MY MINIMALIST MANTRA

 Many people ask me how minimalist living has changed the way I see the world.  COME, JOIN ME ON THE JOURNEY!

THE BEGINNING

My minimalist journey started five years ago when my third son, Nathan, was preparing to leave for the first time to Brazil and I had to pack his suitcases. I happened to chance upon the KONMARI method at that time and applied her folding techniques effectively to his clothes. 

I bought her book and although, being Catholic, I couldn't brings myself to 'thank the items' I was donating or trashing, I found that as the spaces began clearing up, my stress levels started going down. And for that I thanked the Lord. 

Next, a friend, seeing my posts about Konmari on Facebook, sent me information about PROJECT 333. I was immediately drawn to it. I have successfully managed to hold onto clothes that are just enough to fill one carry-all suitcase. I do have extras stored in a box but only as replacement for the ones I presently use. This box is transparent so it deters any spending sprees my whimsical self might desire to indulge in. 


Living a SIMPLE LIFESTYLE is not as simple as you think. It calls for lots of soul searching. One realizes just what ATTACHMENT means. Sentimental reasons always keeps me from throwing stuff away and the 'just in case' items still haunt my spaces. So, no, I'm not there yet.

We hope in the near future to move to a smaller home. I can't wait to pack for that 'party'. The Minimalists suggest doing a fake one to get rid of items, but somehow it doesn't resonate with me. I'd rather just shift basic items to the new place and work from there.

In life, ENVY and COVETOUSNESS, both capital sins, cause us to fill our homes with such a lot of unwanted junk. When we watch advertisements or visit posh homes, we wish.... Then that wish translates into an inordinate desire, an obsession and finally we yield to the thought and spend our money on the trifle. 

Look at what you have in your homes and I am sure you will blush with shame. My blush bring-on-ers are the air-conditioning units in my home. Initially, I put one with the excuse that our room got unbearably hot during summer. Then I put the next one in the children's room because it didn't seem fair for only me and my husband to enjoy the comforts. Now, neither is being used because bills are so high and servicing costs a pile of money.


Joshua Becker suggests trying the Rule of One as far as possible to minimize. One sweater, one jacket, one pan, one pressure cooker, etc. What will your ROO list look like? He also firmly believes, as do all minimalists, that there should be 'a place for everything and everything in its place'. I have been trying the latter with very good success in my kitchen and wardrobe, the two places I have full control over.

Because I have limited utensils, I need to wash them after every meal or I won't have any to cook the next meal with. If I had many, I know I would just pile them up to wash once in the night and grumble my way through it. Since I have a few, each has its place in the kitchen. I know where they are kept so even if someone else needs to use them, I can direct them without leaving my work at hand in another room. 

In my wardrobe too, it's the same story. One cupboard holds all my personal belongings. My formal wear is separated from casual wear by an organizer and my lounge wear from the latter by another organizer. I haven't bothered to stitch a formal outfit for any occasion whatsoever after I 'had to' few years ago for our silver wedding. And believe me, I still think I have too much. 😭

Keeping crockery and cutlery for guests that might come once in a while, hanging onto an electric kettle just in case, hoarding an extra set of cups and saucers to replace the set that never seems to break, buying towels in ten different shades and bedsheets that 'caught the eye', splurging on books by the dozen just to complete a set. Its time to pull up our socks and see our spending for what it is - mindless and meaningless. 

I stopped ONLINE SHOPPING, I stopped going to jumble sales. I stopped BUYING. I started shopping my home. And if I didnt find it there, I started looking at other people's homes. No shame there. "Hi, X.  I need a saucepan. Can I borrow yours?". In fact, I hope one day to start a group that will be willing to share their goods with each other. Baking goods, cooking utensils, crockery, cutlery, tools, etc.

  Wouldn't That Be

 A Great Game-changer!

In conclusion, all I can say is that minimalism is a journey that ends only with death. We strive for perfection just as we do in all other areas of our life. I am happy with the process and what gives me intense joy is to be able to use the time, that I previously would spend constantly cleaning out junk, in a more fruitful manner -  to know, love and serve God and his people.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

WRAPPED IN RUBBISH.

Image
 Look at these two items. Both are oats but are priced differently. The obvious choice, if you are not brand conscious, will be to purchase the lower priced one in terms of unit price. The Lion oats, however, has a ziploc bag packaging so it can be reused whereas to reuse the Saffola oats one we might need to use a clip or rubber band.  Now look at the item below.  What do you think about the packaging? Reusable. Recyclable? If they were all priced the same and you were not brand conscious or you knew all three were of the same quality, which one would you prefer to purchase? Think about it and leave your answer in the comments below.  With supermarkets springing up at every corner and online shopping taking the world by storm, it was inevitable that packaging had to become the number one concern of manufacturers.  How do I get my goods to the customer safely so he is satisfied? When he sees it, he should feel that he is getting a product that is not contaminated. So packaging evolved
Read more

How to Upgrade Your Lifestyle Without Spending an Extra Penny

Image
How to Upgrade Your Lifestyle Without Spending an Extra Penny by Joshua Becker Fifteen years ago, in Vermont, I discovered minimalism. While cleaning a garage full of clutter, my neighbor changed my life with a couple of sentences. She said, “That’s why my daughter is a minimalist. She keeps telling me I don’t need to own all this stuff.” The scene that played out in front of me changed my life. My garage, full of dirty clutter, had taken up hours of my morning, while my 5-year old son played alone on the swing-set in the backyard. I realized the need for change. All the things I owned were not contributing to a better life. Even worse, they were keeping me from it. My wife and I, along with our two young kids, embarked on a journey to remove all the unnecessary possessions from our home and life. And with it,  came countless benefits. Real things like:  more money , more time,  more focus , and  less stress . One of the most surprising benefits I discovered along the way was the abil
Read more

EMBRACE EMPTY SPACES

Image
These past months, I have been busy packing to move to our new home. Since I cannot take a lot of stress, I decided to do my packing in stages.  Right at the beginning, about two months back when renovation work was underway, I went through all the stuff I had in my drawers, cupboards, etc that I didn't think I would need for the next two months. I call them my RARELY USED ITEMS.  I was able to purge quite a lot of stuff from this category very easily as I wasn't in love with them, didn't really see much use for them and knew that I wouldn't miss them. I had to find new homes for some of them too. So it was good that I started early.  There were quite a number of things, however, that I didn't use but had sentimental attachment to. I put these in a separate box to decide later about.  In one box, I put all my replacement items - duplicate things that I might need if what I used presently broke.  And so I managed to par down my possessions quite a bit. I felt relief,
Read more