“Buy less stuff. Do work you love. And make a positive difference.” —Joshua Becker
I never set out to become a blogger. In fact, it is with mixed emotions today, that I announce I have become a full-time writer.
And it all started on a typical Saturday morning with a decision that became a passion. A passion that became a career.
How a Regular Morning Led to a Life-Changing Decision.
I woke up Saturday, May 24, 2008 with a relatively simple goal: clean out the garage. It was a decision not unlike the decision made by countless people around the world every weekend. After all, houses need cleaning, cars need maintaining, and possessions need managing.
Little did I know my life was about to change forever.
After a few hours of cleaning, my neighbor was the first to notice my defeated posture and frustrated facial expression. Her smile and light conversation was meant to cheer me up. I appreciated it. But it wasn’t until I began pointing out my frustration over the time and energy spent cleaning that she responded with a sentence so profound, it turned my life upside-down immediately.
“That’s why my daughter is a minimalist.” She said, “She keeps telling me I don’t need to own all this stuff.” I remember her words like it was yesterday.
I turned around to see the pile of things in my driveway. As I did, I noticed my 5-year old son playing alone in the backyard. And suddenly, a life-giving truth became clear.
All the possessions I owned were not bringing joy into my life. But worse than that, they were distracting me from the very things that did. And a minimalist was born.
My wife and I would go on to remove many of the nonessential possessions from our lives. All told, 60-70% of our stuff would eventually be sold, donated, recycled, or thrown away.
How a Decision Became a Passion.
I remember sitting by my computer just hours after our decision to intentionally live with less. I registered a free WordPress domain name: Becoming Minimalist. I intended to use the website as a simple online journal to chronicle our journey and keep our extended family updated on our progress.
But the process of journaling held far more benefit than I ever imagined. It provided opportunity for me to write about our process. But more than that, it forced me to articulate the emotions I was feeling, the lessons I was learning, and the benefits I was experiencing.
As a result, I became highly attentive to the positive, practical benefits we began experiencing almost immediately after choosing to live with less. We noticed we had more time, more energy, and more money for the things that mattered most.
I remember one dinner party just months after our decision. I sat next to a wonderful friend and began explaining to her our decision and our progess living with less. Her face lit up immediately. She began listing all the things in her home she would like to remove and began dreaming of the possibility of living a freer life without them. It was almost as if she was just waiting for someone to give her permission to own less.
Suddenly, it occured to me that I had just played the role of my neighbor in my friend’s life. I had invited her to a new and better way to live. Around this same time, more and more readers began visiting the Becoming Minimalist website—just enough to remind me there was great value in this message of minimalism and people were drawn to it.
Living with less quickly became a passion for my own life. But additionally, a passion was growing in my heart to spread the message of minimalism in a world bound to consumerism—to become one voice calling people to buy less when every other advertisement was calling them to buy more. My passion for simplicity quickly grew beyond the walls of our own, uncluttered home.
How a Passion Became a Career.
With a renewed focus and desire, the goal of Becoming Minimalist began to evolve. What started as a personal online journal quickly morphed into a website dedicated to inspiring and equipping others to discover and embrace minimalism.
I watched other bloggers. And learned from their example.
Social media began to play an important role in spreading the message. We established Becoming Minimalist on Facebook and joined Twitter shortly after. Our presence on both continues to grow.
We wrote two books. Simplify and Inside-Out Simplicity have sold in the tens of thousands on Amazon and as PDFs in bundle sales. Simplify has ranked as the #1 Self-Help book on Amazon on two separate occasions.
Readership at Becoming Minimalist began to grow and has exploded recently. Traffic has doubled over the past five months. During the month of September alone, over 300,000 visitors visited Becoming Minimalist and were exposed to the message of minimalism.
One year ago, we launched the Becoming Minimalist Newsletter (no longer available) after sensing a growing desire to unite simple living advocates. The newsletter serves as encouragement for those committed to promoting simplicity. It is unlike any other email newsletter I have ever received. It is designed to equip the reader to grow in influence and promotes simple-living posts from every corner of the web. It is read by over 6,000 subscribers.
