Hello and welcome! I talked about Minimalism here a few times already but I never really started from the beginning and tell you how I encountered reducing my personal belongings and how my journey towards minimalism is currently going. The decision to become a minimalist somehow changed my life. I look different on material stuff, the worth of memories and experiences, and my consumer behaviour changed massively.
Why Minimalism?
You may wonder why I was so hooked up with this new lifestyle. Searching for happiness by removing everything you once held dear? Yes exactly. The concept of only owning what sparks joy (Any Marie Kondo fans here?) you are able to surround yourself only with things you love. Eliminating the rest will help you to clear your cluttered mind. But decluttering your belongings is only one side of the coin. Suddenly I thought about all the purchases I do and I thought about all the money that I wasted on material things that never had a bigger use for me. Quickly I threw them away or sold them on eBay. Words can’t describe the feeling of freedom I had afterwards. By now I mostly own the things that I love and there is almost no clutter left in my home. I really love this state and I keep on decluttering to keep it that way.
But how did I get to this point?
This journey started when I was living abroad .I got in touch with the minimalist lifestyle from watching Youtube videos where people talked about owning only 17 pieces of clothing. And this was amazing. During that time I was living out of what fitted in my suitcase. I felt like a pro. At the end of this trip, I went to Cambodia for two weeks with only two small bag packs. Isn’t this true minimalism?
Related: How Minimalism Improved my Traveling
After our time in Asia passed I was looking forward to living a decluttered life in Germany. I was ready to sell my stuff and reduce everything to the volume of a travel bag. But then reality hit me hard.
Awakening
I came back to my room at my grandmother’s place and I was so so shocked. There was so much that I thought I hold dear. I started to declutter. And then I decluttered again. And again. There was still so much left. So I decluttered again. And it was still so much left. It was a never-ending story. Every time I thought I am done there was another box with clutter left. It was truly frustrating. But I pushed through it and now I am at the point where I own mostly things that spark joy. Of course, there is also something left that doesn’t really spark joy but that is still quite useful.
Learning How to Own Less
And when I finally decluttered my stuff (more or less) I still had a lot of things to learn. This was the next step of my journey towards minimalism.
The most important lesson was to learn how to own less. Of course, I was proud of myself when I first saw my cupboards being empty but nevertheless, somehow I wanted to fill empty areas again. I thought about the clothes I want to have and the stuff I could place where actually nothing could have been. This is something normal I guess as we are trained to give in consumerism at a very young age. So decluttering was only one side of this coin. The other side is changing consumerist habits that you are trained to have.
Before minimalism, I would say that shopping is a hobby of mine. Now I don’t do any shopping tours anymore. If I buy something it is something I really love and adore and that I am sure of that it sparks a lot of joy!
And What Now
By now my journey towards minimalism hasn’t ended! I get some declutter spleens every other day and reorganize all my things that don’t spark joy anymore. And afterwards I feel happier and better.
And that’s another important lesson to learn: minimalism is a journey and not one huge declutter. You have to continue decluttering for the sake of staying sane. I never would have thought this but I rely on the effect of decluttering and I feel bad when my drawers start to fill up again. A short declutter will do the job then and I feel happy again.
What About You?
Why are you reading this? I bet it is because you are already interested in changing your life and consumerism habits. And let me tell you, the first step towards it is decluttering. Rethinking your habits comes second.
And I promise you that you will gain so much from it! You will save a lot of money, gain much more headspace and feel freely and light. And that’s all I have to say!
Would you consider becoming a minimalist? Have you already started? What are your thoughts about it? Please let me know in the comments!
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