Living with less is freeing
It feels like just yesterday I was decluttering my home and my life for the first time. It’s been a year and, in that time, I’ve learned a lot of lessons that have stuck with me.
It took a while before I ever would have considered myself a minimalist. I had an idea in my head that I needed to declutter to reach a certain number of possessions and that , once I reached that point, then I can call myself a minimalist.
However, over time I’ve learned that the whole point of minimalism is that it’s about an attitude and an approach, not a number. Our lives will change and evolve naturally over time.
You can’t just “one and done” declutter and be done with it forever.
As our lives change, we need to continually curate our possessions. There is no end goal or destination with minimalism. It’s about that journey and that process of embracing the benefits and simplicity of intentionality over the course of our lives. We need to work on changing our mindsets and attitude.
How much you need, own, or use is going to be personal to you. There are a lot of different ways of which minimalism can look. It can mean living out of a backpack and travelling the world, staying in a tiny house and living the “van” life, or simply living in an ultra minimal apartment. If that lifestyle is what you get value from, then go for it.
Some people prefer to have a few more everyday comforts available to them while still being intentional with what they own. It has taken almost a year for me to understand that I fall into that second camp. We should take the time to determine what the right number of possessions is for us. I believe that minimalism can and should look different from person to person.
When I started my minimalism journey, I started with my physical possessions. I went through my kitchen, my wardrobe, my bedroom, my bathroom and got rid of a ton of items that I didn’t need and wasn’t using. This was a freeing experience.
To my surprise, the most valuable benefit for me has been opening the door of minimalism and the idea of simplicity to other areas of my life. This extended to my finances, my schedule, how I prioritize and do my work. It has really had an impact on the way that I approach life in general. I find that I am less stressed and really able to pursue the things that I enjoy.
I learned that you can’t buy happiness. I was always thinking about my next purchase or my next upgrade, without really being content with what I had. I learned that the dopamine rush or momentary happiness is transitory. Minimalism led me to grasp the meaning of the fact that the best things in life aren’t things. It opened me up to realize the things that really are meaningful — the people, the relationships, the growth and the experiences that really do fill our lives with purpose and joy.
On a simple level, it frees up my time and attention because I don’t have to worry about my possessions or spending the time and effort to a lot of cleaning and tidying.
Contrary to popular opinion, minimalism is not about what you’re giving up. It’s about making room and having the availability to pursue the things that we love. It’s going to look different from person to person but that’s really the beauty of it. It helps us focus on what’s important to us.
It really has been an incredible journey. It hasn’t been easy, but creating an intentional life and home is so worth it.
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