I've recently become obsessed with the concept of minimalism. I discovered the website Becoming Minimalist about 9 months ago and, I'm not being dramatic when I say: it has changed my life.
It didn't change overnight and, to be honest, I still have a lot of clutter to take care of. Change is hard and changing a lifestyle is something that comes about slowly.
But I will say, this journey started longer than nine months ago for me. Nine months ago I got a name and an understanding of what I was trying to do.
Ten years ago we moved into our house. It's a one and a half story and our original intention was to have our bedroom upstairs. However, on moving-in day our boxspring didn't fit up the stairs so we "temporarily" put our bedroom on the main floor. And the upstairs became storage.
For three years.
After three years of utilizing a third of our house (we finished our basement a couple years later) we had enough. It was time to go through our clutter.
To be honest, it's not fair to call it "our" clutter. 95% of the "stuff" was mine.
It was during that time I realized I was a hoarder. Not in the garbage house kind of way but I. Kept. Everything. I had every single notebook from middle school, high school and college. I had every card I'd ever received--for my birthday, confirmation, christmas, graduation. I had old bowling score sheets (you know, from back when you had to actually write down and calculate your score without the help of computers). I had old journals, newspapers, magazines, pictures, letters and more, just dumped in boxes.
It was overwhelming.
It was overwhelming because I felt like I needed to keep it all.
It physically pained me to even consider throwing any of it away.
Eventually, I started to do just that. And recycle. And donate. Every time I wasn't sure, I heard my husband's, slightly annoyed, voice in my head asking, "Do you really need it? When was the last time you used it/thought about it? What purpose does it serve?"
He's a wise one.
It was hard at first. It was emotionally draining.
I was shedding decades of old luggage that had been weighing me down.
After awhile, it started to get easier.
I started to not think so hard about what I was going to get rid of.
I would even get a bit resentful when I realized I needed to keep something.
Because I was enjoying the release. It felt freeing to just let things go and have space. Room to breath.
That was the beginning.
Minimalism is more than decluttering a house. It's wanting less. It's decluttering your mind, your time. Minimalism is finding peace: peace of mind, peace of space, peace of time.
If minimalism is something that interests you at all, you really should check out the 'Becoming Minimalist' website. Especially this post, it's a great place to start. And if you want daily motivation, follow them on Facebook. Another great source is 'The Minimalists,' especially their Instagram page. 'No Side Bar' also has wonderful articles focused on designing a simpler life for yourself.
I have several posts planned on this topic. After publication, I'll put them here, along with posts from others that I find interesting on this topic.
xo Sara