Typically, I like to incorporate some sort of “life lesson” into my blog posts. Something I truly believe in or tips that could be useful to someone else. But for this blog post, I would like to share / recommend a new lifestyle I am interested in attempting. Let me begin with where I got this inspiration from.
The other day I was exhausted. After work I had to run some errands, I enjoyed a sit-down dinner and then came home to do some laundry and put clothes away. And I’m not exaggerating when I say I have a lot of clothes. After this daunting task I hopped into bed and flipped through Netflix trying to find something different to watch and decided on a documentary called “Minimalism: A Documentary about the Important Things.”
The documentary features two men, Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus, who have climbed the corporate ladder just to find they were still unhappy and dissatisfied. Although they achieved such success – they didn’t know when it would ever be good enough. So they quit their jobs and decided to live a minimalist lifestyle.
So what is a minimalist lifestyle? Minimalism is keeping only the things you need and getting rid of the things you don’t need. Immediately I thought of my own closet – the 40 pairs of shoes I have, the shirts I haven’t worn in years and probably won’t ever wear, etc. And I figured I couldn’t be the only one with this problem.
But it’s important to realize that minimalism is much more than clothes. It’s the houses we live in, the cars we purchase, the constant need to have the latest and greatest. So in this documentary, Joshua and Ryan get rid of what they do not need. Extra clothing, furniture, and various personal items all thrown out or donated. They even downgrade their living spaces from a large house to something more manageable and realistic.
Nothing more than they need, and nothing less. And both of them expressed how freeing it felt and how their stress went away. There’s less to clean and less to maintain and each item they do keep, serves a purpose.
This made me take a look at my own life and realize all of the stuff I keep that is not a necessity. And truthfully causes more clutter than usefulness. The more stuff I have, the more overwhelmed I feel. Whereas with this idea of minimalism I would only have the things I need. I would only have the clothes I love, rather than the ones I like. I would spend my money on experiences instead of things.
Although the concept is fairly simple, it will be interesting to see how hard it is to say goodbye to the items that no longer serve a purpose. I plan on making a gradual transition to see if this is a lifestyle that is truly as rewarding as people claim it to be. So be sure to read my next blog where I will give an update on my progress. In the meantime, take a look at your own life and belongings and see where you can afford to cut back.
