#93b: Minimalism: What, Why, and How
What is minimalism?
My definition minimalism is “living more by having less.” I also really love the minimalists’ definition: “Minimalism is a tool to rid yourself of life’s excesses in favor of focusing on what’s important so you can have happiness, fulfillment, and freedom.”
Minimalism allows you to make more conscious and deliberate decisions about what you want to include in your life, which leads you on a path of freedom.
Before I tell you about my minimalism journey and how it changed my life, let me point out a few statistics. The United States is a consumerist society. In this country, we are in the habit of purchasing things, even when we can’t really afford it.
Statistics on consumerism in the United States (from www.becomingminimalist.com):
The average American home contains 300,000 items
The size of the average American home has tripled in the last 50 years!
1 out of 10 Americans owns storage outside of their home
25% of Americans with 2 car garages can’t use their garage
American children own 40% of the toys in the world but only make up 3% of the children in the world
The average American throws away 65# of clothing per year
Statistics on American cashflow and debt:
Somewhere between 50 and 75% of American workers live paycheck to paycheck
30% have no emergency savings at all
70% have less than $1000 saved
The average revolving credit card debt is around $8,000
And the average total household debt is $137k (includes mortgage)
Americans have lots of stuff and lots of debt, but this isn’t necessarily bringing happiness and fulfillment. In fact, it is bringing lots of stress, anxiety, and burden to the typical US household.
Although it may seem radical, minimalism is an approach that emphasizes having less to live more. However, to embrace a minimalist lifestyle, it takes deliberate and conscious action because it deviates from our current cultural paradigm.
Minimalism isn’t a destination; it’s a journey! It’s a way of living that is dynamic, not static.
My family and I started our minimalism journey in December of 2014. I knew I wanted to make a change in my career, and I wanted to start my own business. To do this, I wanted us to be more financially stable to take that risk. Besides, I wanted to have a lifestyle that was more conducive to a simpler life. I envisioned an even shorter commute, being closer to daily activities. I also realized around that time that we had a beautiful house that we only really used half of. There were two rooms we hardly occupied - the formal dining room and the formal living room. I realized that we probably really didn’t need that much space, and we had the opportunity to downsize and simplify life even further.
We started our minimalist journey by going through each room of our house and eliminating things that we no longer needed or wanted. We filled an entire Uhaul truck full of items that we donated or had to throw away. We also gave many things away to friends and family, and we sold a few items as well. About six months after the initial purge, we downsized from 2500 sqft of living space to 1400 sqft of living space for my family of 4.
Since that initial step, we have continued to learn more about minimalism, refine our habits, and have allowed it to evolve with us into our lifestyle. It has been incredible and one of the best things that we have done. I knew that it would bring benefits, but there were definitely some side effects that I didn’t expect.
Peace at home - One of the first things I noticed was the immediate peace I would feel upon arriving home. Many of us may not realize how stressful and time-consuming clutter can be. After our initial minimization purge, my house felt more open and spacious. I felt calmer just by walking into my home. Another bonus was that because we had less stuff, tidying up only took a few minutes.
Less stress - After we eliminated items that we no longer wanted or needed, we made a commitment to be more deliberate about our purchases and agreed to practice buying less. I never realized how much stress the Christmas holiday had become for me until I deliberately bought less. We also decided to focus less on items for birthdays and celebrations and instead invest in experiences. We have had many conversations about this with our children, and they have embraced the principles of minimalism. For their birthdays, they get to choose either one gift, a birthday party with friends or a birthday trip with the family. They have never selected a gift. They hardly ever ask for things, and when they choose to buy items with their own money, we encourage them to wait at least 24 hours to consider the decision before purchasing. I recently asked them to give me their thoughts about minimalism. Desta, my youngest, who is currently ten years old, said, “I like it, it really helps me stay organized.” My oldest, Kian, who is a freshman in high school, said, “Minimizing increases the value of the things I have and allows me to enjoy them more.”
More financial control - One of the main reasons we started our minimalism journey was because we desired more economic freedom. Still, the financial rewards happened much faster than I anticipated. We were able to pay down a lot of debt and increase our savings rapidly. We eliminated all credit cards except one that we use for travel, and we made a commitment to save up for big purchases. We actually froze our credit so that we wouldn’t be tempted. It’s just been amazing. It feels comforting and has really given me financial confidence I have never had both in my personal and business finances. We also teach these concepts to our children so that hopefully they can apply to their own lives when they leave the nest.
