simple shui | 7 rituals i use daily
i remember bringing our lovelies home 2 months after they were born. and the fullness of our happiness leaving the NICU behind.
and then, total chaos hatched.
ask me about those early years, and my answer is always the same: it’s a blur.
my need for rhythm went unquenched.
we languished from deprived sleep; months of colic; hardly leaving the house; and watching our former lives recede.
the struggle was real, and i had no exit strategy. . .
until we pared life down to the essentials.
and that is how schedule and routine became the backbone of our lives.
16 years later, i still notice when we get loose with the rituals around here, it cuts right into our joy.
so, call it shui or common sense, i have 7 rituals i use daily. they reconnect me to the present. they keep our time and resources untangled from distraction. and they protect my energy. so, read on and take what works. and if you have something you swear by, reply below! i would LOVE to keep this list growing, and share it again in a year.
no 1: put the dishes away.
honestly, a full dishwasher waiting to be unloaded first thing in the morning is a major buzzkill (for me). so, i run ours after breakfast. that said, everything is loaded into the dishwasher or hand-washed the night before. waking up to a tidy kitchen was its own kind of wonderful so many years ago. and it still guarantees a smile on my face today! figure out what schedule fits best with your routine, and commit to its flow.
no 2: love at first light.
light is everything in shui – illumination, life force, recognition. which means, every morning, i walk our home and open curtains and blinds. back in my early mama days, i wasn’t guaranteed a shower, so i supplemented it with a sunshine shower instead. with light flooding the house, everything feels immediately refreshed. and that was (and still is!) a welcome nudge most days!
no 3: hang my keys.
when i was managing two car seats and a diaper bag to get out the door, i couldn’t afford to lose my keys. so, i gave them their own hook inside the closet door. it is also where they would return every day. i limited myself to bags/purses that had a clip for my keys, too. when we make a home for something used daily, it streamlines our comings and goings. and when you’re in a hurry or need someone else to grab them (because your hands are full), you’ll exhale with relief you know exactly where they are!
no 4: you’ve got mail.
first, this is a brilliant strategy for making sure the front door gets used. i make a daily loop out to our mailbox from the front door. when i come back in, the mail gets opened. immediately. there is a folder for bills. junk mail is promptly recycled. everything else (magazines, packages, etc.) is opened and distributed. zero procrastination equals zero piles. and back when we were in survival mode, these little accomplishments felt like BIG wins for the day!
no 5: put your best foot forward.
this seems OCD, right? however, in shui, shoes facing the same way implies we have clear direction. as in, moving forward and making progress. plus, an organized closet is SO easy on the eyes. my subconscious would catch her reprieve (from all the noise) in our closet. because simplicity, at any level, treats us to a well-deserved break.
no 6: hang, fold, or DO THE LAUNDRY.
there were many days where i felt like Mrs. Hannigan from Annie as i folded the laundry – “everything around me is little.” and it was just. so. relentless. so, i started timing myself. once i knew it took less than 10 minutes to fold a load, i adopted Nike’s mantra: JUST DO IT. people often ask me if i do allll the loads in a day OR one every day. honestly, i prefer one a day. why? what gets measured (one load) gets managed (put away).
no 7: say good night.
if you’ve been around simple shui for a while, you know how much i LOVE this ritual. what you might not know, though, is it began out of necessity. babies and toddlers are anything but predictable! trying to reconcile efficient tidying while ours were awake was impossible. so, i began walking our home at night. toys were returned to their spots. blankets and clothes would be folded. shelves were quickly reorganized back to their presentable selves. i would LOVE our home back to good before bed. those 15 minutes made all the difference in how i began the next day. years later when i discovered shui, i made the connection that walking our home tidies its energy, too! so, take 5 and suffuse yours with a touch of love, and you will notice a powerful difference! xo
p.s. i have 3 virtual consults left at the discounted price of $499! a full consult is normally $699, and those prices go up this summer. so, for the love of all that’s holy, scoop this deal and keep $200 in your pocket! wondering what a virtual consult includes? get the deets here and then message me ASAP. (and, no, the savings won’t come around again this year!)
