Minimalism...

I've had that itch again...the itch to go through the house and get rid of things.

So, I thought it would be a good time to write something about why we like to keep our possessions to a minimum, and how we feel about "things" in general.

Minimalism usually strikes up an image of owning very little in terms of materialistic items.

And I think most people hear that word, and expect that it means,

getting rid of all your things.

We like to think of it in a couple different ways.

Firstly, we think of it as only owning the things that we use on a regular basis, and that bring value to our lives.

And secondly, keeping our lives in general quite simple, and not overloaded with unnecessary things.

We definitely believe that minimalism can look very different from person to person, and that there is no right and wrong way of doing it.

This is simply what it looks like for our family,

and our only hope is that we encourage you to think about what is really important to you,

so that you can free up space in your life to enjoy those things more.

Because in a nut shell, I think that's what minimalism really means to us - to have the freedom and space to really get to know ourselves, and to enjoy the things we value in life.

I have always been a tidy and organised person,

and we have moved so many times over the years, that sorting,

and clearing out items in long forgotten places, is nothing new or strange to me.

But over the course of the past few years, my mind was opened up to so many different philosophies, and I started to become a lot more curious about my life.

Why I do things, why I like things, why I feel things, why I have things.

Walking so many alternative paths - like being vegan, unschooling my daughter, and being conscious of our impact on this earth,

really opened me up to being more aware in general.

Aware of myself, my life, what it's all about, what I want it to be, and why...

I also feel like things happen when they should.

Being more mindful in my life, has made it so obvious to me that things can't be forced.

If you know who you are, what brings value to your life and what you want out of your life, things will unfold when you are ready for them.

This really just means,

that you don't have to try and force yourself to do anything just because you have read about it, or because everyone is doing it.

Keep what is important to you in the front of your mind, hold it in your heart, and what happens, will be the right thing.

A few years ago, I was getting so frustrated with spending my time cleaning the house, especially rooms we weren't even really using,

like a spare bedroom and a conservatory, and dining room, and even the shed.

The more I cleaned and dusted, the more I began to ask myself, why?

Why do I need these rooms, full of furniture and stuff that just sits around, in case?

And why am I spending my time keeping the house all showy?

I think it has to do with the way I was raised, and I guess we would have called it, being 'house proud'?

I realised that I wasn't actually doing any of it for me.

I was doing it because it was this learned or left over behaviour from another time,

where the house you owned and the stuff you filled it with, somehow defined your worth.

The more I thought about it, the more I started to actually SEE.

I saw useless things all over the house,

dust collectors,

stealing my free time.

That's when I started to make changes.

I did an initial cleanse, where I went around the house and got rid of all the things that were very obvious to me as just junk,

stuff we'd been carrying around with us and finding a place for,

just because we had it.

Knick knack things.

From then on, every time I cleaned the house,

I would come across at least one item, that would make me think

"why do I have this? do I own it simply for it to sit there and be cleaned?"

Needless to say, those items got tossed too.

When I say get rid of, or tossed out, what I mean is that, we either sold it, if we thought it might be of some worth to someone else, or we gave it to charity.

We were very mindful of our waste.

Once my mind was in the zone of 'creating space'.

It became easy and liberating to declutter our lives,

and in the process,

noticing the things that we actually did love,

and the things that did bring us joy.

Then the question just became, why own anything that doesn't bring us value?

What's the point of having stuff around us that we didn't notice, need, use or want?

This extended into our wardrobes, where we noticed, like most people already do, that we only wore certain things, and had so many multiples of things, or just items that were 'maybe one day' items.

So out they went.

Same with the kitchen cupboards.

So many multiples, or even just things we had been moving around with us for years, and never used.

I had to be brutal with myself here, and genuinely ask myself if I needed so many cups and pots and containers etc

The more space we made,

the more space we had to do the things we love, and that became a pattern.

Like do I really want to stand here doing a mound of dishes, or would I rather be doing something else?

So we ended up with one piece of crockery each, and just enough cutlery so that each piece actually got used.

Now every item in our kitchen has a purpose and gets used regularly.

I feel like it's important to mention that we also did not go out and replace things. It's important to fight that urge to get new stuff, when you've gotten rid of the old.

I think it's important to keep in mind the impact on the earth, while going through this cleansing process - by trying our best to sell, or gift items, instead of just throwing them away.

If there are items that still do what they are meant to do,

keep them instead of replacing them with newer more stylish versions- always consider where your old items will end up.

We never upgrade or buy new things just because we are bored of the old stuff.

We never replace because we want different colour schemes or styles.

You'll be surprised by how stylish your collection of things will seem at the end of it all, when everything you own is something you like or use.

To you every item will hold value and you will see it through new eyes and appreciate it so much more than you ever did before.

Living this way really impacted what we brought into our home too.

Because we became so use to having only the things we truly wanted, it was very obvious when something made it's way in to the house that wasn't actually a well thought out purchase.

We no longer just bought things on a whim.

We all think carefully about the things we want and need, and go out of our way to make ethical, sustainable purchases.

Yes there were areas that needed more than a simple yes or no sweep -

like our collection of books.

We decided to each pick a few that we absolutely had to have in hardcopy and the rest we sold or gave away.

The books we still really wanted to read again, we just bought as ebooks,

and even though I was always that person, who insisted a book had to be a book, I must say that I really appreciate that I can have all my books with me wherever I go.

That is a huge perk.

And it's cheaper.

And not made of trees.

And you can read in the dark because it's back lit!

The perks of minimalism are so far reaching, I wouldn't even know where to start, or how to put them into words.

But I will say, the space that you create inside of yourself has to be one of the biggest rewards of all.

Because we became so aware of what makes us happy and what adds value to our lives, this way of thinking spread to other aspects of our life, and we started to wonder if we were spending our time on the things we loved, or if we were doing things that didn't bring us joy, or were just cluttering up our time.

Maybe you have people in your life that you put a lot of effort into that are just a drain on you and bring nothing positive into your life.

Maybe you spend your time doing chores or tasks that are unnecessary and don't bring value to your life.

Maybe you feel pressure to do too much, and never have any free time.

So maybe just like you have learnt to say no to buying useless stuff, you start to get more comfortable saying no to other things, and before you know it, you are truly living a life you love.

All of a sudden you know who you are, and you know what you want out of life, and you don't have mountains of clutter blocking your way. You can see things clearly and you can put your efforts into the things that actually matter.

You are probably thinking, wow that's quite deep for talking about decluttering your home.

But these are the far reaching effects of what getting yourself on the right path can have.

Society is so bogged down by consumerism and materialism,

we have lost sight of what it means to be human.

We were never meant to be surrounded by so much stuff.

It creates nothing but stress.

There is a reason why people feel so recharged and joyful when they have been out in nature.

It's simple.

Space to breathe.

Freedom to think for ourselves and truly know how we feel,

without influence.

Freedom.

Clarity.

Gratitude.

Appreciation.

Space.

#LessisMore #Minimalism #Mindfulness #Nature #Waste #Environment #Vegan #Unschooling