miss minimalist

Every Monday I post Real Life Minimalists, a profile of one of my readers in their own words. If you’d like to participate, click here for details.

Today we hear from Archan Mehta, whose meditation practice led him to minimalism. He’s a writer, consultant, and teacher with a Ph.D. in Management, and invites you to connect with him on LinkedIn.

Archan writes:

Okay, I admit it: I’ve had a tendency to acquire things and hoard stuff. You could say: Well, you almost made a career out of it. I would go shopping and save up for a rainy day. But, as we all know by now, those rainy days only exist in our imagination.

The clutter was so bad…it got to the point where I could not find what I was looking for; and this bad habit started to interfere with how I managed my day. It was a lousy feeling, that is, not being able to accomplish the things that make life worth living; not being able to achieve closure on daily tasks.

Folders, laundry bags, pens, pencils, clothes, etc. were littered all over the place, and I found myself tripping over some of these items. In order to escape from this condition, I found solace in bookstores and libraries: after all, reading was my favorite hobby.

Suddenly, I came across the works of Dr. Wayne Dyer, Dr. Deepak Chopra, Marianne Williamson, Shakti Gawain, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and others. Reading their books opened my eyes to the possibility of embracing voluntary poverty: it was an idea whose time had come, but I did not accept it fully, since it was an intellectual concept.

However, once I accepted meditation into my life–advocated by these writers–things started to fall into place. Slowly but surely, I started to make meditation a daily practice and it changed me. I was able to experience a shift in consciousness and started to live mindfully. The need to own things fell by the wayside: my shopaholic days were over.

Today, thanks to the daily practice of meditation, I have few needs. I have donated most of my stuff to charity or I have removed these items from my life. I finally feel like there’s a load off my shoulders and it feels surreal. There is so much freedom in voluntary simplicity and a functional lifestyle. Will it work for you? There’s only one way to find out–try it.

{If you’d like to learn more about minimalist living, please consider reading my book, The Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide, or subscribing to my RSS feed.}

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Every Monday I post Real Life Minimalists, a profile of one of my readers in their own words. If you’d like to participate, click here for details.

This week, I’m pleased to feature Lena from Germany. She just recently discovered minimalism, but it’s already changed her outlook on life!

Lena writes:

Hello! My name is Lena and I live with my husband & two kids in Germany.

At the beginning of February I visited some friends in their new house. They are a family of five living on 900ft2 and I expected it to be totally crowded. To my surprise I loved their house–it was clean, serene and didn¹t feel too small at all.

I thought: That’s what I want! At that point I didn’t really know what it was that I wanted and I didn’t realize why I liked their house so much.

I was always very organized and not a hoarder at all. Still, over the years a lot of stuff had accumulated. And this time, when I started my ritual of spring decluttering, I suddenly didn’t stop after the usual five books and two shirts. I just kept on going. And finally found a name for what I wanted (and what my friends did): Minimalism.

Now, we are still far from being minimalists. We still own a lot of books, a lot of tableware, etc. But I try to use as many ideas from minimalism as possible and my husband and I have decluttered A LOT. There is always a point when I think, now there is nothing left to declutter. And a couple of days later, I find more to give away. We were already able to sell four cupboards and my desk and I love the new space.

I realized that owning all that stuff made me anxious. I felt obliged to use all those cosmetics I owned (now I am making my own–the perfect minimalistic hobby, because you USE all of it and it makes great gifts without any clutter!), wear all the clothes that I didn’t really like (because I paid good money for it!). And I was also anxious to keep that high-paying job of mine in order to be able to keep up our lifestyle.

I have been toying with the idea of starting my own business and I now finally feel that I actually have the freedom to maybe quit my job (which I like but it doesn¹t fulfill me the way it used to) and just go ahead. It’s not decided for good yet, but I am so excited by not feeling held back for money reasons, that I just might do it!

{If you’d like to learn more about minimalist living, please consider reading my book, The Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide, or subscribing to my RSS feed.}

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Every Monday I post Real Life Minimalists, a profile of one of my readers in their own words. If you’d like to participate, click here for details.

Today, we have a wonderful contribution from Sofia and Drew; they’ve truly discovered the time and freedom that minimalism can bring! Read more about their experiences on their blog.

Sofia and Drew write:

Sofia and Drew

A few years ago, as we approached our dreaded 40s, my wife and I began to feel a sense of unease. On the surface, we were experiencing a good deal of success, particularly career-wise. But something wasn’t quite right, and we eventually narrowed it down to a problem of “trajectory”. As in, the direction our life was taking was not where we wanted to go.

