Is less really more?

What every 90s butter mom really wants and how simplifying leads to abundance.

90s Butter Mom

If you’re on social media then you’ve most likely heard of the 90s butter mom trend. It’s all about nostalgia, slower living, less screens, more analog and outdoors. Trends come and go— from ‘hot girl’ to ‘soft girl summer’ to ‘cottage core’ and now the 90s and early 2000s aesthetic, fashion, and music making its resurgence. For reference, aesthetic refers to a set of principles that guide the taste, style, and visual appearance of a movement, culture, or individual.

But I don’t want my life to be rooted in a trend but Truth instead. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to wear overalls, start a garden, and raise chickens in your own backyard. But there’s so much more to this trend at the heart of it. Rather than dismissing, here’s what I see: women want more and less simultaneously.

We’ve been sold the lie that retail therapy makes us happy and that minimalism gives us peace. It’s obvious that we’re all struggling with information overload, overstimulation, and worry. We fight a daily addiction to our phones while trying desperately to implement boundaries so we don’t raise ‘iPad babies.’

Notice how this 90s trend is our response to the girl boss hustle culture and overconsumption. The fast pace, packed schedules, and overflowing closets made the pendulum swing yet again to a desire for simplicity. Our houses are cluttered and so are our souls.

At the heart of the 90s butter mom aesthetic is a desire for peace and joy.

Decluttering as a Biblical practice

We’ve confused ‘living to the fullest’ with packed schedules and stuffed houses.

Clutter isn’t just a home problem... it’s a heart one too. A cluttered home is the symptom of a cluttered soul. And even a tidy home has hidden clutter. When I say clutter, I don’t just mean the physical stuff. Another type of clutter can be emotional or mental like information overload, stress, and anxiety.

Because peace doesn’t come from a perfectly organized house, your curated social media posts, or a seemingly tidy life (trust me, I tried!). True lasting peace, not just relief, can only be produced by the God of peace.

So what can we do? We need to declutter our hearts and simplify our lives. We need to quiet our minds and hearts (like well known theologian Thomas Watson and missionary Elisabeth Elliot wrote).

What if an abundant life is actually a quiet life? Abiding in Christ leads to an abundant life— not an abundance of stuff but rather peace and joy! As I sat with Jess Connolly and recorded this podcast episode, I described decluttering the heart as repentance rehearsed and abiding applied.

I love how this Bible verse mentions being refreshed by the Lord as a result of repenting— “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord” (Acts 3:19-20).

Simplified Summer

I don’t want to romanticize, optimize, or upgrade my life. I JUST WANT TO ENJOY MY LIFE. That’s what this series is all about. Simplified Summer (June-August) will include a monthly decluttering workshop and a printable digital guide for paid subscribers (only $7/mo if you subscribe here). Consider it a refresh for your soul and home. There are 7 women in our monthly membership and I’d love for you to join too! Each workshop will include the 4-step Gospel-centered approach of Declutter Discontent™.

What’s Included:

• Simplify your routines workshop

• Simplify your systems (for home management) workshop

• Simplify your calendar workshop

• The Art of Divine Contentment Book Club

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