I just wanted to let you all know that I’ll be taking a winter sabbatical for the next two months, as I need to focus my time and energy on my non-digital life at the moment. Read more…
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Thanks so much to everyone who participated in the giveaway! Much to my surprise, this one received the most entries to date. I’m honored that there’s still so much interest in my book, even a year after publication. I really appreciate your enthusiasm! Big hugs to all my long-time readers, and a warm welcome to all my new ones—it was a lot of fun to hear from you. I’m particularly grateful to everyone who made suggestions for my next book(s). Wow, what wonderful ideas! I’d like to keep writing on the topic of minimalist living, without feeling like I’m beating a dead horse—and you’ve given me some great options to explore. I think I’ll have plenty of material for a long time to come; the biggest challenge is deciding what to do first. Anyway, let’s get to the part you’ve all been waiting for. As always, I used Random.org to select an entry from the Comments. And the winner is… Maggie, who at 1:05pm on September 8 wrote:
Congratulations to Maggie, and thanks again to all who took the time to comment and enter the giveaway. You’re a continual source of inspiration for me, and I can’t wait to delve further into minimalist living with you! Update, Monday 5pm EDT: The giveaway is now closed. Thanks so much for all your wonderful comments and suggestions; I’m so grateful to have you as readers! Stay tuned—I’ll announce the winner in the next day or so. A Milestone I have some exciting news to share with you today: in the first year of publication, my book, The Joy of Less, has sold 20,000 copies! And I want to celebrate with you, my wonderful readers, because you made it happen. You were the ones who bought my book, requested it from your library, and recommended it to your friends. You were the ones who reviewed it, blogged about it, and tweeted about it. You were the ones who embraced minimalist living, spread the word to others, and transformed it from a quirky lifestyle choice to a mainstream movement. You were the ones who decided to dejunk, declutter, and live more lightly on this Earth—and used my book as a guide to do so. And for that, I’m eternally grateful to each and every one of you. People are often surprised when I tell them I self-published The Joy of Less. Why did I choose the indie route? Because from the moment I finished it, I was so excited to share it with you—and the 12- to 18-month time frame of traditional publishing seemed a terribly long time to wait. Furthermore, minimalism was such an offbeat topic at the time, I didn’t think a publisher would touch it with a ten-foot pole (ironically, I’ve now heard from several interested in acquiring the rights). Finally, I wanted to make sure that the message stayed true—and wasn’t transformed into “buy more containers to organize your stuff.” So this has truly been a grassroots effort. I haven’t had a public relations department, an advertising budget, or any of the marketing muscle of a traditional publisher. I’ve had virtually no coverage in major US media (just a brief mention in the Chicago Tribune). These sales weren’t driven by hype or promotional campaigns; they occurred quietly, one by one, by word of mouth (both online and off). I love that, and wish I could thank every one of you personally for your support! Furthermore, it’s more than just the sales that make my heart sing—it’s the fact that 20,000 people are actually interested in minimalist living! 20,000 people want to reduce their clutter and consumerism, and are taking the steps to do so. How wonderful is that? It gives me great hope for a kinder, gentler, more sustainable future. A Question Now I have a question for you: what would you like to read next? Is there a particular aspect of minimalism you’d like to see covered in more depth? Or a topic related to minimalism that you’d love to learn more about? If you could pick the subject of my next book, what would it be? I’d love to hear your thoughts! A Giveaway What would a celebration be without a giveaway? (Certainly not as much fun!) So if you haven’t yet read The Joy of Less, here’s your chance to win a copy (your choice of paperback or Kindle). Even if you’ve read it, perhaps you’d like to pick one up for a friend; it could make a great gift for the packrat in your life! To enter, simply leave a Comment below (just one comment/entry per person, please!). If you’d like to leave a Comment, but don’t want to enter the giveaway, just note that in your post. I’ll keep the giveaway open until this Monday, Sept 12, 5pm EDT. As always, I’ll use the random number generator at Random.org to choose the winner, and make the announcement next week. Please be sure to use a legitimate email address, so that I can contact you to obtain your mailing