We were living according to the template: get married, buy a house, earn promotions, get a better car, get a better house, subconsciously collect more stuff, take on more responsibilities.

For what?

The leisure activities we once enjoyed had slowly been pushed to the background, and the more substantive projects we’d dreamed about had entered the realm of “someday, maybe”. In the background, all we could hear was “tick-tock, tick-tock…” as time marched forward.

Too much work, too many chores, too many obligations, too many unproductive relationships, too much “noise”.

Not enough travel, not enough recreation, not enough learning.

Not enough leisure.

Hitting Reset

Our “descent into minimalism” as I like to call it, isn’t about having less stuff. It’s about having more time. Reducing physical possessions is a part of the equation. But decluttering your cupboards plays but a small part in decluttering your life.

For us, the process began with minimizing work. I abandoned my public sector career, which was consuming an inordinate amount of time and energy. That career was replaced with a job, which I travel to and work on a rotational basis. I show up, work for a few weeks, and then go home (or somewhere else) for an equal amount of sweet time off. I do not supervise. I do not go the extra mile in order to earn an excellent performance review. And when I’m off, I’m off. No phone calls, and the only email I get is the one telling me that my next plane ticket has been purchased. I affectionately call it my part-time job.

Sofia, who was working herself to death in her finance job, resigned. Correction…she told her company that she was resigning, and they (very generously) offered her a leave of absence. Sofia accepted, immediately renaming it her “sabbatical”.

During the sabbatical, Sofia travelled to New Zealand, where she spent the entire winter. I went there during my time off, and among other things (like kayaking – see picture), we completed a cycle tour of South Island. More importantly, Sofia used the down time and good weather to train for and complete an Ironman, which was a major life goal of hers. She’s back home now, full of energy, and has decided against returning to her old job. Instead, she’ll do contract work, giving her the flexibility to choose her projects and to structure her time off the way she wants.

Downsizing

We’ve decided to sell our house. It’s a great house that we put a lot of work into, but it’s a financial ball and chain. Even worse, it’s a time sink. When you own a house, you have to maintain it. Not only that, but with that house comes a lawn and garden. When you have a lawn and garden, you must tend to them. To do so, you must spend money on yard implements, and spend your precious Saturdays out there doing yard work.

For what?

Once the house is sold, we’re moving to a different city that is better suited to our leisure pursuits (it’s closer to mountains, so we can hike, bike, ski, etc). We’ve weaned ourselves from the delusional idea that home ownership is the holy grail of personal finance, and we’ll rent an apartment for the next several years, further reducing the amount of physical items we require. We’ll use the proceeds from the house sale to pay off all debt. Anything left over gets invested. If we want to sit on grass, we’ll go to the park. If we want to move to another city, or even another country, we can do so on a month’s notice.

So for us, this is what minimalism is all about: by minimizing our footprint, we need less money, and therefore can afford to work less. By minimizing our commitments, we have fewer constraints holding us back from doing the things we want, when we want. And above all, we are able to regain control of, and exercise stewardship over our most precious, non-renewable resource: TIME.

{If you’d like to learn more about minimalist living, please consider reading my book, The Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide, or subscribing to my RSS feed.}

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Every Monday I post Real Life Minimalists, a profile of one of my readers in their own words. If you’d like to participate, click here for details.

This week, Amanda tells us how minimalism has enabled her and her husband to pursue careers they love. Be sure to check out her blog to learn more!

Amanda writes:

My name is Amanda, and I am a minimalist.

I didn’t start out this way. In fact, I was a pack rat and a hoarder until a few short years ago.

Shortly after my husband and I were married, we got jobs 1,000 miles away from where we’d been living. As childless newlyweds, we packed out a 14′ moving van and a car to transport everything we owned. The saddest part? We brought exactly one piece of furniture in that truck. The rest was just stuff – piles of junk in boxes and crates and bags. When we reached our destination and moved into our new place, 70% of that stuff was put into a storage room, where it sat, untouched, until we moved again.

We’ve lived in five apartments since that first house. Every time we moved, we joked about just throwing it all out and starting over at the new location. Our possessions were becoming a chain around our necks. So each time, we downsized a little. By the time we moved into apartment number four, we could fit everything (including the furniture we’d acquired) into a 10′ truck. That felt like progress. Still expensive, still a headache, but progress.

