle from Boomer Eco Crusader to being my first guest post of the new year! I hope you all enjoy her post on living more intentionally [ which is so on brand with MBS – wouldn’t you say?] & the 5 steps to get your new year started with this mindset. If you aren’t already, be sure to check out Michelle’s blog. I’ll be leaving her details at the end of this post. If you are a blogger & are interesting in guest posting / collaborating this year, please contact me. I’d love to work with you! I’ll be back next week with my own original content.

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Hi, I’m Michelle, the boomer behind Boomer Eco Crusader. First, a big thank you to Bee for the
opportunity to share this guest post. I’ve been following Mind Beauty Simplicity for a while now and
Bee’s posts always resonate with me. Despite the difference in our ages, we share a common passion for
simplicity and intentional living.

So, what is intentional living?

In simple terms, it’s about living a life consistent with your goals and values. That sounds easy enough, but modern life makes it difficult.

The truth is our world doesn’t support intentional living. Between the daily barrage of advertising messages, and the constant pressure to be more, do more and have more, it’s easy to get distracted from what matters. Sadly, as our society has become more driven by consumption, our happiness and mental health have suffered. Searching for happiness at the mall, or even with the next raise or promotion, just leads to an endless cycle of never truly being grateful or satisfied with what we have.

It takes courage to step off the consumption treadmill and live more intentionally in a world that constantly tells us to do the opposite. But this conscious choice is the key to peace and joy, two things we could all use a little more of in our lives.


Are you ready to start living more intentionally in 2023? Here are 5 ways to get started.


Know your values


To live a life consistent with your values, you first need to know what they are. Grab a pen and a
notebook and make a list of the things that matter the most to you. Then put them in order of
importance from highest to lowest. If you have more than four or five things on the list, you have some work to do. Intentional living is about focus—doing less, but better. For each item on the list, ask yourself why it matters to you. Then keep asking why. You’ll end up crossing some things off the list. At the end of the exercise, you’ll have a list of three to five core values. These are your north stars, the things that will guide your decision making when life tries to distract you from what matters.


Reset your relationship with material things

It’s hard to be intentional when you’re surrounded by physical clutter. With your values in mind, take a
good, hard look around your home. If it’s filled with things that don’t support your values, get rid of
them. Start with the low-hanging fruit in areas you spend the most time in, and then build from there.
Once you’ve cleared the clutter, commit to being selective about what you bring into your home. Be
mindful about your purchases and buy only items that serve a clear purpose and align with your values.

Invest your time wisely


With physical clutter taken care of, move on to how you spend your time. Time is the one thing none of us can get more of. This leads many people to spend their lives frantically trying to squeeze the most out of every available minute. This “do it all” mentality often leaves them burned out and exhausted, struggling to find purpose and meaning. To make the most out of the time you have available, think of the time you spend as an investment in your values. Before taking on another task, or accepting an invitation, ask yourself if it’s the best use of your time. Does it align with your values? Would spending that time in a different way move you closer to your goals?

Embrace JOMO

Most people have heard of FOMO—the fear of missing out, but what about its younger and brighter
cousin, JOMO?
JOMO stands for the JOY of missing out. It involves consciously choosing to do less and own less, and
shutting out the noise that tells us to do otherwise.

Embracing JOMO can help you enjoy the beauty of your surroundings, and the people around you. And
it frees up time to do things that are important to you—listen to music, read a book, work on a project
or just get outside and breathe fresh air.

Yes, that’s right, instead of worrying that you’re missing out on something, JOMO involves learning to
say no to things that don’t support your values and goals. From deliberately stepping away from
notifications and social media feeds, to saying no to social invitations, JOMO lets you live in the present
so you can take care of the person who matters most—you!

Choose the right influencers

In our consumption-driven society, the term influencer has become synonymous with consumerism and
keeping up with the [ Joneses ] Kardashians. But don’t be fooled. These influencers don’t have your best
intentions in mind.
Take a good, hard luck at your social media feeds. Be bold and unfollow people and companies that
don’t align with your values. Then, find people to follow who share positive messages that support the
life you want to live.

Make this the year you start to ignore outside pressures and live a life true to yourself and your values.
You’ll be glad you did.

about the guest poster / blogger:

I’m Michelle and I live in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, where I’m a blogger, singer, and proud mom of two
young adult daughters. Thanks to my career in the retirement and health benefits field, I’m an advocate
of all aspects of wellness: physical, mental, social, and financial. My blog, Boomer Eco Crusader, focuses
on simplicity, sustainability, decluttering and ways to get the most out of our precious time here on
Earth.


