1. Encouragement and interest—'wow' they say, followed by a 'good on you'. Then there's some exploratory questions about what I'm doing and why. All good stuff as it serves to reinforce my reasoning whilst giving my response.
2. Confusion and dismissive—'I couldn't do that' people state, followed by a 'sounds a bit silly/odd/funny/batty to me'. Then there's usually a roll of the eyes or comment which rejects it as folly. All good stuff as it serves to reinforce my reasoning whilst giving my response.
A few people (before I've even started this decluttering) have commented on the fact my living room is so bare.
'Where's your stuff?' they ask (as basically my room consisted of a two seater sofa, a chair, a three seater sofa, a tv cabinet with a tv on, oh and a lamp).
I even remember years ago painting the walls in my room white much to my parents worry (as it looked like a 'hospital room' apparently).
So have I always been a closet minimalist?
If so, then this is my coming out!
And here's my personal reasons to go minimal (in no particular order) :
- I'm messy—having not much stuff means less things to leave lying around.
- Makes moving easy—looking to move again soon so lightening the load will help.
- Change is good—to quote a clever chap, "It's stasis that kills you off in the end, not ambition", (thank you Bono), I like change and want to keep challenging myself to be better.
- Feeling full—my life is so full at the moment so the need to create some tangible order will in no doubt impact into other aspects of my life.
- Cost—I'm not a cheapskate but a tad frugal. Cultivating this frugal attitude means asking the right questions when it comes to any purchases.
- Green—buying less stuff means less things being manufactured plus less waste going into the world.
- Intrinsic feelings—not to get too deep or anything but it just feels right.
In summary, my pursuit of a minimalist lifestyle means getting more not less out of this crazy thing called life.
What's your reasoning behind being minimal? How do people respond to you?
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I agree wholeheartedly. Easier to get up and go as well, whenever you need to.
ReplyDeleteHey take a leaf outta the kids books, they are so minimal, most of them are leaving vowels out of their sentences now lol
But seriously, eBay is your friend. I'm using it right now to declutter before I head to Singapore!
DM - thanks for popping and leaving a comment. Definitely will be looking at eBay as an option plus a combination of car boots and charity. Good luck in Singapore :-)
ReplyDeleteI love decluttering blogs. Like you, I have become inspired to be more minimalist lately. My primary goal is to get myself more organized and stop being such a flake. With less stuff maybe I'll finally find more focus, energy, and ambition. That's what I've heard anyway. It's been a slow process, over several months I've gotten rid of a lot of stuff but I still have much more stuff to declutter. Sometimes it's hard to know what to do with stuff like broken VCRs, TVs, old computers, and air conditioners. I don't think we can just throw them away. Sometimes I wish somebody with a truck would pull up and take all this junk away for me!
ReplyDeleteGood luck on your decluttering, I look forward to following your progress. :)
A - thanks for sharing your insights and good luck with your journey also :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm doing it to get ready for the next thing that's coming. I don't know what it is, but I'll be ready.
ReplyDeleteI get lots of comments about my life (people are generally curious), so this just goes into the pot.
I give a lot of my stuff to charity. Next big thing is the TV.
Keep it up!
Vici in Vienna
Vici - like you I'm eyeing the tv thinking exactly the same thing... ;-)
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