And through it all, because I love my work and find rich meaning in it, I have continued to work 50+ hours/week at my full-time job. For the past 15 years, I have served as a pastor in a number of different Christian churches. When this blog first started, I served as the Youth Pastor at one of the largest churches in New England helping middle school and high school students find fuller-meaning in their hearts and souls. Most recently, for the last two years, I have served alongside a good friend of mine planting a church in one of the fastest-growing counties in the country.
But I have known all along pursuing both passions was unsustainable for the long-term. And at this point in my life, my greatest opportunity for impact is to promote living with less in a world that has bought into the lie that pursuing possessions is a worthy endeavor.
As a result, effective today, October 1st, I am committed to the full-time promotion of minimalism. With fear and excitement, today, everything changes for us.
What Does This Mean for Becoming Minimalist?
At this point, there will be little change on Becoming Minimalist. In fact, regular readers will probably notice very few changes on the website. I do not intend to increase the frequency of posts. I only hope to improve their quality. I also hope to spend more time writing guest posts on other websites looking for new opportunities to introduce others to the invitation of minimalism.
The Becoming Minimalist Newsletter will still be delivered on an every-other week basis. There is a chance this frequency will increase in the future. But for now, it will stay the same. By the way, thanks for all the kind words and feedback I receive from it. I appreciate every single one of them.
I do hope to become far more interactive and available to readers than ever before. I hope to become more responsive to blog comments, Facebook messages, tweets, and e-mails. Community is important to me. And I look forward to having more opportunity for it.
I have a desire to accept more speaking opportunities than before. I desire to continue promoting minimalism and its intersection with entrepreneurship, business, happiness, and spirituality. My commitment is to continue offering speaking engagements at an incredibly affordable price. You can find out more here.
I also have plans for some exciting new projects in the very near future. I will be releasing a new book later this month and have been collaborating with other simple living bloggers for an amazing opportunity we will unveil soon. I have also begun the process of creating a book proposal for 2014. These projects are ones I am passionate about creating and offering to you. I look forward to the opportunity of finally having the time to create them with full excellence.
Lastly, it is every bit my intention to keep Becoming Minimalist reader-supported (ad-free). Despite what some may think, my income from Becoming Minimalist is just barely equal to the income from a part-time job. While we don’t need much (minimalism has made this possible), I do have a responsibility to my wife and two young children to provide faithfully. And to that end, I will continue to pursue and create resources that benefit both the reader and the creator.
There are such wonderful days ahead. Our message is important. Our opportunity is great. And together, we can absolutely change this world for the better.
Image: Swaminathan
Mark says
This will be interesting to watch. First off I do congratulate you in that you’ve gotten to the point where you’re able to do this. The thing I’ve noticed among many of the minimalist folks out there is the decided change that happens when they make this move. Specifically, Zen Habits and then The Minimalists. I used to read their sites always, but have entirely stopped this year. Something happens. When a passion becomes a job, there’s a switch and I can’t put my finger on it, but part of it is that the passion becomes commodified, and as a result the sites turn into ones that are more self-aggrandizing and less helpful, or become less of a good place to share with like-minded people. Comments close, courses are referenced in every single article, the same insight is repackaged and delivered over and over. I came to feel worse reading them than better, so I stopped. Yours is a site that has never done this. I’ve always felt that you come from a place that’s a little different. You share your path and I find the way in which you do this welcoming and very honest. I very much hope that you find a way to write without losing the soul of the place. May this be a wonderful journey for you.
Júlia B. says
“Comments close, courses are referenced in every single article, the same insight is repackaged and delivered over and over” — you’ve put this so nicely! I could not shape this feeling for myself but now I have it. Thanks!
Anyway, Joshua, keep up the good work–the Kingdom of God needs you & your passion. Good luck!
Dave says
Congratulations Joshua! Can’t wait to see what is in store!
Stephen Guise says
Congratulations Josh! This is very exciting.
