Minimalism and Simple Living are often misunderstood.
Some people assume that if you want to become a minimalist, you must live in a place with all white wall (and zero pictures on them) and you should get rid of almost everything.
Nope. That’s not the point, at all.
First of all, let me preface this post by saying I am not a minimalist, but I am committed to minimizing my possessions. Why? Because I want to live a more purpose-filled life. To clarify even further: I want to remove all of the things that are distracting me from living a purpose-filled life.
One may ask, “Can’t you have thousands of possessions and still live a purpose-filled life?” To that I say: yes, but not 100%. Many of my belongings are constantly demanding thought, consideration, time and energy from me every single day. Therefore, a portion of my time is spent mentally or physically managing these items. That is the distraction that I’m trying eliminate in my life.
During my recent years of downsizing, I have come to understand that zero, or doing without, is not the end goal of Minimalism.
I am not focused on having 0 pictures on my walls, or 0 bottles of perfume on my dresser. Instead, I am focused on letting go of the things that do not support my priorities/purpose in some way or do not bring joy to my life.
The first step in deciding to travel along the Road to Simple is to discover your “why.” Your “why” may be completely different than mine. It is different for each of us.
My “why” started back in 2019 when I experienced a wake-up call about what, and more importantly who, was most important in my life. All the desires to have material things completely vanished at the moment my husband received his cancer diagnosis.
I continually thank God that he is now cancer-free; and I also continually work toward simplifying our lives, just as I decided to do back in 2019.
It has taken me more years than I care to mention to figure out that how much I DO, is NOT the measure of who I AM. Why did it take me so long to see this???
As an often-quoted Buddha once said, “When the student is ready – the teacher will appear.”
In 2019, I was ready: ready to reject all the consumerism that society had taught me was a measure of success. I had always known who and what were my priorities in life, but I never saw the need to begin removing all the distractions that stood between the two (my priorities and me.)
I have spent the last 4 decades pushing myself to do more and more, constantly looking to others for validation of my efforts. It has become clear to me that this is no longer necessary. Actually, it never was.
It is a hard habit to break. In fact, I have to stop and catch myself right here and now, as I write this article. I have to remind myself that it is not important how many people read this post or watch my videos. Sharing our thoughts and experiences and learning from each other is what is important, not validation.
I have worked in marketing my entire career. I have made a living by encouraging people to purchase things. It is still my job today. However, there are some things that no amount of money, special sales or coupons can help any of us to buy. One of those is TIME.
I am starting to feel a gentle nudge from mother nature to “stop and smell the roses” a little more often. Some days I feel like I’m in the middle of a tug-of-war between the push of working at a job I love, and the pull of gravity from the loved ones I want to be near.
Retirement is a decision to be made soon, but for now, I know that I will continue on the Road to Simple with my purpose and priorities set as my final destination.
Here is what awaits us at our destination of owning less:
- Improved mental clarity – less to-do’s cluttering up our minds.
- More time to be still and practice gratitude and self care.
- Spending less time cleaning/organizing in order to have more time to be present with our loved ones.
Focusing on owning less can be the path to uncovering your “why” and the right number of possessions to support a more purpose-filled life for you.
I invite you to take the entrance ramp to the Road to Simple, and discover what LESS could feel like for you!
xoxo
Angie
P.S. Have you joined the Road to Simple Community? Join us and I’ll send you my Free Decluttering Guide!