When I began my blog (tshirtsandtwine.com) it was a craft blog. It quickly evolved into a chronicle of our journey from being owned to being free. It isn’t just our stuff that has changed – it’s our mindset. With every step closer to living on less, we become more free to go anywhere, to do anything, to be anyone without the weight and stress of too many possessions. We are both actively pursuing online careers in fields that we love (me in blogging and lifestyle consultation, the Husband in screenwriting). Even though these career choices were frightening in terms of lost and reduced income, we aren’t stressed about money the way we were. Our debt is on the way out the door. More than anything else, we’re happy.

Today, we’re making plans to move again, but this time will be different. When we leave this apartment, we will pack all of our possessions into our Toyota Yaris and drive away. No boxes, no trucks, no stress. We’ll be truly free for the first time. I can’t wait!

{If you’d like to learn more about minimalist living, please consider reading my book, The Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide, or subscribing to my RSS feed.}

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Every Monday I post Real Life Minimalists, a profile of one of my readers in their own words. If you’d like to participate, click here for details.

Today, Kendra gives us a glimpse of her version of minimalism: one that includes two children and a lovely renovated house. Surf on over to her blog to read more.

Kendra writes:

My parents gave me a taste of minimalist life when they packed us into a 35-foot camper and lived up and down the west coast for a few years. While I liked some aspects, I daydreamed of normalcy and putting down roots, you know, having classmates who weren’t my sisters. Then we did all that and I grew up. 

I grew up and married and had two babies simultaneously and renovated a beautiful old house. When the dust cleared, literally from the renovation, I emerged from survival mode and began reading about intentional living. It occurred to me that there were options, and possibly better ways to spend a life. I read A Million Miles in a Thousand Years and realized my life was a story and I wanted it to be a good one. With my husband supporting me, we ventured into uncharted waters and started fashioning our family into more. More peace, more free time, more understanding about what makes us happy.

Our initial purge of stuff was a year ago now. Our minimalism looks a bit different because we do love our 2500 sq ft renovated 1920s house. But I’m comfortable with empty cupboards, empty storage rooms, empty drawers. It also looks different because I love interior decorating, so it isn’t very sparse that way either. But the definition of minimalism that gave me hope that I could fit into it was, “Having only things you use and love.” I love my art, so it stays, but I’ve let so much else go. I love being free from the “rules” that “made” me keep things I didn’t want. I love being able to admit I made a mistake when I bought something and give it away or sell it, rather than trying to make it work for three years. Because I’ve quit denying that I made those mistakes, I’m learning from them and when I do buy something, I make a better choice.

I think the most gratifying moment was putting stacks of totes and containers I’d used to organize my stuff out to sell. Knowing I’d emptied them was exquisite. The success of minimalism in stuff has spurred two No Spend months, a more experience-based Christmas celebration and now, I’m facing down the giant that is time-management with the principles of less. It’s amazing how hopeful I feel for the future, after seeing how much thoughtful changes improve life’s quality. I believe our family’s story can be epic in love-sharing, since we’re learning to dial down anything that competes.

Kendra’s living room

{If you’d like to learn more about minimalist living, please consider reading my book, The Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide, or subscribing to my RSS feed.}

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Every Monday I post Real Life Minimalists, a profile of one of my readers in their own words. If you’d like to participate, click here for details.

I think you’ll enjoy this story from Sarah P, a law student from Singapore who discovered minimalism while studying abroad. Visit her blog to read more about her travels and experiences.

Sarah writes:

Last year, I spent 9 months studying abroad in Southampton, UK.

Prior to leaving home, I agonized for weeks over how to compress my life into a 30kg luggage and a 7kg hand-carry. I had a closet full of clothes, a dazzling array of shoes, every color of the rainbow, and bags, accessories and books galore. It was torture having to decide what to bring and what to leave behind. Packing took weeks and was excruciating.

Lucky for me, I was flying over with my parents (who were coming along to holiday with me before I embarked on my study abroad). So I had the luxury of utilizing some of my parents’ luggage allowances too – almost half of my dad’s luggage was filled with toiletries and supplies I anticipated I would need. My mom graciously loaned me half of her 30kg allowance for the rest of my clothes. It was still not enough.

Suffice to say, it was a relief when we finally managed to check all our bags in at the airport. We had exceeded the weight allowance (yes, more than 30kg each!) but thanks to a friendly check in lady at the counter, we made it through.

When I arrived in my lovely dorm room in Southampton, I quickly sobered up and realized how little space I actually had. I did my best unpacking and storing as much as I could. But there was just way too much stuff.

