Minimalism?

What is minimalism? 

It's not just about de-cluttering and getting rid of unnecessary objects. It is about simplifying life. Getting rid of all unnecessary things in life that don't add any value but instead tend to distract, stress, and waste your time. This can include activities, relationships, jobs, as well as objects. It is all encompassing. 

For me, it's about learning to say yes to things that get me to my goals and no to things that don't help further my life's purpose or journey. This can look different for each person. Here are some examples:



Objects
Objects do weigh me down. They contribute to my anxiety and add a level of worry. I find I worry about items that I never necessarily needed in the first place. I worry something will happen to my "stuff." I also let it weigh on my mind because I can always think of something that needs organizing or cleaning. (Not getting rid of things, mind you, but putting them in places where I think they will be easier to find or I will keep cleaner). In the end, the organizing is just a futile effort and needs re-done again and again and adds only a moment of value. 

While I have tried to get rid of unnecessary items in the past I would get stressed out because I would go into a scarcity mindset or a "I bet I can use that later" mindset. I generally shut down at this point and give up. So for me, minimalism is changing my mindset and getting over the scarcity and realizing life offers an abundance and God hasn't let me down yet in providing the basics. Also it's about realizing that while maybe I could find a use for something, it's not really worth hanging on to for many years because, unless its super unique, you can probably find it or buy it later if you really need it. It's also accepting that your needs change and you can let go of items that no longer fit your needs.

Jobs/Career
My journey has required me to begin figuring out what I want my career to look like over the last couple of years. I went to law school and felt that I should be using that degree to help people, when ultimately I realized I don't like the traditional practice of law all that much. So I've been spending time trying to figure out what really works for me based on my values and the outline of how I want to be utilizing my time. Sometimes you have no other choice to but to do the job you are in, but ultimately if you want to live a life that is fulfilled and uses your talents, you should be working toward figuring out what you really want out of life and how to make it happen. For me, I think it's learning to say no to the things that don't get me to my goals and that I really have no interest in and focusing on the things that help me fully use my talents, skill set, and values. It's letting go of "this is how it should be" and the "have tos" and embracing the "it can be different" and "this fits better."

Activities
This isn't just about jobs though. Simplifying your life is about how you spend your time. What activities are you doing and do they get you were you want to go? Do you spend five hours a day on Facebook and four hours watching TV? While those activities aren't bad in moderation, spending that much time is really distracting us all from what we really want to do with our lives; unless you have some weird goal of being a Facebook stalker or expert in other peoples lives. I am working to become more intentional with my time. I'm starting to ask myself with activities, food, etc. "does this get me where I want to go?"

Relationships
It seems sad and crazy that you may need to change your relationships and possibly even eliminate a few if you can. But you need to take a hard look at who in your life is bringing you down, adding negativity, not inspiring you, and sucking up your time. Also, look at who lifts you up and encourage you. Now, you can't walk away from everybody, but you should try to maximize your relationships with the positive, uplifting people and minimize your time with the negative, discouraging people. Our relationships, and the people around us strongly impact what we do and how hard we work toward our goals. Unnecessary or unhealthy relationships cause a lot of stress. Try to find ways to improve unhealthy relationships or if nothing can be done, and you can, it could be time to walk away. Much of this can start with you and a mindset change. Learn about boundaries and start drawing some lines. 


Minimalism for me is an overall mindset change. Take it back to the basics. Focus on the positive and get rid of mental blocks that tell you there isn't enough in life and you have to hoard objects, experiences, and relationships just in case. Life does offer us enough and even more if we can learn to let go. 

The Junk Drawer

I'm pretty sure we all have a junk drawer. You know, the one in your kitchen, or maybe your office, that holds all of the miscellaneous items you just don't know what else to do with. It probably contains items you use decently often like scissors, but if it's like mine it probably also has batteries, rubber bands, birthday candles, matches, small manuals, tape, screws, leftover pieces from small diy projects, corks, bag clips, paint chips, etc. 

This wasn't the first project I tackled but I did decide to clean it up today. Not only did we have one junk drawer in the kitchen, we had two! I pulled everything out and separated it into piles. I found that most of the stuff in it actually fit in another place in the house. 

