Present Over Perfect

decisions. When I open my closet and see only things I
love, and relatively few of them, when I open my cabinets
and see nothing but white plates, those are just that many
fewer decisions to make in a day that always, invariably,
make that day just a couple ticks easier, and I’ll take it.
I’m able to give more focused attention on the higher-
stakes decisions in my life—the ones about parenting,
marriage, friendship—when I don’t have to think hard about
what to wear or how to manage all my stuff. The ambient
noise of my life gets quieter when there’s less stuff in my
life, and fewer decisions to make about that stuff. And in the
newfound silences is space for connection, rest, listening,
learning.
I find myself filling my cart and my shopping bag
differently these days, too—do I want to manage this? Clean
this? Find a place for this? Will this bring me ongoing joy,
or will it be just another thing to store, just another thing to
clutter up my mind and home? I’m bringing fewer and
fewer things into our home, and I’m shopping for other
people in new ways, too—what are timeless, useful gifts,
instead of easy-to-pick-up knickknacks? Or even better,
what experiences can we share, instead of what items can I
fill their home with?
These days, Aaron and I go for walks, meals, trips. We
used to buy each other jewelry or golf clubs, respectively.
Now we buy games to play with the kids, tickets to shows,
trips to cities we love, and our marriage is the richer for it.
It’s been said a million times that the most important