I've been on a journey that actually started much longer ago than I realized (as I wrote about here). It started as decluttering. But it's more than that...I want to have less. I want to want less. All of this is so I end having more in my life. More space. More freedom.
Over the past several months I've been drawn to reading from bloggers who write about minimalism. I'm constantly inspired by their journeys. Then I stumbled across this article from one of my favorite sites, The Minimalists.
The Minsgame.
The concept behind this "game" is that each day you get rid of the number of things that corresponds with the day. So, on day ONE, you throw out/recycle/donate ONE thing from your house. On day two, two things, and on and on until the last day of the month, day 30, and you get rid of 30 things. In the beginning, easy. But by the time you get to week two and three and you're trying to find a dozen to two dozen things A DAY to remove from your house, it gets a little tougher.
My thoughts as I read it:
Impossible.
I could never.
Well, I could do a half month.
Could I do the whole month?
I think I could maybe do it.
I could do it.
I AM GOING TO DO THIS.
Would the husband be willing?
No.
Maybe.
HE WILL DO THIS, TOO.
Then I talked to a few bloggers who I thought would be interested, and they were. Because it's always easier (and more fun) to do things like this when you have a support network in place. And a collaboration was born.
The WHO
Anthony, from Break the Twitch, is a blogger I admire. He has a lot of experience with minimalism and shares so many wonderful ideas to get you started. In fact, he has even done this challenge before and wrote about his experience here.
Laura, from One Girl, Two Cities, is a friend of mine and a wonderful blogger. She's an avid theater- and concert-goer and writes about her adventures around town in a way to encourage others to get out and explore their own communities. I love her willingness to join even though she recently moved and got rid of a lot of stuff at that time. Her excitement to participate is so contagious, she even convinced her boyfriend to join the party.
Heather, from Simply Save, is a blogger I've been following for awhile and love her tips for living a more frugal life. I love her honesty (she's upfront if she doesn't follow through with a budget goal) and her straight-forwardness. I knew she'd be onboard because she recently started sharing some posts on her own journey towards minimalism.
{NOTE: The first letters of our blog names spell BOSS. So, for our minsgame challenge, the hashtag #minsgameBOSS will be used. Not because we're bossy, because we're BOSS.}
The WHEN & WHAT
For the month of November, we are all committing to playing the minsgame. We will eliminate the appropriate number of things from our house, each day, by midnight. Every Monday in November we will share how our experience is going. I plan to share what I've eliminated and the challenges of letting go...and the rewards.
In the end, each of us is committing to eliminating 465 things from our homes. In casa de Mutchler you can go ahead and double that number because both my husband and I are doing this, separately. 930 things, gone.
The WHY
It's funny. I write 930 things and I'm not even nervous anymore. I'm excited. Full disclosure: I've already started setting things aside. I've begun cleaning out some closets and going through boxes. I'm amazed at what I find when I really OPEN my eyes and look. I'm realizing now how I used to overlook what I actually had. I would see what I wanted to see...and the majority of the time I was just focused on what WASN'T there instead of what was. When I actually look at everything I have, and everything I've kept over the years, it's too much.
The time has come to let go.
YOU
Consider this an invite--join us! We'd love to have you be a part of this journey. Don't feel like you need to have a blog or write about your experience. We will be sharing pictures on social media of our progress (ie: our facebook pages, twitter, instagram) and will use the hashtag #misgameBOSS. That way you can easily follow along and (maybe) find some inspiration or, better yet, JOIN us. Share your pictures. Use the hashtag. We want to cheer you on, too.
And join our Facebook group--a community of like-minded individuals, all playing the minsgame! We'll post updates and so can you--pictures, questions, links you think are applicable, etc. We'd love to connect with you there if you are planning on participating.
xo Sara
P.S Here are the inaugural posts from each of the participants on this journey. Check them out and spread the love: