Getting Started

Photo courtesy of Benjamin.

Time and time again I have culled through our possessions. Each time it got a little easier to let things go. It’s like ripples in a pond created by a tossed stone. The items far away from me (the outer rings) were easier to let go because there was less emotional attachment. But the closer I got to the inner rings of possessions, the ones closer to my heart, the more difficult it became. Thankfully, with practice, I kept getting better at letting things go. Even though I kept getting closer to my heart with each examination of our things, I was growing into the ability to make those decisions with each small step.

That’s why it took us 7 years to get to where we are today. I took the slow route. Any other route would have been way outside of my comfort zone and not at all in accordance with my nature. Taking it at this slow and deliberate pace is what allowed me to succeed. The thing that I love about simple, intentional living [aka: minimalism] is that it’s not about the number of things we own, or even what we own. It’s also not about the pace at which we progress. Some cull their possessions seemingly overnight. Others, like me, take years. Regardless, it works... because it’s not actually about the items at all.

This lifestyle is about mindful, purposeful living, questioning the status quo, and knowing ourselves. It’s the heart-work, the changes that happen inside of us by engaging in these practices (and it does take practice) that makes the difference. In doing so, we remove the non-essential and replace it with the essential. It looks different for everyone. For me, the non-essential includes any item that I don’t use regularly or really love. It also includes a lot of media: like an excess of television, movies or internet. The essential includes enough personal time to pursue health and hobbies like reading and writing as well as enough relational time to connect with those I treasure most.

In the end, what matters is that we begin. The first step towards a fullness of life outside of the work-consume cycle of the American Dream may be big or it may be small, but what counts is the movement. By initiating the movement, the momentum and rhythm will come. And with practice, each step becomes easier as the heart fills with excitement and hope.

Our Minimalist Story

Benjamin and I stumbled into minimalism quite accidentally. In January of 2006 we were visiting with some friends and sharing together how we had each spent our weekends. One friend mentioned that she spent her Saturday cleaning out and organizing a hall closet. Inexplicably, that simple admission changed our lives forever.

At the time, we were newlyweds, only about 3 months along in our marriage, and had recently moved into an old country house outside of town. It was way more house than we needed, but it was dirt cheap and we had more than enough hand-me-down furniture to fill it up so we took it. Because we were both new to our jobs and commuting into town daily to go to work, there was still much left to unpack and organize at home.

Frankly, we had tried to attack some of the boxes and piles and make sense of it all, but we simply didn’t know what to do with everything as we set up our first home together. I was starting to get quite frustrated with the lack of progress. Hearing our friend share about how great she felt about her closet completely changed our circuitry! Suddenly, we realized that we had other options. It never crossed our minds that we could just purge the junk and excess and start over!

Right away we began to take small steps towards our goal. But things really kicked into high gear in March of 2007 when a skunk moved in under our house, got trapped, freaked out, and gassed us out of our home in the middle of the night! We made plans to move into town the following week, sold just about every piece of furniture we owned in the coming weeks, and moved into a place half the size.

Unfortunately, we still thought that you were supposed to have certain things in order to be “real grownups.” So in the next couple of years we replaced some of the items: a dining set, a sofa, a credenza, and a couple of chairs. When we moved across the country three years later we had an opportunity to downsize again, bringing only what we could fit into a trailer that we could pull with our small car. This still turned out to be a lot more than we expected (or desired).

This time, however, we know ourselves better. We now live in about 400 square feet, and continue to slowly send things out the door, including large furniture items like the desk, our bed, and the sofa. The truth is, we would just rather be on the floor. I never really outgrew lying, napping, sitting, sprawling, or otherwise generally wiggling around on the floor. We decided we’d better enjoy it as long as we are physically able to! By removing our large items, our small space feels open and spacious. There’s plenty of room to romp with Pepper, play card games, and lounge about and read. Of course it won’t work for everyone, but it is just right for us.

We’re still perfecting it, we (almost) have a sleeping pallet that we love and we’re discussing beanbags or floor pillows for all of our floor lounging, but have made no decisions yet. We’re no longer in the habit of rushing out and buying something and perpetuating the revolving door of consumerism (buy it, tire of it, get rid of it), but instead we think on it for some time so that when we get it, we know it’s the right fit and will stay with us for a while.