This weekend I read The Minimalists journey into minimalism. They broke it down into 21 days and explained minimalism to them isn’t getting rid of things for the sake of getting rid of them but to declutter your life.
It was an eye-opening read. They set forth their plan from the beginning where the should became a must. When something is a should in life, it’s not a high enough priority to get done. When something turns into a must then it will be done because it’s no longer optional. By changing something from should to must, it means you’re dedicated to doing it because you must do it.
They walk through their planning and packing all their worldly belongings and only unpacking what they needed as they needed it. They talked about getting support for their lifestyle choice, how to get rid of all the stuff they no longer needed and even how minimalism played into their healthy choices.
I am not headed down a route into minimalism myself. Though I have taken some of their practices and ideas to heart. After reading the 21 articles, I felt motivated to get up and sort through all of my clothing.
I made a donate and a trash pile. Anything in good shape that didn’t fit anymore is going to Goodwill this week. Anything in poor shape is being trashed.
Now that I’ve freed up space in my closet and dresser I am free to get new clothes that fit properly and have fewer holes in them.
I’ve also been going through all the various electronics I have lying around and selling what I can sell and preparing others to donate.
I hold on to many parts and items because I think I may need them someday. The truth is I rarely need them and they’re just taking up space in my apartment and in my life.
I am not trying to make any huge changes but I am focused on a series of small changes to improve my life. Decluttering is just one of those changes.