As our daily lives seem to be becoming more and more hectic, with so much to do and to take care of, I’ve been seriously considering becoming a minimalist. I’m inspired by photos of folks who can fit their entire belongings in just a small part of one room, although stacked up, and others who say that practicing minimalism leaves them free to enjoy the more important things and to enjoy life.
I can probably get my husband on board–at least on the surface. There is the fact that he has these huge ancient speakers and an old Apple Newton (the pre-tablet tablet), both of which don’t work, that is he holding on to for some reason. He complains a lot about having too much to do. The kids on the other hand, well they sometimes complain about not having enough to do although the idea of cleaning their rooms or helping outside with yard work don’t seem to fit the bill.
I’m starting first with my stuff, and maybe the rest of the family might get on board. I can already see that this will be a process, and I am still in the wanna be, baby minimalist stage. I’ve clean out my closet and drawers. Now 95 percent of what is in there is something that looks good and fits. The other five percent are some old t-shirts and shorts that I really should toss but continue to use around the house to save my “good” clothes. Ha.
I’m also de-cluttering my books and hope to get down to just one smallish bookcase. This is a hard thing for me to tackle, leading to frantic reading sessions to finish books so I can pass them on. But the minimalist part is that if after the first 10 pages a book doesn’t capture or inspire me, out it goes. There is little enough time to spend it on reading mediocre books when the world is filled with so many good ones.
That is the key to minimalism, isn’t it? To spend time, energy and resources on the things that are the best and the most worthwhile?
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