Lifestyle

50 Clutter Free Gifts Ideas For The Holiday Season

“That’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? That’s what it’s always been about. Gifts, gifts… gifts, gifts, gifts, gifts, gifts! You wanna know what happens to your gifts? They all come to me. In your garbage. You see what I’m saying? In your garbage. I could hang myself with all the bad Christmas neckties I found at the dump. And the avarice. The avarice never ends! ‘I want golf clubs. I want diamonds. I want a pony so I can ride it twice, get bored and sell it to make glue.’ Look, I don’t wanna make waves, but this whole Christmas season is…stupid , stupid stupid.” – The Grinch

I don’t know about you – but the Grinch has a point. Over the years, I’ve realized the art of gift giving needs reevaluated. I’d much rather find something that is useful & won’t go to waste. Not only do people run into spending hundreds of dollars during the holiday season, but our homes become bombarded with items that may or may not be useful to us. As I’m learning more about intentional living, I’ve been understanding my priorities & what holds more value. For me, I find so much joy in gifting experiences & spending time with others. Material possessions although are appreciated – tend to find themselves at donation centers more often than not. So, with that realization – I wanted to put together a list of Clutter Free Gift Options for this year.

pin it for later

Feel free to comment down below any clutter free gift ideas that aren’t listed above. The more ideas the better! Hope you all have a wonderful holiday season & new year!

-B

advice, Lifestyle

2 Years Blogging | Now What?

It actually blows my mind I’ve been blogging for 2 years now. What started as a quarantine based hobby because I was “bored in the house & in the house bored” for way too long; has turned into something far more than that. I’m surprised I finally got the nerve to just start a blog in the first place because I can’t tell you how many people have said “blogging is so saturated!” “Blogging was cool in like, 2007 & now it’s dead.” I’m glad I didn’t listen to those naysayers because creating Mind Beauty Simplicity has been one of my best decisions.

Life Lately…

When I started this blog, I had just moved in with my “than boyfriend” & now, I finally get to call him my husband in my posts, which is exciting. Time really flies by. This past year has been both a busy & tragic one. Blogging was my saving grace when my dad was really sick & on hospice last summer. There were so many times I thought I should just quit but for me, writing was & still is my healthy distraction. And when he finally passed, I put all my sadness into Blogtober & posted daily for an entire month. I immersed myself into this passion for my own mental health. And than, I jumped right into wedding planning when he passed because in my mind, I thought this form of distraction would be good. Although I felt my entire life had stopped, I was forcing it to keep going. And now that the wedding is over, we are just enjoying married life. For me, it’s been a “self care summer” where I’m finally putting myself first & healing properly for once. Although I thought these forms of distraction were good at the time, I quickly learned my grief still remains & I need to heal. So, I’ve been prioritizing a more slow summer. Allowing myself rest, getting lost in good books & figuring out what it is I want to do moving forward.

What’s Next For Me?

I’ve been seeing a lot of bloggers ask this same question & talking about how blogging was a lot easier in the height of a pandemic. Now that things are slowly getting back to normal, people are becoming too busy & the love for blogging isn’t quite what it used to be. I myself, have pondered such thoughts. I have less motivation to sit down & write. And when I do, I don’t feel satisfied with the results. Some of this could be due to the fact I’m in a season of healing & needing a break. And also because I’m wanting to place more energy on a career outside of blogging. I’d much rather keep blogging as a side passion & something I like to escape to when I’m feeling stressed. I don’t want blogging to be the reason for said stress, you know? And lately, I’ve been feeling overwhelmed creatively. One thing I have learned with my blogging journey is how breaks are really important. I know I still want to keep blogging. I enjoy connecting with you all & sharing my perspectives on intentional living & everything in between. I do think, I need to change a few things though moving forward. Focusing on quality over quantity is a good start. I also need to let go of the pressure of needing to look perfect online. I think I want to take a step back from social media & only post when I truly want to instead of burning myself out trying to keep up with a forever changing algorithm.

You Might Also Like: Taking My Power Back: How A Break From Writing Rejuvenated My Soul

What Has Already Changed

My blogging journey has been all over the place. I started posting 3x a week & strictly intentional living content for a good year. My narrowed niche quickly expanded to a general lifestyle blog, still focusing on a less is more mindset. As my following grew, I realized my audience didn’t have a specific preference to what I wrote about. Even my Instagram has changed from posting about my daily declutters to a full blown bookstagram as of late. It just goes to show, you are allowed to change things up & so what if it’s completely different from your original plan? Instagram, for instance has been a frustrating platform. I’ve taken breaks all together & contemplated not using it at all for blogging. But lately, I’ve been reading a lot [ as it’s a form of self care ] & I’ve decided to share that interest on Instagram with the book community. And it’s been going really well. I no longer feel overwhelmed by the platform & it’s actually really fun to make reels & post on there.

The thing I hold onto with blogging is the connections I’ve made. It was really nice during such isolating times in the beginning. And now, it’s a nice escape from reality sometimes. I’m not sure what the rest of the year will be like in terms of blogging, but I hope to keep finding the joy in it all. Just because I may cut back on posting or shift into other platforms [ like writing a book ] , what I want to remain constant is the connections I’ve made along the way. That is what I am truly grateful for. Thank you for 2 successful years of blogging & sharing my life.

-B