Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Lori Lippincott of Loving Simple Living.
“If you are facing in the right direction, all you need to do is keep on walking.”
While I may still be relatively new to minimalism, I find great value sharing with others the process that has brought me here step-by-step.
Sometimes, it is hard to imagine the process that goes behind the scenes in the life of a minimalist. But from my conversations, I have found most seem to follow the same general path, thought-process, and even struggles throughout their journey. You may be further along than me, you may be struggling through the first steps, or you may have stumbled upon this site and are being introduced to minimalism for the first time. But no matter where you currently place yourself on the journey, considering the life cycle of a minimalist will surely bring encouragement to you.
The Life Cycle of a Minimalist:
- Stress, Overwhelmed, Searching – Everyone reaches the point where they are open to change differently. It might be a money crunch, or a time crunch. It might be a searching for purpose. It might be wanting more energy for a relationship that is valuable to you. Somewhere, something blows a little steam switch in your brain and you decide (intentionally or not) that maybe the way you are doing things isn’t working as well as you thought.
- Awareness – You see or hear of someone who is living a minimalist lifestyle. Sure you know you don’t need things to be happy, but the idea of intentionally living with much less never really entered your mind. It’s not rocket science, but for some reason, you never really considered it an option before. Initially it may seem crazy, but as the idea sits for a while it seems less and less crazy, just different.
- Curiosity – As the idea sits in your head you look for other information. You may look online for blogs, read books, or talk to friends. You start to play out the idea in your head when you look at your house imagining what it might look like if you made the change.
- Action – Your imagination sticks its toe in the water of reality. You tackle the first project. It may be as simple as cleaning out a closet, the family junk drawer, or a spare room. For me it was cleaning off a bookshelf. I was amazed to discover I could easily get rid of 80% of its contents.
- Excitement – After the first project, a new sense of excitement emerges. Closets start getting emptied, floors get covered in piles, the basement looks like a tornado hit, and the car won’t fit in the garage. You develop the distinct goal to live a more simple, minimalist lifestyle and it is exciting as you begin.
- Setback – You hit a setback. It might be work gets busy and you have less time in the evening to declutter, you might hit a family emergency, someone might question why you are doing what you are doing (because sadly, that is one of our biggest fears in life). Or maybe you get rid of something you end up needing and have to go buy again making you question your own sanity.
- Exhaustion – Stepping over piles and having the house torn apart gets old. Spending all the time sorting has tired you out. Finding people to buy or places to donate has become frustrating. The process seems never ending and it feels like the house is just as full as it was when you started. Your excitement is waning and your energy is on its last leg.
- Strength – Finally some big piles get moved out. Maybe a garage sale or your 10th trip to the Goodwill drop-off finally let you see the light at the end of the tunnel. For the first time in years you realize that you actually know what is in your house (all the closets, garage, and more) and what is still there is what you have specifically chosen to keep. Finally it feels like you are over the hump and excited about the real progress you have made.
- Incorrect Finish line – You get to the end. You have gone through everything in your house and got rid of lots. Maybe 30%, 50%, 80% of your material belongings? The place looks different. It looks and feels so good. You pat yourself on the back for a job well done.
- More decluttering – Over the next few months, while walking around your house and cleaning, you find more and more items you are willing to remove. Maybe you were afraid to get rid of it during the first big sorting, but now you don’t know why you kept it. You end up with more and more sale and donation piles growing around your house again.
- Holidays or stuff purchasing slips – Your home begins to collect more material things through holidays, gifts, or your old purchasing habit that sometimes sneaks around the corner and catches you off-guard.
- More decluttering – Dealing with #11 and still living #10.
- More decluttering – Realizing #10 is still going on a year down the road… and #11 really never ends fully.
- Understanding that right sizing your life is not a destination but a journey. Whether you keep cutting back or life changes require you to gain more material possessions, you stick to intentionally owning only what you need and truly want. You have learned how to make possessions a servant instead of a master and have exercised your control over it. You have reached the other side, but the other side is much more personal mastery than you originally thought. It isn’t so much about a specific number of things you own, but a healthy understanding of the proper place of material things in your life. You are free to tackle growth in other areas of your life… always striving to grow and becoming a better version of yourself.
***
Lorilee Lippincott writes at Loving Simple Living.
Carollida says
YES, YES,YES! I am currently in the set back mode as we are moving this week, but previous to that I made it to 9 and 9 again..LOL! We have done exactly as you wrote. We get rid of enough and feel comfortable, then we find more and our family is starting to see that we have to get rid of a little more every few months. It is a fantastic feeling!
