A few years ago after losing someone very close to me I decided I wanted to do somethings different in my life. I decided that by doing this new thing I would not only be doing myself a favor, but I would also being others a favor, especially those who care about and love me. I had to reassess my relationship with things and stuff. Now this isn’t always an easy task since I really do love nice clothes and shoes… and yeti mugs just as much as the next person, but I needed to find a healthy balance between what I needed, wanted and desired….
Enter Minimalism …
I first learned about minimalism in passing a few years ago after watching a youtube video on the subject. It was two guys (Ryan & Josh: The Minimalists) who decided to take the message of this lifestyle across the country. However when I personally came to the conclusion on my own, it was after yet another loved one who passed on and the typical things that tend to happen in the aftermath. It’s the taking care of someone’s stuff…. that put in many cases unnecessary stress it puts on the family, friends and loved ones. It’s not because you don’t care to take the time no it’s much more nuanced than that. It’s the pain and grief coupled with the task of purging a loved ones most personal and precious items. Now don’t get me wrong going through and shifting through a loved one items can also be tremendously therapeutic and healing but i’d say it a fine between therapeutic and traumatic. It’s the gray area of the traumatic that I feel can be alleviated a bit more.
Of course the idea of minimalism isn’t going to be a standard practice across the board but for those who may be interested, hopefully this entry will be an encouraging step in that direction. For me it’s a mindful lifestyle choice, change and hack that will reap lasting benefits. Somehow in my mind, it will also be a something that hopefully my loved ones will appreciate when the time comes to gather, shift through and purge my things.
For anyone who has ever considered this as a lifestyle choice one of the most important things to ponder to yourself would be coming to terms with all the extra stuff being gone and how this could undoubtedly make ones life more sustainable and enjoyable.
Like most things in life minimalism is also a spectrum that can go from minimal (no pun intended) to the extreme. I will rest somewhere in the middle. Whereas I don’t feel the need to have tons of furniture and home fixtures I do enjoy clothes, shoes and a few other vices so to speak. (insert heartfelt laugh). For me living a life as minimalist means to overall buy less, buy quality and by all means take good care of what I have, since I won’t be buying as much.
For instance for work I will buy several identical items of great quality to wear throughout the week so it works as a uniform. My secondary wardrobe consist of clothing that I wear out and about. Both wardrobes will consist of very good quality garments so they last long with no need to replace for years to come. The other side of that is donating to charity. Before the pandemic donating items was a much simpler process and I have a feeling things have gotten back to normal so I will commence to donating my gently worn garments and coats. As apart of my minimalist lifestyle I also include zero waste in my approach. Zero waste for me means preserving our quality of life and our environment. It means that we actively recycle, we compost and we buy only what we will consume and actually utilize.
Here are a few things that have made adopting a minimalist lifestyle simple and smooth sailing: compost garbage bags , compost bags, these are my everyday work pants from Atheta. Here’s the other. Here’s another post about simple living.
- the simple things - August 9, 2022
- Let’s Tea - July 25, 2021
- Summer Watermelon Salad - July 25, 2021