Hi, I’m Kelly, and I’m an essentialist.
I can usually be found laughing! That’s because I enjoy my day-day and I’m living a simple, sustainable lifestyle. I embrace essentialism. It’s about living life by design, not by default.
Why is essentialism and simple living so important?
I believe our environments play a huge role in a thriving, healthy and abundant life. We need calm, function, light, comfort and inspiration.
That often means decluttering, but it’s not just about that. Rather than reducing, it’s about making room for increase in our lives – increased joy, relationships, health, giving, experiences and contribution.
My philosophy is modeled after Greg McKeown’s book Essentialism. He boils it down to this:
“Essentialism is not about how to get more things done; it’s about how to get the right things done. It’s about making the wisest possible investment of your time and energy.”
Essentialism is about optimizing what we keep in our lives in the pursuit of doing better. It focuses on what we need for an abundant life that is meaningful, healthy and happy. This, of course, is different for all – some need more, some need less.
At the heart of being able to pursue less, but better, is discerning between your internal voice and all of the external noise.
If we reduce the external noise – paper clutter, useless emails, boxes of junk sitting in the garage, unproductive meetings, too many choices of clothing, to name a few – we can better hear our internal voice. Once we can hear it (and it takes practice) and determine what is essential to our own best life, we can intentionally spend our time, money, space, thoughts and feelings on only those things.
“The way of the Essentialist means living by design, not by default.”
I’ve committed to living as an essentialist at home, work and everywhere else. It's a sustainable and affordable way to live better.
And guess what? It’s also helped curb my anxiety. Before I turned to this lifestyle, anxiety was starting to interfere with life. Once I started seeing the results of living more simply, my health improved, I lost weight and I gained the mental and emotional space to attract more abundance into my life - even though the “stuff” in my life was reduced!
Now, I teach how to become an essentialist and design simple, functional and beautiful spaces to others who want to live a happier, more sustainable life.
