I claim to live a minimalist life. This is probably only true depending on your idea of minimal. I certainly don’t only live by the bare essentials, as “minimalism” can be defined, but do in fact make a conscious attempt each day to strip further what I own, carry around, “need” and use. And that, people, is the challenge.
I’ve somehow obtained the “thing”, whether by a careful plan or overexcited impulse, and determining if it is worthy enough to stay in my possession (usually if I haven’t used it in a while) takes time and thoughtful consideration. I’ve let go of a lot of things I’ve held onto “just in case”. For years. Stupid little things that I can do without, obviously, because I only had them for some sort of mindless emergency. The challenge is to reach that point of ultimate Yes or No with myself… Is this thing really worth it?
Yesterday, we cleaned out more from our apartment. And by ‘cleaned out’ I mean getting to a point where we can straighten up without just pulling the curtains over everything. By even speaking of cleaning up the apartment, we mean to pull things off the shelves and out from under the bed and go through it.
I am admittedly obsessive about being tidy. A few years ago I’d probably rather have lived in an apartment with not more stuff, but more space, just to see more of the walls and floor, which makes me feel more at ease. Within ample living space, it is so much easier have and keep things in order. But, now that I see all the rewards of living smaller, I *love* this apartment, and I love what we’ve done to it. This place makes me think: Where do I put this? How do I organize these? Will I find that later? Do we really need this crap?… All with the underlying question of Is this logical? testing to be answered each time. With not much space for stuff, I’m kind of forced to keep this up.
Living small wasn’t really a priority for me, and didn’t become one, consciously, until I started my move to Oregon. Getting rid of so much stuff was *refreshing*. It was quite overwhelming when I started, but after it was done I was so excited that I had dwindled everything down to a few boxes plus whatever else could fit in the car. Amazingly, I came back over to North Carolina with even less.
So, what are the rewards?
First, I now save money. Seriously, I don’t spend a dime of my paycheck, everything goes in the bank. This week we’re both about to pay off the last of our student loans and be completely debt free.
Second, I think about transportation more, and all of the downfalls of owning a car. (We’re lucky to have a car for now… and, one that we didn’t actually buy, but the repair and fuel costs are ridiculous, so biking/walking is more commonplace and I take the bus when it works out.)
Third, I am more mobile. I can go anywhere with ease. Moving isn’t nearly a big a deal as when I left Virginia and traveling is much more fun with less shit to deal with.
Fourth, it reinforces (and supports) all of my important values: Sustainability, simplicity, self-awareness (and awareness of one’s place in the universe). I am no longer of the belief that fancy possessions encourage happiness. In fact, for me, they just get in the way.
Fifth, it carries over into everything else in my life. I feel efficient. Smart. Simple. True. I am not held down.
Now that I own less, I have less to lose, more money in the bank and am lucky enough to share the whole thing with someone pretty special who feels the same way I do. The funny thing is, now it’s become a bit of an addiction… to see how little I can live on/carry around/take with me. I find that after I’ve sold, donated or pitched certain things, even the ones I thought I couldn’t say goodbye to, I don’t really miss them that much after all. ;)
