Sorry, but for a post about minimalism, this is going to be surprisingly long…
I’ve been working on this minimalism thing for a while now. You know, simplify – own less and make sure your possessions don’t own you? It seemed easy and exciting at first, and has been a pursuit of mine for almost 10 years.
I STARTED WITH THE SIMPLE THINGS – REGULAR, EVERYDAY POSSESSIONS.
I got rid of all my CDs because I have everything on iTunes and backed up, not to mention Spotify. DVDs, out – except for my classic Star Wars trilogy, the Godfather saga, and a couple others that I can’t find on any streaming services (Northern Exposure marathon anybody?). Speaking of streaming services – bye-bye cable TV and other unhealthy time sucks. I mean, did I really have to watch The Replacements again just because it was on? Books and magazines are out, too, in favor of a digital reader. I cut my wardrobe in half – then in half again, donated most of my tools, got rid of all those trinkets from high school and college, sold some now-empty furniture and old luggage, downsized to a smaller house with no yard and even got rid of a car since I work mostly from home and my wife walks to her office. This was about de-owning, not just de-cluttering. I wanted to have less to worry about.
NEXT CAME THE TIME COMMITMENTS.
I’ve tried to embrace the theory of pruning; cutting the weak, dead and dying so the few strong and living elements can grow stronger. That goes for activities, hobbies, exercise routines, and even friendships and acquaintances.
Clearly, I still have work to do when pruning my use of unnecessary words, though.
I set fewer goals in order to actually achieve them and I try not to multi-task because it doesn’t work. We got rid of debt, I work on eliminating negative thoughts, and I say ‘no’ a lot more. I spend less, stress less, and generally feel better. But it continues to be a process.
