Hi, All! America holds space for lots of trends. We try everything. Most things we try involve some investment and buying just the right product. But, what about the trend of not buying? Or having less? Balancing priorities and needs – whether to have a lot or a little – provides its own challenge. In today’s post, I discuss my own efforts to go minimalist.
If you like things, choosing a minimalist lifestyle provides challenges. It requires you to ask all sorts of introspective questions like “How much can I be content with?” I love to shop. It is fun and great stress relief. However, when you are a mom, the house clutter can be overwhelming. Going minimalist and choosing a minimalist lifestyle might be a appealing.
Minimalism is a lifestyle that chooses to live with less stuff. In many ways, it is an ideology and a belief system. It is an art style – even furniture is made with less material. Artwork is made with less lines, less color, less anything. Instead of following the slogan “more is better,” minimalism says less is better.
What was my experience?
Because I had so much stuff, going minimalist became a big challenge. I am about 5 years into getting rid of stuff. In my house, piles of mail and junk used to lay everywhere unintentionally. Piles of stuff still exist in the house, but they stay under control or are intentionally placed there.
Going minimalist – Round 1
I describe my journey in rounds. Round 1 occurred while my baby was very young. She’d nap and I would go to each room and take the piles of mail, sort them, and get rid of them. This chore was huge. All my life, we had piles of stuff in the kitchen or other places. It was not obnoxious, but the piles were there. I guess I just do not like clutter.
Going minimalist – Round 2
Round two proved to be different. Now that the piles were gone, I needed to assess the contents of each room with the goal of placing everything out of sight. My room and my clothes provided the biggest challenge. I possessed tons of clothes. The clothes squished together and hid themselves from me. I started weeding and bagging clothes. I gave up old clothes that had no style or no trend. I felt really good. Some of my progress came as a result of counseling and cleaning my emotional baggage. Think about it
Going minimalist – Round 3
I supposed you could say I am on round 3 of going minimalist. Most things in my rooms need to be there. Everything in the rooms exists there intentionally. The last stand is the craft room. I bought so much fabric because it was fun and I stress shopped. Now, I don’t really like all of it. So, I am going to need my handy go-tos: donations, selling on-line, and keeping my favorites.
Lessons Learned
I learned a lot about myself by going minimalist. I learned I can live with less. I learned that wanting lots of thing was a way to fill emptiness in my heart. I bought into the usual and common lie that I need more to be happy. I do not need more to be happy. In fact, happiness comes from enjoying a few things that give the most pleasure. Happiness comes from choosing a content mind set.
So how minimalist am I going?
As much as I can within reason. In many ways, I could always be working on being minimalist. There is always more to get rid of! Just kidding. I saw some pretty minimalist houses and getting rid of more things would mean getting rid of the basics and essentials. So, even minimalist efforts can stop. The biggest thing I noticed about a minimalist lifestyle is the need to set up systems. Instead of buying a ton of toilet paper and checking out, I either need to buy a lot and store it out of sight or keep an eye on what I have.
Other minimalist tips and thoughts
If you are like me and possess a lot of hobby materials, you find a place for it all or pick the few hobbies you like the most and get rid of the rest. If you dabble with hobbies and like to try new ones, get a kit before investing in all the equipment. Better yet, borrow from someone or take a class where all the materials are provided.
If you have kids, you can still go minimalist. Buy less toys. I wish I had done that. My kid had her few favorites. I could have saved a ton of space not buying so many toys.
I hope this small reflection on my journey into the minimalist lifestyle encouraged you in some way. Going minimalist does not mean you get rid of everything. It means you get rid of possessions you no longer need or are unnecessary to you. Some resources that helped me declutter were The Home Edit book, Project 333, and Marie Kondo’s decluttering method of sparking joy. Each one helped me figure out what I wanted in my home.
~Lisa