My Journey with Minimalism | Was it worth it?
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I've considered myself a minimalist for about the last 6 years.
Minimalism first caught my attention when I started hearing rumors of people who were getting rid of anything they couldn't fit in a carry-on suitcase or backpack. Other people were obsessed with numbers, allowing themselves 100 items or less.
I was absolutely intrigued! I remember wondering who these people were and why in the world would they want so little? Aren't we supposed to have lots of wonderful things? Isn't that part of our measurement of success? Keeping up with the Joneses and all of that?
Fascinated, I started doing a little digging on the internet. At the time, there really wasn't a lot of information out there about minimalism but I did come across a blog... the mothership of minimalism. If you are at all familiar with minimalism it will be no surprise to you that the blog I found was The Minimalists. I instantly fell in love with the concept and the journey of Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus.
I gobbled up everything they wrote and decided I needed to try it out for myself. My heart wanted to dive in with a packing party but instead, my fear-mind over-rode that and I tiptoed instead into the lifestyle. One small Goodwill trip at a time.
What I discovered as I slowly started to go through every item I owned, deciding whether to keep it or get rid of it, was that it actually felt incredibly good and liberating to declutter and create space. As I got rid of items that were just sitting around and never getting used, collecting dust, my mind started to feel more spacious as well. Somehow, there was a direct link between the physical clutter in my life and the clutter in my mind and it felt SO good to get rid of stuff.
I lived the next couple of years mindful of what I owned, always working on clearing out anything I felt wasn't useful or loved anymore, but the reality was that I still had a lot of stuff. A lot of unnecessary stuff and I felt as though I wasn't really living the minimalist lifestyle. I was a pretender. A pretend minimalist.
So, I boxed up all of my belongings, gave almost all of my furniture to my younger sister, and moved into a small one-bedroom apartment. I decided to do the minimalist thing right this time. I left everything boxed up until I needed it, left the walls blank, and was determined to live happily on my few belongings. I did not have internet or TV. I was finally a good little minimalist.
I was also a miserable little minimalist. I would go over to my older sister’s house and sigh a huge sigh, grab a little blanket, curl up on her sofa and not want to move. I just wanted to sit there surrounded by... Stuff. Wonderful, cozy stuff. Stuff on the walls, stuff on the counters, stuff in the bookcase, and on the fireplace mantle. Nice, cozy stuff. Oh, and stuff to watch on Netflix.
After a year in my minimalistic apartment, I ended up moving to San Fransisco for 6 months for work. I brought with me 2 suitcases and shipped 3 boxes of stuff to my furnished new home. Everything else was boxed up and put in storage.
I loved my little furnished studio. It was adorable and... it had stuff. Stuff on the walls, stuff on the counters, stuff in the kitchen, it even had internet and tv. It was so cute and so cozy and I felt so at home there. More at home than I ever did in my minimalistic apartment back in Seattle.
Uh... Oh, What was wrong with me? I wasn't supposed to like stuff! I had been identifying so hard with being a minimalist, it was a huge part of who I saw myself as. Was I not a minimalist? I realized I actually hadn't been very happy in my last stuff-less home.
Minor identity crisis ensued.
I sat with these feelings and my thoughts on what I thought minimalism was and how I thought that needed to look and I realized I'd been looking at it all wrong.
pin me for later
Minimalism defined by Sarah:
Minimalism, for me anyway, is an awareness.
Minimalism is not defined by what I do or do not have, It's not the number of items I own.
Minimalism is about being aware of what I own, and why I own it. It's knowing that the items I do own do not define who I am, they are not a measure of my perceived success or lack of success. Items do not make me powerful or influential. I am not a better person because of the items or brands I own.
Minimalism is about being aware of why I own something. Are my items useful? Do I genuinely enjoy and love them? How do they make me feel? How do they affect my body? Are they healthy or known to cause damage to my system? How were they made? Am I ready to accept the responsibility of how that item was made or what it will do to me? Is the financial cost worth it?
Awareness. Seeing the bigger picture, the connection between mind, body, and soul. Realizing there is a responsibility to buying and owning items. We are condoning business practices and materials used, we are also accepting the responsibility for waste created by the manufacturing, distributing, packaging, and ultimately the item itself when we no longer want it.
Minimalism is about emotional awareness. Why are certain items important to us to have or to get in the future? Why do we need to hang on to them when they are past their usefulness to us? Why do we feel the need to shop beyond our means? Do we get a high when we buy a new item? Why?
I came to the conclusion that I am still a minimalist. A real minimalist. I am so grateful I crossed paths with the concept and lifestyle. I appreciate every turn in my journey of minimalism and what it has taught me. It has been absolutely worth it.
I have stuff on my walls, stuff on my counters, and in my kitchen. I own multiple shoes and jackets. I have internet.
I own stuff. The difference is I'm aware of my stuff. I know why I'm buying it, the emotional attachment to it, the environmental footprint it creates. I'm buying with awareness. I no longer own items just to own them. I no longer buy items I don't actually need or absolutely love.
The minimalist journey is unique to each of us. It's going to look different for everyone and there is no set-in-stone way to be a minimalist.
Today we are lucky because many amazing people have taken up minimalism and are sharing their journey, what it looks like for them and what they've found to work. I love seeing what everyone is doing. I try what looks interesting or helpful to me. I keep what works for me and let the rest go.
My Favorite Minimalist Resources:
Two books I absolutely love and helped me immensely on my minimalist journey are Everything that Remains by Joshua Fields Millburn and The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo.
My current favorite minimalist Blog:
xx Sarah