More fun - When you have less stuff, you have more space for adventure. For us, this has been greater freedom to travel. We love challenges, and we find it fun to travel with less. I love being able to pack for a trip in a few minutes. The kids are pros at traveling with backpacks. For our 40th birthday, my husband and I traveled to Greece for 10 days with only one backpack each. We learned a lot from this experience and can’t wait to do it again and get even more minimalist. Another unexpected bonus is that having a smaller space means we get to interact more with our family. We hang out together in the living room instead of all being spread around the house.
Paradigm Shift - The practice of minimalism is very counter-culture. It is an act of rebellion. Just like veganism, I feel like entering the world of minimalism completely changed my paradigm. I can question consumeristic practices and become more conscious and deliberate about whether I want to participate, and I don’t feel guilty if I choose not to. It has allowed me to let go of a lot of the “shoulds” and I can focus more on what is most important to me rather than getting caught up in the overspending/stress cycle.
If this all sounds appealing to you, you might be wondering where to start. There is no right or wrong way, but I will outline below how we did you might consider giving it a try.
How to start your minimalism journey:
Get clear on your “whys.” Why do you want to commit to starting a minimalism journey? What benefits do you want from these practices?
Have a conversation with your family and decide on initial goals.
Go room to room, take everything and put in a pile, then from that pile place into different piles: definitely keep, donate, sell, throw away, and box up. Keep what you LOVE to see daily, use frequently, or wear.
Put the boxed things away for at least a month and see if you miss or need any items. If not, then donate, sell, recycle, or throw them away.
Sentimental items can be tricky, and you have to decide the right way to approach these items. Old pictures and videos can be digitized.
Items that have been gifted to you can be difficult for some people to part with. Ask yourself: do you genuinely WANT it? If not, donate or sell it. If it IS very special and you love it, keep it! Otherwise, explore your emotions around it. Why do you feel obligated to keep it?
Keep going room by room until you have been through all the rooms in your house. It may take several cycles. You may need to ease into it bit by bit, depending on your comfort level.
Stop buying new things! If you purchase something for family or friends, consider making it consumable or experiences.
If you buy something new, make a commitment to eliminate an item in your house. This can be difficult and requires being very conscious of purchases.
Consider downsizing your home! If you have less space, you have less room for stuff.
Cancel subscriptions that no longer serve you, such as magazines. What do you not love or need anymore?
Another principle closely related to minimalism is essentialism. How do you spend your time and energy? What activities do you invest in? Can you DO less, and be MORE committed to what you do?
It may also be time to pay attention to relationships. Which relationships are the most important and joyful for you? Simply stop giving your time and energy to ones that don’t align with your vibration.
Minimalism is an ongoing process. Once you start, you will inevitably go through many cycles. Sometimes you may take a step back, but continue to practice being deliberate and notice when you are making decisions that aren’t aligning with your values.
There is no right or wrong way to be a minimalist. Make it work for you and your family. The key is to start being more thoughtful and deliberate about what you include in your life - does it bring you joy or detract from your life?
I admit that I am not perfect, and I am still growing and learning as a minimalist. There are still some areas that I aspire to do better.
Where I still want to improve:
Simplify my schedule and my career activities. I would like to become more essentialist but struggle with my constant desire to create and initiate new projects.
I tried project 333 to minimize my wardrobe, but I would like to create a beautiful and authentic capsule wardrobe that I feel proud of. This is still an area of evolution.
There are still items in my kitchen and bedroom that I can declutter and part with. It takes time for some things.
I still have way too much paperwork everywhere. I have tried many systems for minimizing paper and have yet not found the best approach for my life.
I would like to wean down my hair products to the most useful and essential, but this is definitely a work in progress.
I still have a ridiculous amount of makeup, even though I don’t wear makeup often! This is definitely one of the areas that have taken me longer to minimize.
I hope that this has been helpful and that it has given you some ideas and inspiration for your minimalist journey. Remember there is no right or wrong! Just get started and see how your life evolves. Below is a list of references that I found useful during my minimalist journey. Have fun, and enjoy the ride!
Resources
Books:
The Joy of Less by Francine Joy
Everything that Remains by Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus
Essentialism by Greg McKeown
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo
Documentary Film:
Minimalism: A Documentary About The Important Things (2015) Youtube, Netflix, Amazon Prime, iTunes, google play
Websites:
App:
Clutterfree (free trial for 7 days, then monthly subscription)
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