First of all, I just have to say that being a minimalist does not mean that you have to live in an empty apartment with nothing but a few chairs and a dining room table.
There is a widespread range of minimalists out there.
With that said, let's begin :)
I have for all my adult life been a person who doesn't like to gather or have a lot of things.
It's wasn't until I watched the Netflix documentary Minimalism with Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus a few years ago that it really clicked.
Minimalism is about making conscious decisions. To not consume the unnecessary and to think about if you really need the things you buy.
To downsize instead of upgrading with every pay-check.
My Minimalistic journey
I'm in no way an extreme minimalist. But I prefer to have less than more.
I have cleaned out our storage in the basement a couple of times and will continue doing so until there are only a few boxes in there. My goal is to have at most 5 boxes in the basement.
I'm not a sentimental person so giving away toys and old clothes are no problem for me. I do keep a few single things that have a real emotional value to me.
When I buy things I always question myself, do I need this or is it just a craving for something new? Do I already have something similar to this?
The general Swede have things valued around 3 000-5 000 dollars in storage. That is a family vacation.
Why do we hoard and gather things?
Many of us put an emotional value on things. There is nothing wrong with that.
But we also need to start questions ourselves, do I really need to keep this?
Why am I not cleaning out the garage? The answer to that could be so many different things.
Lack of time, no energy and so on.
We often think that we need things that we do not need, keep things way to long and then it get's too much to simply clean it out.
Find a way that suits you (Photo from pexels)
Find your branch of minimalism
Minimalism is all about starting to making an informed and consious choice while shopping.
If you want to be more environmentally friendly you can follow a few of my tips.
Clean out in stages
You don't need to get rid of everything in one clean out. Let it take time so you change the way you think. Otherwise it's really easy to fall back into the consumer mentality again.
Find your own pace and do small Clean outs from time to time. Start with drawers and closets and work your way through your house or apartment. You will feel so much better with fewer things to organize and keep track of.
Do I really need that? (Photo from pexels)
Start questioning yourself
Start to question yourself, do I really need this thing? Or is it just a craving for something new? This is probably the hardest thing to do since it means you need to get aware of your feelings and start questioning them.
A lot of people shop to make feel happy.
That is why you need to questions yourself and why it's so hard. Being aware of feelings is always hard, but it is also rewarding in the aspect of self-development.
Watch Minimalism
Look up the documentary minimalism to see their thoughts about the minimalistic lifestyle. I promise you it will be worth it.
Your closet don't need to look like this (Photo from pexels)
Make a 100 things challenge
Start by cleaning out 100 things you don't need.
Old boxes and packaging do not count. ;)
Old make-up, clothes, shoes, decoration things and so on.
I hope this helps you live a life with fewer things and more joy
Let me know your thoughts on minimalism :)