A NEW ADVENTURE FOR A NEW YEARThis past December I came across the new it thing: Minimalism. Everyone and their sister is talking about how to declutter quickly and create their capsule wardrobe. Trips to the donation center are weekly pass times. And I'm right with them, giddily following every blog I can get my hands on. I too have been bitten by the minimalism bug. I blame the library. The book was The Simple Living Handbook : Discover the Joy of a De-cluttered Life by Lorilee Lippincott. Quickly after reading this page-turner my evenings and weekends were consumed with every blog I could find about cleaning, decluttering and downsizing. My hours of obsessing on the topic brought me to the blog and film by Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus. AKA ‘The Minimalists.’ By reading these stories of how other people are living I have become so ecstatic, envious and eager to try it. And so, cliche alert! I’ve decided this is my year to try something new. A year to review my life and try to get my act together. Why now? It’s 2017 and my birthday is October 17. For some reason, it just feels different and exciting. 17-17. Like my golden year. I’m feeling well settled: married for 5 years, same employer for 5 years, in a house for two, and not yet ready for kids (although baby fever does kick in from time to time). And so, I’m trying to figure out what to put my energy towards.
What I’ve learned so far: attempting minimalism opens up a ginormous can of worms. Here are the topics that I plan to try out this year.
1. Declutter and pare down belongings. Warning: this simple idea leads to a major house clean-out taking way longer than you ever expected. 2. Stop buying things and save money. Why not live on less than you make? You can be debt free(yay!) and managing a monthly budget (boo). This one is tricky to say the least. 3. Eat a simple but healthy diet. There are SO many ideas and diets out there. It’s truly overwhelming how much they contradict each other. Most minimalist view minimal eating as vegetarianism. Or if God wouldn’t recognize it as something he created, they don’t eat it. But can I really give up bread? The other end of the spectrum of health is working out intensely 6 days a week on a high protein diet. And there’s everything in between. This one is going to be my biggest challenge, I can tell you now. 4. Simplify your wardrobe, which leads to needing fewer but more fashionable and versatile items and figuring out how to be trendy. And what the heck is my style anyway? 5. Simplify your schedule. Yes, I want to slow down, but I’d also like to avoid the awkward situation of disappointing my friends and coworkers when I say I need to ‘take a year off’ of the fun but stressful and TIME CONSUMING side jobs. I have not even attempted to start this one yet. In other words, minimalism is not so simple. It’s WAY more complex than I originally bargained for. In order to document and process the million and one goals I am setting for myself, I am starting this blog. Not that I actually expect anyone to read it. It’s just my way of figuring out if this new trend is something that could be a good fit for me. So here we go! 2017, the year of minimalism. Wish me luck. Other reading: The simple living handbook : discover the joy of a de-cluttered Life by Lippincott, Lorilee http://www.becomingminimalist.com/becoming-minimalist-start-here/ http://www.theminimalists.com/
2 Comments
Mary Ann
2/21/2017 09:09:03 pm
Yes! Cool! I always love when you blog :) you got this!
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Andrea
2/21/2017 09:23:41 pm
Omg yay! I've learned that I will never be a minimalist, but that I really do love to live by some of the same goals and standards to cut back on spending and up enjoyment of life.
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My name is Kendra and in 2017, I'm giving minimalism a go. Follow me as I work to declutter my house, my diet and my finances.
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