When Fanfan and I were trying to work out what to take with us to Melbourne and what to dump or sell, there was still so much stuff that we couldn’t make a decision on in the short time we had available, so we just took it with us. Now that we’re here in Melbourne, we’re going to be selling more stuff or throwing it away. We really need to become minimalists.
No, this isn’t our place. It’s just a photo I found.
There’s a lot of stuff that we both carry around with us because of the memories that they’re associated with. We treasure the memories, so we treasure the associated ‘stuff’. But the association doesn’t need to be physical.
All those things that are simply sentimental will be thrown away or sold – but we’ll take photos of them first! That way all the ‘stuff’ will be stored electronically, on our phones and in the ‘cloud’, and we won’t need to physically carry them around with us any more.
I’ve got a million printed photos from my past (back in the days before digital cameras and digital photos) that I’ve kept in photo albums or just in a couple of plastic bags full of photos. I’ll be taking photos of all my photos and then throwing them all away.
Books are another tedious thing to carry around. I’ve thrown away most of my books over the years, ever since the Kindle came out and I could buy the digital versions and keep them available electronically. It’s going to be time for Fanfan to start doing the same. She can keep the books she really wants, and throw out the ones she doesn’t. And from those that are kept, slowly buy the electronic versions and throw out the physical copy, so that the only ones that remain are the ones that she can’t do without, and which don’t have electronic versions (yet).
Clothes. There’s more clothes than we know what to do with. And because I’ve lost a lot of weight over the past few years, most of my clothes no longer fit me. I could do with new clothes that are couple sizes smaller. And then there’s Fanfan’s clothes. Being a girly-girl, she loves having dresses and shirts she doesn’t actually wear, along with a dozen pair of shoes. Maybe more.
It all has to change. This move has shown us we simply have too much stuff for two people who move around a lot, so we have to get serious about becoming ‘minimalists’.
Minimalism is also known as ‘simple living’:
Simple living encompasses a number of different voluntary practices to simplify one’s lifestyle. These may include reducing one’s possessions or increasing self-sufficiency, for example. Simple living may be characterized by individuals being satisfied with what they need rather than want. – wikipedia
Do any of you practice ‘simple living’, or minimalism? Do you have any tips or recommendations for me? Maybe you’d like to share your own story of what led you to becoming minimalist in your own life?
Thanks for reading! Please add your own thoughts below.
Don't forget to subscribe for new posts sent to you by email!