Turns out I didn’t need the 5^th pair of jeans or 30 plus tops I’d packed. Ditto for the extra bags, accessories and shoes. In the end, I only kept half of what I brought over and sent the rest home with my parents.

I went on to have a wonderful year studying abroad. I travelled to 14 countries and made beautiful travel memories. Living away from home for the first time and enjoying my new found independence was exhilarating. I learnt so much.

In short, I had the most memorable year of my life (to date, I’m only 23). And surprisingly, the best year of my life had required the least amount of stuff!

I wore less than a quarter of the clothes that I had brought over. Often, I travelled with only a week’s worth of clothing (budget airlines charged a premium on check-in luggage so I was forced to fit everything into a 7kg hand-carry duffel).

I’m even more amazed at how little I actually needed to make my dorm room comfortable. I didn’t have a television, living room or a sofa. I shared a kitchen with five other girls. I only had one drawer each for food and toiletries respectively. My textbooks took up a shelf, my kettle another. The top-shelf I reserved for bulky files and my travel guidebooks (only 2). My closet held far fewer clothes than I had been used to. My travel bag was perched, ready for use, in a corner of the cupboard. I had one handbag, one backpack and one bag and for a time, one pair of black ballet flats – no choice at all, but it worked.

Home was simple, easy, a place to rest. I had fewer decisions to make because I had less to choose from – which freed up my time to concentrate on living life. It was an incredibly liberating way to live so minimally.

When I came home 9 months later, I viewed my bedroom through new, minimalist eyes.

I spent the next year clearing out more than half my closet, getting rid of 7 pairs of shoes, and giving away childhood memorabilia that I had held on to for way too long. It helped that my family was downsizing to a smaller apartment – the impending move spurred me to get rid of as much as I could.

We’ve now moved and I’m writing this from the comfort of my new, clutter-free bedroom. I’ve always been an organized person, so my bedroom has always been neat.

But now it’s neat and spacious. I feel such joy and peace when I see emptier shelves, half empty dresser drawers and a closet that’s not crammed full of clothing. Two drawers are completely empty. There’s room to breathe.

I’ve still got a long way to go – for instance, I’m working on paring down my bookshelf (I’m a sentimental bibliophile!) – but simplifying my life has enabled me to live far more richly! I feel free and I’m so glad I learnt this important lesson early in life!

{If you’d like to learn more about minimalist living, please consider reading my book, The Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide, or subscribing to my RSS feed.}

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Every Monday I post Real Life Minimalists, a profile of one of my readers in their own words. If you’d like to participate, click here for details.

I was thrilled to receive this story from Grace–she’s already started down the minimalist path, at the tender age of thirteen. What a wonderful example for her peers (and the rest of us)!

Grace writes:

Photo by Grace

Hi, I’m a 13 year old girl who loves living a minimalist life. Although I can’t fit all my belongings in 3 suitcases, I have less stuff than my sisters. While sharing a room with my sisters, I despised how they left all their junk on the floor. I have always known I didn’t want to be burdened with stuff. As I surveyed my room, I found many things to give away. Old clothes I never wore? Gone. The things I kept “just in case” were donated. I feel joyful when my room was empty. I am now down to four books, a stuffed giraffe, and school stuff (I’ll talk about my closet later).

Before I knew about minimalism, I was really into organizing and packing efficiently. While I was in my organizing faze, I bought organizers and plastic bins, but I realized that the organizers turned out to be extra clutter. After that, I just tried not to own much, so then I wouldn’t need to organize much. Every time I went on a trip, I would only bring the bare necessities. When I came back from the trip, I would find even more things that I didn’t need.

I’ve moved twice, so every time I moved, I would help my mom get rid of junk around the house and in the garage. Unfortunately, my family isn’t really into the idea of being minimalists. In Organized Simplicity, the quote “Too many people spend money they haven’t earned, to buy things they don’t want, to impress people they don’t like.” by Will Rogers pretty much sums up my dad.

I really started to look into the minimalist life after reading about a young billionaire who sold everything he owned, and he just kept a few extra clothes and electronics in a backpack. I was amazed and thought, that’s such a great idea! (Here’s the link to the article: http://blogs.wsj.com/wealth/2008/05/19/the-homeless-billionaire/) When I grow up, I really want to travel, but only carry around one (hopefully small) suitcase and a bag that holds all my belongings. The other option I see myself in is living in a tiny house trailer (like one from Tumbleweed). Traveling with a luggage, or living in a tiny house, restricts how much stuff I can have.

