Minimalism, and the minimalist lifestyle

[Ripple]

It's only fair, since I started this topic, that I should be willing to share more as well.  Which is not easy, nor pleasant, so I trust you'll bear with me.

 

My mom was a hoarder.  At the time, I didn't know that there was a term for it - but looking back, it's easy to identify.  And I'm reading an article about hoarding, which has been eye-opening in a number of ways.  I'm not necessarily concerned about being a hoarder, although like many folks, in the face of an impending move, I have been forced to face a reality of "holy carp, how did I acquire this much stuff?  When did I last wear that t-shirt?  And why did I need four different spatulas again?"  Reading through the excerpt, there are some points that I can't relate to, and others that hit way too close to home for comfort.  (If anyone's interested: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126386317)

 

The minimalist lifestyle is like any other life change - if you don't understand what led you to the point you felt you needed a change, you're doomed to repeat your past mistakes.  That's true of eating, of exercising, of relationships - whatever.  Which is a big part of what prompted me to do a fair amount of reading on the topic, and related subjects.

 

Have you seen Children of Hoarders? Their panel at the Institute for Challenging Disorganization conference last year was the talk of the conference. (I don't work with hoarding populations so I missed the panel, but after hearing the reviews I'm kicking myself for skipping.) Their website has a wealth of resources and support options if that is something you want to look into.

 

(I have more to add on this overall topic later, but I'm running out the door...) 

[TMedina]

Thanks for the head's up - I'll definitely look into it.

[kaelvan]

I forget where I read it, but each day get rid of 3 things. Which seems more easier than doing it all at once.

[TMedina]

Or ease into it with one every other day.    (baby steps, right? )

[Omega v1.1]

I forget where I read it, but each day get rid of 3 things. Which seems more easier than doing it all at once.

 

The Minimalists have a 30 day game where you get rid of one thing on day 1, 2 on day 2, 3 on day 3 and so on.

 

It starts off easy...

[TMedina]

Yeah, no - I'd lose that game very quickly.  

[Omega v1.1]

The other hardcore approach they have involves you packing up everything you own and only unpacking stuff as and when you need it.

 

After 21 days, dispose of everything that's left packed unless you really think you can't do without it.

[TMedina]

Their approach is more "all in" than most first-timers are willing to do.  It's a gradual process, learning to disengage from your stuff and viewing it rationally and objectively.  

 

Speaking for myself, I have to pare it down to simplest terms, with equal parts sarcasm and cajoling, before I realize I don't need "this thing", that I don't really want "this thing", and there are plenty of people who could benefit from receiving "this thing".  

 

And once I've gone through the process of "letting go", I've achieved the practical result of eliminating "this thing" from my life, but also understanding the role it played in my life, versus the misguided priorities I assigned to it. So hopefully, the process becomes easier and more natural as it goes on.

 

Mind you, the most recent "thing" was a box of socks I found squirreled away "just in case", along with extra pairs of lounging shorts that serve no practical purpose except as backups to the other lounging shorts I have.  Yeah, it's a gradual learning curve. o.O

[TMedina]

Suppose you need something that you're pretty sure is at the bottom of a box, but you're not certain which one? Then you have to UN-pack everything until you find it, the RE-pack it all again when it shows up

 

yeah. no.

 

Heh.  I need to do that with some of my stuff, and then do a detailed packing list and tape it to the outside.

[CrackerWatson]

This is a very timely post.

 

My gf and I were discussing peoples houses and found it weird that some of our friends have literally nothing on show other than their basic furniture. But we ourselves both like trinkets and pictures and stuff.

 

We like the fact the visitors to our house get I idea of us form what they see, everything is neat and tidy but we still have a lot of stuff.

 

However I know there are still areas I could improve. I have hundreds of books, some piled in my spare room and some boxed in my loft, I have loads of DVDs and now that I live with my gf we discovered that we have loads of duplicates...so a clear out is over due here.

 

The part that I am finding most difficult is some of the boxes of stuff that was made during the move...this is the bits that I find the hardest to get rid off...little collectable bits that were with collectors editions of video cassettes (the video is long gone but I still have the rest)...little bits and pieces that take me back to a time or place...I wouldn't put them on display but at the same time I don't want to part with them...damn my brain!!!

[kaelvan]

I have that problem with parting with things that have memories involved

 

http://www.becomingminimalist.com/how-to-simplify-your-stuff-and-honor-your-memories/

[kaelvan]

http://greatist.com/happiness/hoard-no-more-art-throwing-stuff-away

[TMedina]

I like that article.

 

I've always said "cleaning is easy; organizing is hard."  Cleaning is, really, a matter of putting things in their proper place - followed by dusting, mopping, washing, rinsing, and other verbs.  Sometimes the proper place is the trash, sometimes it's hanging up your jacket in the closet.

 

Organizing is the draining, mind-numbing, and utterly exhausting task of trying to figure out how and where to put your stuff.  Once you know where something belongs, it becomes so much easier to put something away.

