I know I’ve been terrible about keeping up with posting each day, but life has happened and I was a little burned out from everything that was going on. A LOT has happened though on my journey, and I’m excited to share all of it, no matter how minimal (no pun intended) it may seem.
First off, I was actually able to get rid of a lot of stuff! I had a friend come over and go through my candle stash, she took probably half of it, if not more! She was so excited, she loves candles but can’t really afford to buy them all the time, and she was like a kid in a candy store. As she was going through them there was a couple of times where she asked me if I was sure, and I sometimes hesitated a little, but I told her I was sure, and I don’t regret any of it one bit. I also gave a couple of wall scrolls to a friend who I knew would love them and have room for them, she was also very excited.
At first I was conflicted about just passing off items I didn’t want to my friends, but I genuinely wanted to give them things that they would enjoy and use, and they’ve all been SO happy about what I gave them. My minimalism isn’t their minimalism, and that’s okay. I’m not here to try and spread the gospel of minimalism to everyone. I’ve definitely talked to people about my process, but I don’t want it to seem like I think it’s for everyone or that anyone is lesser for wanting to live one way or another. Everyone does what works for them.
As I’ve been clearing out my garage, I’ve noticed it’s actually started to make a difference. The amount of untouched, unopened boxes has definitely decreased, and I feel like progress is being made. Yes, the boxes that were in the garage are in my living room and kitchen, but they have been sorted through and put into designated sell/donate boxes. I’m really excited to get through the boxes in the garage and keep the momentum going for the rest of my house. I actually took the leap the other day and went through a box I had packed for my move. That was a bit different since the items in there weren’t things I hadn’t seen in years, but some of it was stuff I hadn’t seen since this past March. I was able to get rid of a lot more than I thought I could. Baby steps.
I also started going through my digital clutter and began working through my work email inbox, sorting and deleting everything in it. I hadn’t done that the entire time I’ve been at my job, which has been about a year and a half, and had over 6,000 emails to go through! I’ve gotten my inbox down to about 2,500, so I have a lot left to do, but I made a huge dent! My personal email will be a task later.
In order to give myself an idea of what living in a simplified atmosphere will be like, I cleaned my bedroom (minus the closets, those are their own project). I got rid of everything I didn’t want in it and organized my yarn stash that I keep in it. Being in my room now gives me such a sense of peace, and it’s been so much easier to keep it clean when I do little bits here and there. It makes me long for that feeling in the rest of my home and has been such an encouragement to keep working hard and parring down and keeping what I love and what’s important.
Over the weekend my boyfriend and I also went and looked at tiny house models, my ultimate goal! I was a little nervous that I would see them and hate the idea of it, but it made me fall in love with the thought of living in a tiny home eveen more! He and I were able to see what we liked and didn’t like and got a great look at how we would have to downsize to fit into such a small space. Something tells me he will have a much easier time doing that….
Granted, this dream is a dream that won’t happen anytime soon, I want to spend a bit more time in the house I’m currently in (I spent too long living in a construction mess and spent too much time picking the color scheme and personalizing it to move out soon), but this gives me plenty of time to cut out what isn’t necessary in my life!
I may not be able to post everyday with the holidays coming up, plus I’ll be traveling, but this blog has been such a great outlet for me to put my thoughts down and encourage myself. Plus I’ve met a couple of great people who live or want to live this kind of lifestyle.
As always, thank you so much for reading!
What I Gained 