Andi-Roo says
I’m a mix of steps 3-4-5. Good to know what I have ahead of me! This is a terrific reminder that Minimalism is a lifestyle, a philosophy, a daily collection of choices… not just a one-time done-deal. Thank you for this important lesson! :)
Andi-Roo /// @theworld4realz
http://www.theworld4realz.com/
Susan Child says
Perfect timing! Due to new carpet in most of the house I had momentum, but now it’s time to get rid of the stuff not allowed back in. It’s good to know that it’s a continuing cycle.
Thanks! *:)
Brooke {Slow Your Home} says
This resonates so strongly! And the term cycle is perfect because it really is endless. Sure there are the monumental first steps and the big, uphill battle of those first months, but the accumulation of stuff is constant, particularly when you have kids and/or generous family and friends.
In the end, it’s really a shift in mindset, isn’t it? And a life-long commitment to living with only those things that are useful and meaningful. Whatever shape that takes.
Heidi @Adventures of a Thrifty Mom says
I’m a few years into minimalism and I’m still doing round after round of decluttering. Just when I think I have things taken back enough I realize there is still more that can and should go. Where does all this stuff come from?
Rae says
I agree with this lifecycle. I’m in one of phases here.
Now I’m in a phase where I realized that this is a journey and that I’m starting to live life more. I’m reaping the benefits of the extra-time I have with all the decluttering I’ve done.
Bonnie says
Our culture teaches us to want more and have more, and then value ourselves by that. It is good to see that many are overcoming that as the diminishing returns of such a philosophy are more apparent
Kandice says
This is fabulous. I am at the very beginning, so to know that there will be setbacks along the way is good. I am impatient and want it all to be done RIGHT NOW. I have to keep reminding myself that this is a marathon, not a sprint.
Lorilee @ Loving Simple Living says
Good for you! It is overwhelming sometimes, but totally worth it :)
Megyn @MinimalistMommi says
This fascinating and helpful information. As a “born” minimalist, I was always perplexed at the “converted” minimalist movement. I just never got it because minimalism is so natural/easy for me. Being able to see how it affects others who choose to become minimalists is a helpful insight. Thank you for this.
JBC says
I am also a “born minimalist”, whose mother and grandmother are hoarders. Since early childhood I have always adored clean, open spaces, paring down my animal posters and dolls, rearranging the beds and table, donating books at 8 years old even though they were books i would read often. It was hard having a mother who would flat out refuse to let me get rid of things or would find a box my dad was donating just to fish stuff out of it. So now even as I am naturally minimal, like others I have been unconsciously indoctrinated and am in the reprogramming phase. I guess I can see both sides.
Amy says
It seems like minimalism clicks really well for a lot of people whose family members were hoarders. My mom definitely is and I won’t lie, I love feeling in control of my living space now that I’m out on my own. I do the minimalist thing, and I don’t have to worry about being quizzed for throwing away/donating something. I can walk through my apartment without bumping into stuff, and I can retrieve things from shelves without having to dig through huge stacks of junk. As a high anxiety individual having grown up with a hoarder, minimalism lets me breathe and focus on something other than how f-ing infuriating it is to constantly step around, rearrange, clean, dig through, and lose things…
Ilona says
this is so true! feels like you are talking about me!
interesting point, minimalists that came from hoarder families. my mom is not an extreme hoarder, more a pretty bad case of pack-rat, she can give stuff away, just not enough… and gets new stuff. anyway, enough to make me live in a house were i had to clean out the kitchen every few years because you would open something and random stuff would fall on your head… and the attick’s end could only be reached by throwing yourself over stuff… overfull bathroom cabinets… at one point i collected 90 (!!!!) plastic boxes, a desperate attempt of her to contain the clutter, but it clutters everything up even more… she is still trying to understand my point about the boxes and got mad when i got rid of them… like usually when i help her organize…
anyway… living on my own was great! i still had quite some stuff, but it was organized. then i got married, with an adhd messy (adorable) guy… after spending every year weeks of the year again and again organizing tons of our shit, i read about minimalism and just got rid of 75% of the shit, LIBERATING. i now swear by minimalism. my husband has his one little assigned junk corner but is glad i help him to live in an organized house. i love my mom but visiting her (and staying over) still makes me anxious at times, clutter stresses me out so much i cant function…
if i lived on my own, i would probably be living even more minimalist.
TR Kelley says
Yes yes so much yes. For me it was dad. :)
brookeO says
Step 4, action, is so right! There is one clearing that dominoes the rest of the process. And the entire time you are slimming down you are thinking of the end, the day you consider yourself living a minimalist lifestyle. And then it is 2 years later and you realize you will never be finished, controlling your possessions rather than them controlling you is now your way of life. I really enjoyed reading this ‘life cycle’. You don’t realize you have gone through all of these until you read them!