Clearing the Clutter

When you hear the term minimalism, you may have the vision of someone living in a cabin along with one set of clothes who sleeps on the floor cooking the same meal out of a garden every day. Someone doing the absolute minimum to survive, but that’s not really what it is about. Minimalism is about living with the least amount of clutter in your life as possible.

Don’t Worry About Semantics

I wrote a lot on Essentialism a few months back when I was struggling with a lot of projects at once. I’m sure someone will get into the semantics, but I do believe the two are close, if not the same idea. The goal is to live with less, mostly in the form of negative aspects of life. Cut out the clutter, and only the essential things, those that align with your values, will remain.

When it comes to these philosophies the key for me is finding out what is right for you. I don’t think there is a template or checkbox that decides whether you are a minimalist or not. It’s not about titles or status. The important part is to find out what’s important and what’s not. That’s it.

What is Clutter?

Clutter is the stuff that’s not important. Over the past few years, I’ve accumulated a number of random items that I don’t know how or when I came across them. Many of them are things I would never choose to bring home, but once they are there, they are so hard to get rid of.

The biggest contributor to the excess junk I have is from subscription box services. While I do not think these services are seeking to cause harm, sticking with one a little too long can start to build up.

Beyond the items out of these boxes, I have a lot of “future project” type items that have accrued over time. An old keyboard, old books, and an unused toolbox are a few examples from the first room alone.

The small pile has started but will grow exponentially over the next few weeks. As more and more items will be needed each day, I’m never sure if I can keep up or not.

Not Just Physical Space

One of the worst aspects of the clutter we let stick around is the mental capacity we spend on them. Whether we want them to or not, the objects we own take up space in our minds.

We give value to the things we own because we want to justify why we chose ownership in the first place. “Of course this ugly tie has value,” we say, “I like to wear it ironically. Once a year…alone at home.”

Getting rid of the things that don’t matter give us the room both physically and mentally for the things that are truly important. Hell, maybe you really do love that ugly tie. I can’t take that away from you.

A Family Effort

Having my brother and mom going along with the challenge has made things rather interesting. We can talk about the things we’re getting rid of and motivate each other to move past the sentimentality of certain items.

Hearing about the progress made has been great. My brother has found things he didn’t even know how they got to where they were. Ice cube trays in a closet? Sure why not?

I’ll have much more updates as the trial continues, and will be sharing more on the progress of my family as well. What’s one piece of clutter you can remove from your life today?

When you hear the term minimalism, you may have the vision of someone living in a cabin along with one set of clothes who sleeps on the floor cooking the same meal out of a garden every day. Someone doing the absolute minimum to survive, but that’s not really what it is about. Minimalism is about living with the least amount of clutter in your life as possible.