Dualing showers

This jam-packed, fun and totally exhausting summer has offered me a lot of insight into myself. I guess you could say my conclusions have led me to embark on what will likely be a never-ending journey toward less. Less stuff. Less doing and less obligation. Less busy. Less guilt. Just plain less. The Lord has been working on my heart and bestowing upon me loads of grace as I begin to peel back the layers and dive into why I have allowed myself to succumb to this much crazy. It has not been pretty or fun but every now and again I get a taste of the freedom that comes with all around less and I'm challenged to keep at it on this journey.

I've just begun to read Shauna Niequist's most recent book, Present Over Perfect, and I'm pretty sure she's been living inside my head based on the rate at which I'm underlining the pages in her book. The parallels between what she writes and the things I have experienced are sobering. I can't speak for the book in it's entirety just yet but God speed and get yourself a copy if you too have a longing to jump ship and leave the crazy-busy behind!

We, and by that I mean pretty much exclusively HE (as in my husband), are always cooking up ways to tweak and remodel our home and transform it into our own personal vision. You might already be asking yourself what remodeling has to do with a post on less but hang on a minute and bear with me. Like most people who take on remodel projects, our goal is always to make our house work for us and our specific uses, aesthetics, and values.

Currently we have a massive master bathroom and closet space. Coming from a condo that had only a teeny tiny closet to store all our clothes, our 3-compartment laundry sorter/hamper, and then all the other life possessions one might in the master bedroom, any space that you can actually walk into qualifies as massive to us. Not only can you walk into the master closet at our new place, but you can also sleep a small child in the pack n' play we keep set up in the back corner for our friends' kids when they need a nap. The closet is so totally unnecessarily huge, especially for the rather minimalist wardrobes we both possess.

The shower in the master bathroom, on the other hand, leaves something to be desired. It is gross and dated, yes, but it's worst flaw, in my humble opinion, is that it only has one shower head. I have never really been one to share my shower. Ever. The shower is a place I go to be alone and to wash off the cares of the world. My husband, believe it or not, does not share this solo-showering view, and has been known to seize the moment when I am shaving my legs with back turned and hop in and duck right under that blasted single shower head and steal all my hot water.

Ladies, you all know what this means. Your chance at a close, smooth shave goes flying out the window with the first sign of those dang goosebumps. And someone stealing your hot water stream is a recipe for goosebumps if I ever heard one. So yeah. Dual shower heads are a must over here.

But for a number of reasons, actually. I've outlined my argument for functionality, but of course there is also the element of fun that might come from a shower intended for two. I'll let you use your imagination (since my mom reads my blog after all...) ;) ANYways. The bottom line is that it fits our family's vision to one day design a master shower that accommodates two people. We don't have a firm plan or timeline at present but our eventual hope is to expand the shower back into the extra closet space to make the whole area more user-friendly (and more fun!!) for us.

Some might cringe at the thought of reducing storage space for something as non-universally-desired as a shower with dual water sources. I get it. Recently we had a designer tour our home and she encouraged us to forgo our shower plans and preserve the closet space as we might later miss the storage. This conversation really got me thinking a bit. My tendency so often has been to go with the flow and do what is mainstream. If the professional says to preserve storage for the sake of resale value, then darn tootin', I preserve the storage. I'm a rule follower and, as a people pleaser, I tend to run with the masses. But truthfully, this go-with-the-path-of-least-resistance hasn't really worked out so well for me. 

What I'm realizing now, more so than ever, is my (our!) need to simplify, to pair down and to focus on what is important to us as individuals and as a couple and a family (our vision!) This is a hard area for me. Frankly it's unchartered territory because I have so often allowed others to dictate what is "best" for me. Having lots of stuff makes me anxious and when my closets are overflowing, it's the litmus test that tells me we are hanging on to simply too much. The idea of reducing our storage space is a bit counter-cultural as plenty of "stuff storage" is kind of the American Dream. Don't get me wrong - I love me some storage just as much as the rest of you but honestly, I want a super cool dualing shower WAY more and so I think I'm going to go against the flow here. Not only will it will serve me personally better (less leg-nicking while shaving!), but more importantly, it will also serve my marriage better. I want our home and space to be a place that fosters intimacy and connection between my husband and I. THIS I need more of. The rest of it all can go by the wayside. While I realize a futuristic shower remodel is not going to automatically provide intimacy per se, it certainly aligns with our values and will take us more in that direction than saving our closet shelving for storage will.

So here begins a life journey toward less. Less stuff, less stress, less guilt and less pressure.  

Fun times ahead. :)