Here were my piles:

• tools and related items (electric checker, electric tape, plumbers tape, screwdriver, painters tape, outlet covers).
• office supplies (tape, scissors, notepads, sticky notes, pens, pencils, sharpies, rubber bands, clips, paperclips, packing tape)
• crafty and diy items (drawer hardware)
• batteries and flashlights
• kitchen appliance manuals
• miscellaneous: playing cards, matches, an old phone
• trash (old receipts, small odds and ends, paint chips)

Most of these items actually belong in other places of my house, so evidently we've just been lazy and thrown the little odds and ends in a drawer. With a little more thought, I can actually use these drawers for something more productive or leave them empty. 

All of the tool items go downstairs in a designated space set aside for tools, etc. The office supplies go in the office (that we just cleaned through), the crafty items go in my craft room, the batteries and flashlights go in the basement where there are other batteries, the playing cards go with the games, and the trash goes in the trash. The phone does need to be recycled - unless anyone wants an old LG phone with a pull-out keyboard.

The only things I decided to leave in the drawer were a small flashlight, the kitchen manuals, matches, the clips for food, and scissors for ease of access. 

I did find that most of the stuff in the drawers are items we use or will use so they didn't get thrown away or in the get rid of pile like I'm trying to do with a lot of other items. 

This project took all of 15 minutes and was very productive so there isn't an excuse not to start here. If you have stuff you really don't use throw it away or donate it.

Time Flies

Wow! I started thinking this way all the way back in 2013, and yet, I'm just now really getting into it and understanding it. (It being minimalism).It's crazy how an idea can take hold of us and yet take so long for us to really implement and get it. I re-read my "Beginning" post and realize that many of the same thoughts and same reasons still hold true for me today in my path of minimizing.

But, some things have changed. Primarily the location in which we store our stuff, and hopefully a couple years has given me a more mature perspective.

We moved in 2014 into a new house and left the old house that was beginning to make me feel defeated; granted I'm not sure it was completely the house, but other things happening in life - though I'm sure the house wasn't helping because the location made my allergies crazy.

I'd like to say that we remedied my house concerns completely and moved into one of those crazy tiny houses, but that is not the case. We still have more room than we need, but that's okay, sometimes to be in the location you want you can only go so small. We still have three bedrooms, and gained a half bath, a partially finished basement and a separate office space. But it is more updated and I don't feel like we have the same amount of work, especially since our yard is smaller.

The idea of minimalism stayed with me through and after our move though. I realize looking back that it would have been beneficial to do this before our move. Only by the luck of the moving company screwing up did we manage to get all of our items moved. They were supposed to send a crew that could move the baby grand and didn't. So almost everything but the piano went into that large moving truck. Unfortunately once the first truck was full we still had a little pile left. Luckily since they had to send another truck and crew for the piano we were able to get the rest. I'm pretty sure we still had a car full too.

Looking back, that is really sad to me. We are two people. Why in the world did we/do we need that much stuff? It's so easy to bring stuff in and yet so hard to let it go. (Think about it, even the stupid little free things you receive are often hard to get rid of because you don't want to be wasteful, even though you never asked for the item).

With a job change I've had a little more time to be home  to think about and tackle our "stuff." At first I found myself rearranging and "organizing." I thought I really loved to organize but I realize it just gets messy again, so like the house projects at the previous house, I feel like I never get anywhere. But I'd get so stressed out and frustrated when I thought of letting anything go. I couldn't truly wrap my mindset around it, so I'd just rearrange things.

After talking to a good friend who is on the path of minimalism and reading a book she suggested by The Minimalists, I've finally got the motivation to give it a good try. I'm finally getting the change of mindset I need to move beyond the "stuff."

So, I'm picking up this blog again to detail my progress, offer up my thoughts, offer up my struggles and holdups, and show my successes to hopefully help someone else that is on the verge and just needs a push for a mindset change.

Now, honestly, I have several blogs, and I'm not great at consistently publishing and keeping up with them, so don't expect extremely consistent posts, or you'll just be disappointed - and I don't want that. However, when I get through a project or inspiration hits I will put it right here and hopefully it will help you out. And if you want to talk about what being a minimalist means, get in touch with me and I'll probably just direct you to the book my friend recommended to me. : )