Minimalism is a worthy cause, and one that I will always promote in my personal life and on Deep Existence. I’m happy to see you make the leap into full-time minimalist blogger, because the consumer mindset will continue to grow and deceive people into thinking that more stuff means more happiness. So it’s important to counter that idea and show people otherwise, and I’m glad you’re doing it in a big way!
A minimalist for life,
Stephen Guise
Carl says
Congratulations. Looking forward to the evolution. Enjoy the ride!
Carl
Pam says
Congratulations on your leap to full time writing! You’re promoting a great cause and have inspired so many, myself included. Wishing you all the best!
Mike says
I’m excited and happy for you after reading your post this morning. Kudos to you for following your heart. Thank you for allowing us to see the adventure you are living. You are one of my favorites on the subject of living a simpler life.
All the best in the coming future,
Mike
Anna D. says
We don’t know each other. Nonetheless, my heart sank a little to read that you won’t be as active in the church as you once were. I say this a sister-in-Christ:) Congratulations on being able to write full-time, really, just please don’t lose sight of what really matters…
Jamie says
I’m finally emerging from a year of lurking to congratulate you Joshua and wish you all the best as you embark on this exciting adventure!
Anna, I understand where you are coming from, as I am sure Joshua’s congregation will feel the loss of him as a full-time staff person. However, while his ministry may decrease in his local church, in enables an increase in his ministry to both the Church (global Body of Christ) as well as non-believers. I for one applaud him for being obedient to God’s call to non-traditional service that “really matters.”
Anna D. says
I agree with what you are saying- only Joshua knows what his true calling is, I just felt compelled to voice a sadness in someone leaving a position of ministry whether at my church or another. Just my two-cents;)
ccattwood says
I felt the same tiny twinge of sadness, too.
Matthew Gunia says
The feeling was similar with me. But I’ll let Josh live his life and I’ll live mine. I hope it all works out well for you, Josh
Anna D. says
Completely. Honestly, all the best to him.
Catherine says
This news is very exciting for you and your family! Your blog and newsletter are both so inspirational! Thank you for sharing your thoughts and insight!
Terri Evans says
Thank you for your thoughtful articles and links. As a mother of six daughters, I am interested in applying concepts of simplicity (a close relative of minimalism) to engagements and weddings. The idea that a wedding is a religious ceremony marking the beginning of a marriage is often lost in our society. The idea that a reception is primarily a place where guests can connect with family and friends is even more lost in our culture. Food and drink as a gracious act of hospitality is replaced with grossly over-priced catered meals served in an elegant location often too small to accommodate all the friends and family who have been part of the lives of the newlyweds, so relationships are diminished in favor of appearances. I would appreciate the input of the minimalist community concerning weddings.
Matthew Gunia says
I’ve been having very similar thoughts recently, but I come from the perspective of a parish pastor.
I recently conducted the wedding of a young couple (new believers) who chose to get married at the regular Sunday morning service because they wanted their church family present for their marriage. It was very nice. The service started out with the Rite of Marriage, the groom kissed the bride, and the entire wedding party sat down with the rest of the congregation for the Service of Matins (we’re liturgical). We had the regular appointed readings, hymns, etc. Afterwards, there was a reception in the church’s outdoor courtyard with some catering and some pot-luck.
My wife’s cousin did something very similar. She got married on a Saturday morning and had a desert reception in the church basement.
As a pastor, I normally hate weddings. Couples rarely care about the theology of marriage or the elements of the marriage rite. Couples rarely care about planning for their life together. What do they care about? They continually lobby to personalize the ceremony to the highest degree possible. I’m sorry, I just can’t allow Elvis Presley’s “Love Me Tender” to be the processional hymn.
I’m in agreement that young people who choose short engagements and simple, intimate weddings are very wise. I wish there were more of them coming to me.
Jonathan Pelphrey says
Congratulations on this important decision. I must say that I’m not a little bit jealous and this news has spurred me to go back and read your stuff again (as I find that I am again feeling the pressure to get more stuff and work for more money, etc.)…