information. Thank you again, from the bottom of my heart. I never dreamed I’d be able to make such an announcement (my original goal was to sell 1,000 books!), and I couldn’t have done it without you. Here’s to growing this community, this movement, and this commitment to a beautiful life with less stuff. Best of luck to all who enter the giveaway! Betsy Talbot from the fabulous Married with Luggage recently nominated me to participate in the “My 7 Links” project that originated at Tripbase.com. She asked me to select a post in each of the following categories, then invite five other bloggers to do the same. I really appreciate the honor, and the opportunity to take a trip down memory lane! Most beautiful Most popular Most controversial Most helpful A post whose success surprised you A post you feel didn’t get the attention it deserved The post of which you are most proud I’m nominating the following five bloggers to participate in the project, and look forward to seeing which posts they select: Minimalist Lessons from a Tea Ceremony: A few years ago, I participated in a Japanese tea ceremony. It’s a beautiful ritual, and—in my opinion—a wonderful analogy to minimalist living. In a nutshell, chado (or Way of Tea) is the ceremonial preparation and serving of matcha, powdered green tea. Guests enter the teahouse after walking through a small, contemplative garden and symbolically purifying their hands and mouth with water from a stone basin. To enter the tearoom, they must bow their heads to fit through the small door—meaning all are equal in tea, regardless of social status or position…{read more} 7 Steps to a Minimalist Wardrobe: When I decided to pursue a minimalist lifestyle, one of the first areas I tackled was my closet. I had too many clothes that I didn’t wear, and too little space in which to keep them. I wanted a wardrobe that was simple, elegant, and functional — and I wanted to be able to retrieve the pieces, and put them away, without any pushing, pulling, or wrestling. Over the course of a few months, I pared down my closet to less than half its original contents. I sold quite a number on eBay, gave some to family and friends, and donated the rest. The reward: a spacious closet, and a well-edited wardrobe that perfectly suits my needs…{read more} On Not Collecting: I often wonder if the urge to collect is hard-wired in the human race, or just something encouraged by our society. When I was a child, I remember my friends building collections of dolls, coins, baseball cards, comic books, and pop culture/movie memorabilia. I always felt a little left out. I don’t know if it was due to a lack of interest, short attention span, or early minimalist tendencies, but I had zero desire to participate in the collecting trends that were popular at the time (I won’t date myself by naming them!)…{read more} City Life vs. Country Life: I’ve lived in cities most of my adult life, and have found them to be quite conducive to my minimalist lifestyle. For example: Being close to large, public libraries eliminates my need to buy books and DVDs; I’d much rather enjoy something once and return it, than have it sit on my shelf for eternity. My proximity to museums, cultural institutions, and other venues means I don’t have to outfit my apartment with “entertainment” options, like a big screen TV or video games…{read more} Minimalist Design: White Floors: Lately, I’ve been captivated by the idea of white floors. Sure, they’re probably impractical, and a bugger to keep clean, but my goodness are they beautiful! (And I think they’d fare well in my no-shoes, no-pets household.) Of course, I’ll be living in a rented flat for the foreseeable future, so I won’t have white floors of my own any time soon. For now, I’ll content myself with gazing at these lovely photos from Apartment Therapy…and sharing them with you…{read more} 10 Minimalist Quotes from the Tao Te Ching: When I wake up each morning, the first thing I do is read a passage from the Tao Te Ching. For those who aren’t familiar with it, the Tao Te Ching is a classic Chinese philosophical text written by Lao Tzu in the 6th century BC. It’s relatively short, consisting of 81 passages, so I read through it about 4 ½ times each year. Over the years, its words have shaped my actions, decisions, and the direction of my life. At the same time, my life experiences have given me a deeper understanding, and appreciation, for its words…{read more} Not too long ago, I received an email from a reader inquiring about the demographics of minimalists. She was wondering if the urge to purge had any correlation with being the oldest, youngest, middle, or only child. That’s a great question, but I’m unaware of any polls or studies that have been done on the subject. I’m an oldest child myself. However, there’s someone in my family even more minimalist than me: my younger brother. Believe it or not, my brother’s lifestyle makes mine