About
Lessen is a blog about less. But it’s really about more.
We don’t lessen for the sake of deprivation. No, the act of decluttering or minimizing is not even about less. It’s about creating space for more — more meaning, joy, beauty and fulfillment. We lessen so we can make space for what truly matters — our relationships, our walk with God, life-giving experiences, creating beauty, and most importantly, making the world a better place through generosity and service.
My name is Holly Ragsdale.
I live in Nashville, Tennessee with my husband and our four-year-old black labradoodle, Olive. I work from home writing content for a living, but am finally re-entering the blog world to put my personal words out there — and this time about something I am very passionate about practicing and discussing.
My husband and I recently started a journey in minimalism in 2017, just before we moved from Denver to Nashville. As I reflect on my childhood, I recognize a deep underlying discontentment and a never ending desire for more, despite our “comfortable” suburban life where just about anything we needed was at our disposal. Through college, I noticed a tendency in myself to hold on to every object that came my way, from souvenirs and mementos to random thrift store trinkets and receipts. It came to a head when I moved from my college town in Arkansas to Denver and I stared at my garage (and storage shed!) filled with junk, and decided to get rid of nearly everything I owned and fit the rest of what I had in my car for the cross-country move. This gave me a fresh start, and perhaps more importantly, a realization that parting with these things didn’t make me any less “happy.” Instead, it made me feel more free, focused and present in the moment as I spent less time transporting my belongings and more time enjoying a new city. Somewhere along the way, I learned a lot about the secondhand world and the importance of promoting sustainability while fast fashion reigns.
Fast forward to the present day (after years of research and practice), where we now own a house in Nashville and have begun the arduous task of furnishing and decorating a larger (to us, at least!) space. This process has taught me even more about contentment and comparison, as interior design photos online can easily make you insecure about the state of your home. Throughout my journey exploring minimalism, I have become passionate about sharing my insight, struggles and valuable lessons learned with family, friends and the Internet. I’m also extremely excited about exploring the deeper levels of minimalism, where it becomes less about reducing clutter and a certain aesthetic, but has more to do with the state of your heart and posture toward the material world. I also know creating is more important than consuming, and today’s fast-paced world offers little room for silence, rest and slowness for our minds to wander, dream and create. The term “slow living” is less of a phrase to throw around on Instagram and more of a way of life that values quiet over noise and stillness over hurry.
For these reasons and so many more, I decided to start Lessen to kick off 2020 and a whole new decade. I hope you find value in this space as we learn more and more together about slowness, decluttering and being content with less.
The blog will focus on minimalism in three forms: in the physical sense (decluttering our belongings), mental sense (clearing the mind) + the spiritual sense (training our hearts to seek contentment). Minimalism is more than a trendy buzz word or the design style revolutionized in the 1950s; it is a way of viewing the world and the things in it.
NOTE: Woven throughout the blog, you’ll see talk of sustainability, reducing waste, eco-friendly tips, etc. I am perfectly imperfect in these areas but I think talking about it at all is better than only striving for perfection and staying silent if you fall short.
I have a lot to share.
I’ve created a private “Resources” page so you can see an always-updated list of resources for further investigation of the topics at hand, including minimalism, sustainability, slow living or spirituality. There, I’ll share my favorite podcasts, books, articles, brands, blogs, videos and other valuable resources.
PS To access this private page, simply subscribe to the blog! You will receive the password to the Resources page immediately after subscribing.
I also believe in less email clutter.
That’s why I only send a round-up of recent blog posts to your inbox once a month. That’s only 12 emails from me a year! So if you truly want to receive a monthly email from me, subscribe here. If not, don’t worry about it — the last thing I want to do is add one more to that ever-growing number of subscriptions.
Follow me on Instagram at @hollyvioletragsdale:
