I’ve made a concerted effort to simplify my life this year. Among many other things, this pandemic and the subsequent quarantine have only further solidified the belief that I need to slow down, pull back, quiet down and simplify.

It began with things. Clothes I wasn’t wearing because I didn’t like the way they felt. Those extra just-in-case items that had been taking up space for years. Seconds and thirds of similar toys that my seven-year-old didn’t need (and barely played with anyway)—gift...