A Minimal Life

Why?

I’ve always believed in playing the hand you are dealt. So awhile back when my life went through some dramatic changes, I took some time to step back and rethink where I am, what I need and what I want. Surprisingly, what I came up with was much different then where I was before.

Getting rid of “Stuff” seems to be my new hobby. Simplifying my life, my new passion, and getting “back to the basics” my new motto. Being a slave to belongings, drowning in debt and seeking happiness through material things doesn’t seem very appealing to me anymore.

In reality, it doesn’t take much to be comfortable. I figured out there are actually three categories of “stuff” that constitutes a comfortable life. One is necessities. A roof over your head, food, water, clothing, transportation and an income to provide those things. Second would be those things necessary for comfortable modern living. Insurance, utilties, health care, tools, utensils and mail service of some kind. Thirdly would be those things that make your life more enjoyable. Recreational equipment, computer, TV, books, music, hobbies and a little extra cash to enjoy a dinner out or a good cigar.

In a society where “He who has the most stuff wins” is the norm, it isn’t easy to think in the minimal, but I am getting better at it. Right now my goal is to rid myself of my storage unit, as it just seems wrong to me to pay to store stuff I seldom use and certainly don’t actually need.

A minimal life. A life that’s comfortable and enjoyable without all the possesions and property. Now, I’m not talking about living like a hermit or out on the street, but just getting rid of so much of the junk that clutters up our lives. For example, after my divorce, I ended up with three large boxes of photographs. I went through those pictures one by one and ended up with two medium sized photo alblums. I found 32 photos of penguins in those boxes! I mean, how many pictures does a person need of penguins anyway? For all I know they were all the same penguin! I cut it down to one.

I also found 18 pairs of socks. I cut that down to 10 pairs and haven’t missed those 8 extra pairs yet!

I have a pretty extensive collection of DVDs. I bought two leather cases, threw out all the plastic boxes and now all my DVDs fit into a space of a dictionary. The DVDs play the same. The movies are just as good, yet my space for storing them decreased by some 500%! Simplifying your life doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice comfort or enjoyment. It means making your life less cluttered. I made an index list of my movies on my computer by genre and alphabetically and it’s actually easier deciding what to watch!

Tools take up a lot of space. I found that many of my tools were duplicates and donated the extras to Goodwill. I had 4 carpenters hammers! I can only use one at a time, so why 4? Three went into the donation bin!

So my quest for “minimality” goes on. Tomorrow I will rat around in my cupboards and drawers and again reduce my belongings (Stuff) to necessities and needs and a couple of “wants.” I mean, how many pictures of penguins does a guy need?