Have Less, Be More – Minimalisim
by Corey Wells
Over the last few years I’ve slowly been taken with the concept of minimalism. The idea is simple… you do your best to “DownSize” your life. I started by downsizing my possessions. I looked at what I own and took out those things that I no longer use or I will never get around to using. This included, clothes, furniture, my computer equipment, and many other parts of my life. I’ve gone on to gradually free myself of more and more stuff and the results have been amazing. It’s something I can’t recommend enough.
I quickly learned that minimalism is a process. I started slowly by letting go of a few of my possessions and it felt great. Then I did another round and let go of even more. I just kept doing more and more until I finally felt like all that was left were the essentials.
You certainly don’t need to be extreme in the begaining and for some there is no reason to ever be extreme with your minimalizing efforts. However, I believe that almost everyone could benefit from exploring this subject in more detail.
One of the side benefits I have found is the joy in giving my possessions away. I’ve done my best to give my belongings to people in need. It’s a fantastic feeling that quickly became addicting. Giving away things that were collecting dust on my shelves left me feeling good about the process.
There are many great sources to learn more about Minimalisim. Here are some of the websites I read on a daily basis:
Zen Habits
Mnmlist
Minimal Mac
Another great place to get a running start on Minimalisim is by reading a fantastic book by Leo Babauta. It covers everything you would want to know about Minimalism.
I can’t recommend this book enough. You can find out about it here:
The Simple Guide to a Minimalist Life
Update: After posting this I received lots of feedback on twitter. One reply I thought would be important to address. A twitter user replied to me with, “Clearly you are NOT married…” Well, I am married. In addition to being married I have a 5 year old son and a 1 1/2 year old daughter. So I’m very well aware that not everyone in your family will enjoy your minimalism efforts.
However, once I started to make the effort to downsize my life my family soon followed. My son came to me with a pile of his old toys and said he wanted to give these away to someone that would use them. My wife cleared her desk of everything but her computer. She also cleared out my daughters room of anything unnecessary. Slowly our house transformed. So, yes, eventually my whole family got involved in the process. This many not be the experience for everyone, but it was for me.
If this is something that sounds interesting to you don’t be afraid to give it a try. You may be surprised by your family’s reaction, once they see the results. Minimalism has many benefits and I’d suggest you read some of the posts at Zen Habits or Mnmlist for further tips.
Also, please leave comments on this post. We’ve had a great discussion on twitter and I’d love your feedback on the blog as well.
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I love this post. I have come to realization that less is really more. And that may sound like something a poor person says but it’s true. I was always so wrapped up in consumption. I had to buy or be part of the latest and greatest “things” and they just end up cluttering my life both physically and mentally. I don’t need a complicated life. I’m much happier now that I’m scaling everything back.
I certainly can’t call myself a minimalist– I try to purge things that are no longer needed, but am too much of a pack rat and sentimentalist (I’ve never ever worn this shirt in the 3 years I’ve owned it but it was bought for me by my sister when she was traveling so I HAVE to keep it!!! I realize how ridiculous this is, but still hard to fight!). However, I have noticed that people tend to assume that having kids will mean tons of stuff (like the assumption that being married means you couldn’t possibly be careful with your packing), and it doesn’t have to be that way. I have a 19 months old son and we probably have more toys and stuff than necessary, but I have been very conscious about trying to be careful in choosing his clothes, toys, etc, to be a small group, but one that is valuable, in good condition, and is used nicely. It’s so easy to fall into the trap of feeling like you need 101 things when in the end you only really need about 3. So I try to be mindful of that, and continue to work on getting rid of things I no longer (or ever did) need.
I want to share with you. I am 55. My parents died in Europe, I have no more family. I gave all the things which my parents were gathering during their whole life (since 1945 years after war) to the hospital, to the old people-care-houses, to my friends. I sold my very small flat in Warsaw, got rid of my precious books (from 2000 I left only 200 the best ones; I was an editor and proofreader and linguist. I got rid of my old clothing. My family pictures (father was a photographer-amateur) and 200 books I came to USA to marry my fiance – older man, writer, poet, after his past active hippie and spiritual life in California. He has overwhelming number of things of all kinds. I feel like living in a public dump around. I have long arguments with him when I want to throw away his old torn pants or towel or dirty 20 years old blanket. And every 7-14 days he goes to yard sales and buys again old stuff like scissors, saws, garden tools, wheel barrows, dried paints , old computer parts, office supplies, paper, old straw huts and so on and so on and so on.and always more and more used books because he wants to sell these books for higher price. When? Who knows. And we never had a garage sell. I am so frustrated,,, Every space in the garden or front yard or patio there are hundreds of old nasty pieces of junk. And he does not listen to me that he should free the space for new energy coming. HELP……..!!!!
Well, I think
it is like the trumpets
wanting everyone in the orchestra
to be trumpets
We are not all alike
minimalism
swarms inner growth in you
and many others
but not everyone
I am a collector
I garage sale
and make piles
yesterday
I had the pleasure
of taking thirty pieces of brand new felt
in many colors
(that I had purchased on a garage sale
and paid for without knowing what I would use
them for)
to my second grade classroom
to give each child
a piece of felt
we had had a story
this week where two characters
were picking out hats
one liked the felt ones,
one liked the straw ones.
my students
don’t know a lot about the exteriors
of necessity
but if you mention jail
they all know someone
friend, parent or uncle or aunt or grandma
in jail
and how they got there
collecting feels great..
i watched all day
as they held their felt pieces to their faces,
put them on their heads,
put them under their shirts like dikkies,
rolled them up into periscopes,
and kept asking “We get to keep these?”
“Can we really take these home?”
they found out what felt was
and how it was spelled the same
as when you say, “I felt mad.”
I read an article
this past summer
how minimalism
is the new middle class.
You might meditate on that idea.
janaree nore
nebraska
54 years old
taught school 30 years
and still only make $50,000.
lives in a duplex
which I rent
and fill up with stuff
that I buy at garage sales
of people getting rid of all their stuff
Good to read this post…i love it.
Happiness is living simple life in a simple way…and most of all giving value to what God has given to you and giving back praises to Him.
in the process of doing this myself and i know what you mean about how good it feels to give things away. i think it feels better than it felt to buy the stuff in the first place.
Regarding the children/family issue: Leo Babauta himself has children too – 5 I think!! I’m pretty sure he addresses that either in his book or on his site somewhere. I was really excited when I realised that because I’m from a ‘family’ too and it’s nice to read something from someone who you know is in your situation and is doing it.
But, there are a lot of minimalist books out written by single people and of course what they write won’t all be relevant if you are a family but you can adjust it to your own situation. They still have plenty to offer. Things like that are never one size fits all. Even as a family you are still a different family to the next one.
You can definitely see your expertise in the work you write. The world hopes for even more passionate writers such as you who aren’t afraid to say how they believe. Always follow your heart.