Our Slow Journey into Minimalism
Perspective from the husband's view
Minimalism.
Over the last several years my wife and I have started a slow journey toward minimizing our lives. I will not lie, some days it feels like I am pulling teeth. She tends to have way more attachments to material possessions, whereas I tend to have very few attachments to things. As of right now, we have a four-year-old daughter who has been given many toys, stuffed animals, and random items that well-meaning relatives love to give her. It gets overwhelming, very overwhelming when we get rid of some of these items and before we know it, the items have doubled. Some days I look around our house and I feel mentally exhausted when I see how much stuff we have laying around. As Americans, we tend to fall into thinking we need all this stuff, when in reality we don't need most of it. Can we please get back to the basics? Americans get way too caught up in stuff.
Stuff, stuff, stuff!
We don't need a bazillion different outfits. We don't need a kitchen full of Tupperware items (sorry Tupperware). We don't need the latest technologically advanced phone. We don't need the most expensive and greatest kids toys. If you're a parent, and you've bought your kids Christmas presents, only to find that they enjoyed playing with the cardboard boxes more than the actual presents that you bought, doesn't this bother you just a little bit? I know I am not the only one who has noticed this!
Okay, I will stop ranting for now, however I would like to share a few things that I have learned (or, am still learning) about the process of minimizing. Here goes:
1. Evaluate what you have.
The first step for minimizing your stuff is to find out how much, or how many of a specific item you actually have. If you have not watched the Netflix series of Marie Kondo's minimizing techniques, then I highly recommend it. She helps people lay out all their clothes so that they can see how much they actually have. My wife and I have done this several times and would recommend people to go through their clothes several times a year and cull out what they are not using. I tell my wife all the time that if she has an item of clothing that doesn't fit now, then she should get rid of it. Please don't keep an insane amount of clothes that are ten sizes smaller than you currently are able to even wear. Not only is it depressing every time you look at those smaller clothes that you long to fit into, but it just takes up too much space. If you happen to start losing weight (because it's so easy....not), then treat yourself to buying new clothes that actually fit and then get rid of the old ones that are too loose. It's not rocket science! My point is, don't keep bags and bags of clothes that serve you no purpose in the present phase of your life.
2. Don't rush yourself or your family members.
I struggle so much with this tip, which means I am still trying to learn it at present. Commonly, in families or couples who start minimizing their lives, there will be one person who adopts the philosophy of having less quicker than the other family members. In my case, I am the quick adopter, and my wife and daughter are a little slower in being ready to get rid of some of their material possessions. Some days a look at the tiny stack of get-rid-of-items that my wife has worked on and I wonder why she isn't getting rid of more things, but I have to remember that she may need more time to let go of what she is getting rid of. My daughter has an insane amount of toy babies and stuffed animals, most of which she doesn't even play with, however, I have to give her time to decide when she is ready to get rid of her toys.
3. Focus on one section of the house at a time.
Have you ever started going through things in your bedroom and then somehow you end up cleaning out a small junk drawer in your kitchen? I don't know if this is just a unique problem for my wife and I, or maybe there are others out there who get distracted when they try to organize/minimize their lives, but it happens to us ALL the time. Once we get in the zone to go through a certain section of our house, then I will desperately try to keep us from deviating from finishing what we originally started. The other day we were going through one closet of linens and we did fairly well at staying on track in going through each item, categorizing, and reorganizing everything. Proud moment!
These are just a few things that I am learning through the process of minimizing our lives and home. I look forward to learning more about minimizing so I encourage everyone who is on a similar journey to write your own thoughts so that I can learn from you too! Happy minimizing everyone!
About the Creator
Rowan Finley
Father. Academic Advisor. Musician. Writer. Aspiring licensed mental health counselor. My real name is Jesse Balogh.
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