Becoming Minimalists

Often when people have a lifestyle change in mind, they will take that plan and break it down into smaller steps that contribute to the final outcome. My point is they know what they are doing and why. We didn’t actually make that conscious choice, the truth is we just fell into the minimalist lifestyle. It was only when a friend of mine made a comment that we even discovered there was a name for it, which prompted us to dive deeper into what minimalism actually is.

By Google's definition " Minimalism is intentionally living with only the things that you absolutely need. It's having and being surrounded by fewer material items, so you can do more with your time and life. Minimalist living allows you the freedom to spend less time and money on stuff, and spend more energy on actually living." Basically it is decluttering your space, using everything you own, and not focusing your time and money on material items.

We started our learning by watching two documentaries on Netflix "Minimalism: A documentary About the Important Things" and "Minimalists: Less Is Now", these documentaries really spoke to us. We enjoy travelling and having just what we need when we are aboard, and had often discussed wanting to continue this lifestyle when we came home. Ryan jumped right in, it did not take him long to purge all his belongings. I struggled with this idea; I found myself saying "what if..." and "well this person gave it to me so...". These two phrases were my two hurdles that I had to get over.

What if... what if I need that? What if we buy a house in a few years? What if we change our minds? Well guess what?! I can not predict the future, so if any of those scenarios ACTUALLY happen, then they happen. We will deal with that situation at that time. What if I need that? I am pretty sure someone we know probably has that item and would be more than happy to loan it out, or we can go buy it. What if we buy a house? Okay so we buy the furniture and anything else we feel we need then. What if we change our minds? Well, that is part of being human. Humans change their minds. Should that stop us from living this chapter of our lives because we are worrying about the next? NO.

Well this person gave it to me so... this does not change how I feel about them. After the death of my Nana, I found a year later I was holding onto items because they were hers. I was not using them, they were sitting in a box in a storage unit, but I had them. When we started purging we had made piles all through our apartment; donate, sell, toss and memory lane.

Memory lane was a pile of everything that friends or family had given me, pictures, souvenirs, knick-knacks etc. This pile I needed to devote more time and thought too. Let me be clear, I did not just toss the items I did not want in the trash, I reached out to my family first, if they did not want it then depending on it's condition it was sold or donated. I understand that for some people this is really hard to do, but for me it gave me closure from my Nana’s and Great Grandmother’s passing. It forced me to acknowledge feelings that I had bottled up, and gave me a way to move forward. I now have a few special items of theirs that bring me joy.

Minimalism is not for everyone; some feel a sense of accomplishment or see memories when they look around at their belongings. You also have to be at the right point in your life. It has to line up with how you want to live and your beliefs. Some people believe this is a “toxic” lifestyle. It is viewed as toxic because "it encourages you to only focus on having what you need - rejecting any opportunities to help others with their needs". (https://www.petershallard.com/why-minimalism-is-toxic-for-you-and-your-business/) You should do what is right for you.

I still continue to read on minimalism and people's experiences. Everyone does minimalism differently, for some it's a family downsizing or an individual who is needing a change. There are many different versions of minimalism, it's interesting to see what people are doing, what led them to this lifestyle change, how they make it work for them, and how they continue to live the minimalist lifestyle.There are many different types minimalist lifestyles, some live with 15 items or less. Here is a link that discusses the types and how they live, if you would like to know more. (https://www.thesimplicityhabit.com/types-of-minimalists/).

Becoming a minimalist has brought me a lot of joy, cleaning takes less time (less stuff to dust), I appreciate everything we own, we use everything we own, we are less stressed, we save money, and I find it easier to walk out the door to go spend time with family and friends. By decluttering our space, it is easier to find items, focus on work, and our down time has become more enjoyable. For us becoming minimalists was easy, and we continued the lifestyle we enjoyed while travelling. Less stuff and more experiences together.

Cheers!

**Please note that all opinions and views expressed in this post are my own, from my own experiences. If you would like to see more pictures follow me on Instagram vikki.gray

This post is edited and proofed by E.Gray Editing. (https://www.egrayediting.com )**