 

Unless, of course, you're lazy like me and have a bad habit of procrastinating.  But one step at a time.

[Ripple]

I like that article.

 

I've always said "cleaning is easy; organizing is hard."  Cleaning is, really, a matter of putting things in their proper place - followed by dusting, mopping, washing, rinsing, and other verbs.  Sometimes the proper place is the trash, sometimes it's hanging up your jacket in the closet.

 

Organizing is the draining, mind-numbing, and utterly exhausting task of trying to figure out how and where to put your stuff.  Once you know where something belongs, it becomes so much easier to put something away.

 

Unless, of course, you're lazy like me and have a bad habit of procrastinating.  But one step at a time.

 

 

Absolutely this. I always talk to my clients about the fact that they are going to be making, literally, thousands of decisions during the course of our work together. Every space we organize represents touching every. single. item. that lives in that space and making an active decision on whether to keep or discard that item. If the item is kept, another decision about where it should live has to be made. If an item is discarded, another decision about HOW to discard must be made: give away, donate, recycle, or trash. 

[fleaball]

I'm pretty good about not buying too much stuff, but I certainly have accumulated way too much. There's no way I could be that person that lives with 100 total possessions. But I do want to get rid of a lot of it to prepare for the mythical day I move out of my parents' house. x_x (And somewhat morbidly, if I drop dead I don't want anyone to have to deal with all my crap on top of everything else.) 

 

For the last 6-week challenge getting rid of 100 things was one of my goals. In 5 minutes I had a list of 40 things that could go. And I got rid of exactly 0. The hardest thing for me is figuring out how to get rid of things as it's all in good condition. I don't want to throw out 3 perfectly good lava lamps, but will someone actually buy them if I put them on eBay? The paddles and gifts from my fraternity aren't quite reusable but I certainly don't want them anymore. Et cetera. So it all just winds up sitting around and pissing me off. (And yeah, some of it is laziness. I know there are several shelters in the area that I could give my old clothes and such to, but I've never actually looked for them.)

[TMedina]

As part of my culling, I started collecting water bottles from my pile of stuff and...wow.  Granted, all practical, all bought on sale, and I don't know how or why I have 13 different Nalgene bottles - aside from the two I use regularly.

 

I'm keeping five, for various reasons, but that still leaves eight water bottles to be donated to a local homeless encampment.  By all rights I should give away the entire pile, but, well, I'm still working up to that point.

 

[Heidi]

Nice, TMedina. And timely, too. People forget to donate water bottles in the winter, but they are still needed.

[Heidi]

You know, Martin Luther King Jr Day of Service is coming up on January 19.

I bet we could all find something worth donating from our stuff to get rid of.

[kaelvan]

You know, Martin Luther King Jr Day of Service is coming up on January 19.

I bet we could all find something worth donating from our stuff to get rid of.

What would be worthy of donating? I feel like lot of my stuff is just crap (sorry books, but some of you look like hell)

[Heidi]

The various animal shelters usually are happy to receive stained but otherwise serviceable towels and blankets. Call first to verify.

[TMedina]

Oooh, new website, Unfreak your habitat, courtesy of TeaLeafLibrarian!

[Dradis]

I'm glad i found this thread, i've got some tips from it already.

 

Here is my story and the one good tip i sort of made up myself:

 

In the summer i put my 3 bed house up for sale. A 3 bed house that was full of furniture and "stuff". Unknown to others my plan was to propose to my girlfriend in the US (i'm in the UK) and to move back in with my mum temporarily. There i would have the use of 1 bedroom. 

It took me from early june end of october to whittle my "stuff" down to manageable levels to get it into the bedroom, and even now its still too full for my liking.

Often i would look at a category of "stuff" and think "I don't know where to begin" or "I want to keep all of this". The way i got around this was to just get rid of something. The next time you come to it its easier. Its like my recklessness for throwing things out was layered and every time i did it i uncovered another layer.

 

Now i'm still minimising as at some point in the not so distant future (or distant future based on US immigration so far) i need to shift the things i want to keep to a different continent. The more i have, the more it will cost.

[Dradis]

I'll alert the Border Patrol, and rest assured that we'll get a Drone with your name on it to keep an eye on you

 

I wouldn't be surprised if the NSA has already hacked your phone [why wait till you're here, right?]

 

It's ok, my phone is clean other than the odd profanity. I'm security cleared by the british government, that counts for something right? Right?!?! Probably not. 

 

Anyway, i digress....

[Heidi]

 I'm security cleared by the british government, that counts for something right? Right?!?! Probably not. 

 

 

You might think that. I couldn't possibly comment.

[kaelvan]

I'm not at Liberty to comment on that

 

You might think that. I couldn't possibly comment.

Omg are you guys part of NSA? NOOOOO!!! I knew there was agents among us. I should of listened to myself.