look maximalist. He’s single, completely carefree, and has mastered the art of location-independence while working a professional job (he’s a self-employed engineer, and his clients are scattered all over the world). He hasn’t owned a car in over a decade, and all his possessions fit into a carry-on. Most of the time, I have no idea where he is. Last year, he realized he could live on-the-road for less than he was paying in rent, and has been globetrotting ever since. He plans nothing, and just hops the next cheap flight when he’s ready to move on. While I’ll stay somewhere for three months, he’ll pick up and go after three weeks. I see him every so often, when he happens to turn up in my neck of the woods. We last met up in Paris, when I was there for a long weekend and he was passing through. We spent the evening at a little bistro, catching up while practicing our not-quite-fluent French. So I was surprised to receive an email from him recently, saying he was in town for the night. We planned to meet for dinner, but at the appointed time, he still hadn’t shown. I called him on his cell phone, thinking perhaps he’d hopped a last minute flight to some exotic locale. “Uh no, I’m still coming,” he said. “I’m just having a laundry issue.” It turned out that the one dress shirt he owns had somehow gotten stuck in the hotel’s washing machine. The concierge had promised to resolve the issue, but still had not done so by the time he had to leave for dinner. To make up for the inconvenience, she asked his size, ran down the street, and purchased him a brand new shirt. He threw it on in the lobby as he was heading out the door, and managed to show up only fifteen minutes late. Not only was he completely unfazed by this wardrobe malfunction, he was quite pleased with his new shirt. He wasn’t upset or frustrated, but rather amused by the whole experience. It’s a perfect example of how he lives: going with the flow, and trusting that exactly what he needs will come along when he needs it. A common barrier to minimalism is the compulsion to plan, stock up, or own things “just in case.” When we’re decluttering, we’re often paralyzed by the fear that we’ll find a need tomorrow for what we throw out today. However, as the story above illustrates, things will likely work out just as well (maybe even better!) if we let go, live on the edge, and let things occur as they may. Anyway, I digress—this post was supposed to address the impact of birth order on minimalism, although I really don’t have the answer to that anyway. I also don’t know (but am curious) as to whether minimalism runs in families. I’m sure my parents wonder what they did to produce two children with such an aversion to “stuff.” We grew up in a neat, well-maintained household with what I’d call a normal amount of possessions—so we certainly weren’t influenced by an extreme environment. So let’s take an informal poll in the Comments. If you’re a minimalist (or conversely, struggle with clutter issues), are you the oldest, youngest, middle, or only child? Do your siblings or parents have similar tendencies? It’ll be interesting to see if any patterns emerge… {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.} It’s time to announce the winners of last week’s giveaway! I received 98 entries, and used the number generator at Random.org to choose 4 winners. And the winners are…(I’ve included the last four digits of each one’s Amazon order to avoid any confusion): Lilly H. (#1207), Allison G. (#9131), Stephanie B. (#9307), and Heidi H. (#4623). Congratulations! I’ll be emailing each of you to arrange delivery of a print or Kindle version of The Joy of Less. Thank you so much to everyone who purchased my Miss Minimalist book, and made the launch and giveaway such a success. (If you enjoyed it, I’d be thrilled if you’d consider leaving a review on Amazon. Ethically, I can’t offer material compensation; you will, however, have my eternal love and gratitude. I really appreciate your support and generosity, and look forward to sharing many more thoughts on minimalist living with you! It’s 5pm EDT, and the giveaway is now closed. Huge thanks and big hugs to everyone who purchased the Miss Minimalist ebook! It now has 17 pages worth of “Customers Also Bought” books—meaning there’s a much greater chance that casual browsers will come across it on Amazon. Obviously, I could have never done this without you and I’m so grateful for your help. I’ll be offline for the next day and a half, so plan to announce the winners on Sunday or Monday. I have a lot of entries to collate, and want to take my time so that everything is done as randomly as possible. Again, thank you, thank you, thank you for all your support. You’re my greatest inspiration to keep writing, and spreading the word about minimalist living. Have a great weekend, everyone, and stay tuned for the results! |
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