Minimalist Monday

Lately, there has been something pulling me towards the concept of minimalism.  Photos like this one above inspire me to think of how I can pare things down in my life.  I consider myself relatively good at  not holding on to things for too long, but I've known for a while that there are ways I could improve upon this.  I purge my closet/house generally at least once every 6 months, normally when I do this I come up with maybe two trash bags full of items to donate.  This time, I filled our entire jeep!

Honestly, it feels amazing and I'm pretty inspired now!  Last week I read a number of blogs on minimalism which helped me understand that the lifestyle is not only about getting rid of un-needed items, but also about minimalizing commitments, technology, and in general avoiding over doing things.  The idea is to live simply and I love this.  The general idea I have come to understand is that in life we tend to make things harder than they really need to be.  We over think and over do it all.  We live in a society that tells us that we must have a perfectly decorated home, we must plan a fancy meal each night, we must have all the new clothes, etc etc.  Minimalism is about saying no to all of that.

So, with this in mind, I clean my house with the intention to make space.  While no closet or cabinet is empty, they are also less full, and far less cluttered.  What's more is that I'm excited to go in for a second round, since I felt so good dropping off that big load I think other things may be easier to part with now!  Michael and I felt extremely inspired with our clutter free home, it made us realize that our house has a lot of untapped potential, and a lot of space saving solutions that we could create.  I had imagined that our two bedroom home would be far too small for a baby, however, I am really rethinking that.  That may be the most exciting result of this great purge.  Realizing that we could totally have space for a baby where we are now makes the whole process a heck of a lot less stressful!

I'm excited to continue on this path, and plan to take it slowly.  I don't forsee myself ever being a girl with 10 shirts and 5 items of jewelry, I do admire that.  I want to channel this concept into every area of my life.

Anyone decided to become more minimalist?  Any advice to a newbie like me?