Welcome friends! Today is a new day!
Last week I introduced a new series to the blog called Living With Less. In the intro post (HERE), I spelled out the five areas I plan to focus on to achieve a more minimalist lifestyle. I’m not going for bare wall minimalism here. Maybe more like a classic bohemian minimalism… is there such a thing? Basically, I don’t want to live in a museum, and I don’t want my house to feel sterile. But I don’t want it to feel like a furniture store either. I want it to be pared down but cozy. I like things, I still want things… just not as many things.
So WHY am I doing this anyway?
There is so much in the world that we can’t control, especially right now. Why not seize the opportunity to do something about the stuff we can? There’s no time like the present, right? Carpe that diem!
It’s know it’s easy to get caught up in the next big thing, or jump on the bandwagon just because that’s what all the cool kids are doing. I know because that was me!
- January 2019: I watched Marie Kondo’s show on Netflix and was thisclose to asking everything I owned if it sparked joy. I couldn’t bring myself to do the full Konmari last year, but I did start folding my tops differently, so there’s that.
- Fall 2019: I was influenced by an Instagram influencer. Yes, it’s true. She was paring down her belongings in an attempt to be more minimalist. I had never felt a desire to be more minimalist, but at the time I thought, I should probably do that too. But then of course, real life took over, as it does, and I never did anything about it. And my stuff just sat, as it does.
- March 2020: I watched a documentary on Netflix (aptly named Minimalism, HERE) and I was re-inspired to take this journey. Our consumer society pushes us to buy, buy, buy. But why? Why do we need to amass so much stuff? To compete with our neighbors and our friends? To prove we’ve made it? Does it make us happy? Does it make me happy?
Most of the time the answer is no. So here I am, over a year later, finally jumping in with both feet!
Okay, so that’s what made me decide to do it. But I’m not just a lemming jumping off the cliff. So what is the DEEPER why? What value will I get out of it? I’m pretty sure we’ve all heard (and you’ve probably even said it once or twice) the saying “less is more,” right? But is it? And what does that even mean?? How can less be more?
I did an internet search to try to wrap my brain around this idea and there are a lot of interpretations out there. Some might be a stretch, others less so. Some of my favorites:
- Less stuff means more space, ah touché…
- Less unnecessary purchases means more money in my pocket, to save for the future or to spend on experiences (whenever we’re allowed to have those again).
- Less clutter means more focus on what’s important
- Less stuff weighing you down means more freedom for adventure
- Less chores, to do’s and dreaded calendar commitments means more time for living life.
I also believe that having less stuff around will give me more peace of mind too. And nowadays, I’m all about that.
I wouldn’t call myself a hoarder, but I do have a tendency to accumulate stuff. Papers! Oh, the papers… why am I holding on to 17 years of financial paperwork? I’m pretty sure you only have to keep seven, right? Am I just too lazy? Maybe. But that’s neither here nor there. The time has come to deal with it, and I think the process of sorting through all of my things and making a decision on each item, whether it be paperwork clutter or possessions I no longer have a need or desire for, will be good for me. It will make me stop and look at the bigger picture and decide what has purpose in my life right now. I know it will be difficult at times, tedious at others, but I think the journey will be worth it in the long run.
And once I’ve gone through everything and pared down my possessions to what is most important, when I have a lot less, hopefully I’ll have a lot more.
Are you a less is more type of person? Or more is more?
Many thanks and much love,
laf
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