Currently, I am going to scan all my photos and school papers I might need later, and save them to a hard drive. After that, I’m going to try to convince the sister I’m sharing a room with, to at least read about minimalists and the benefits of being one.

The only un-minimalist part of my room is my closet. Every time I want to donate some clothes, my mom insists that I need it and that I should put it back. I know I only wear a few items of clothing out of everything from my closet, so it’s frustrating that I have to waste space holding those clothes.

As an avid reader of Miss Minimalist and Minimalist Student, I feel inspired when I read about other minimalists. Thanks for reading.

{If you’d like to learn more about minimalist living, please consider reading my book, The Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide, or subscribing to my RSS feed.}

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Every Monday I post Real Life Minimalists, a profile of one of my readers in their own words. If you’d like to participate, click here for details.

This week, I’m happy to share an update from previous Real Life Minimalist Caroline McGraw. We first heard from her in April 2011, while she was a live-in direct caregiver with the L’Arche DC community, caring for adults with intellectual disabilities. Read on to find out where she is now on her minimalist journey (for more details, surf on over to her blog, A Wish Come Clear).

Caroline writes:

Caroline

Hello Miss Minimalist readers! It’s hard to believe that it’s been two years since I first appeared here as a Real Life Minimalist. (As Gretchen Rubin notes in The Happiness Project, “The days are long, but the years are short.”)

The past two years have brought many changes for my husband and me, the foremost of which was our relocation from Washington, DC, to a small town in northern Alabama. How did we get here?

In April 2011, my husband and I were living in a small apartment and serving full-time with L’Arche in Washington, DC. (L’Arche, French for ‘the ark’ is a worldwide non-profit that creates homes wherein people with and without intellectual disabilities share life together.) My husband and I met and fell in love there, and community life formed the foundation for our marriage.

Yet while our space was small and our material possessions few, our lifestyle was far from simple. Both of us worked long hours in our intense leadership roles, and I had a significant commute as well. We were doing meaningful work, with and for people we loved, but something was off.

We were separated most of the time, and when we were together, we were often exhausted. And despite our frugality, choosing to live near L’Arche (in a more expensive area of the city) didn’t give us much financial margin.

We dreamed of having more freedom: freedom to rest when we were tired, to be together more often, to put aside tight schedules and stop rushing around all the time. We knew that something had to change.

And so, after laying the groundwork for several months, I made the jump to full-time self-employment in November 2011. It was exhilarating and terrifying to pursue my lifelong dream of being a writer. And it was a successful transition … so successful, in fact, that my husband decided to work for himself in 2012. (He supported us with steady income when I transitioned, and was able to return the favor.)

And moving toward self-employment led to larger questions, such as: If we could both work from anywhere, where would we choose to live? For the first time, location and employment were separate questions, and as such, it made sense to move to Alabama, we owned (and rented out part of) a home. Out went the $1,000+ rent, the stress-related illness, and the money and time spent commuting each week. (True, there were additional costs, like private health insurance, but the overall balance tipped dramatically in our favor.)

We were freed up. For the first time, we could choose how much time we spent working. The move simplified our expenses so that we’d have more time for ourselves, each other, and our new work too.

True, it was incredibly difficult to say goodbye to friends who are like family. Yet even as the move led us away from L’Arche itself, the choice was grounded in the values of L’Arche. To use language from the L’Arche charter, our new life “gives priority to relationships.”

As I wrote in 2011, “The rest of the world may include wealth, power and nice cars in their definition [of success]. Mine includes just two things: the company of those I love and the opportunity to do work I value and enjoy.” Moving has allowed me to live into that definition in a new way. And even as I said farewell to beloved friends, I knew that our move would afford us more opportunities for us to travel and visit with loved ones near and far.

I also knew that, in caring for ourselves with a simpler life, we’d have new opportunities to care for others. For example, since we have more (literal and figurative) space, we’ve welcomed a feisty kitten named Boostie into our family. And as my husband renovates our turn-of-the-century home, I continue to write and ‘dig for treasure’ in people with special needs.

So much has changed in the last two years, yet so much remains the same. And that’s what real life minimalism means to me. It’s about changing with the seasons, letting go of that which no longer serves you even as you hold fast to what matters most.

{If you’d like to learn more about minimalist living, please consider reading my book, The Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide, or subscribing to my RSS feed.}

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