Fill your life with stories to tell, not stuff to show.
The simplicity/minimalism movement is a beautiful community. And I enjoy any opportunity to promote writing that encourages people to live more by owning less.
So fix yourself a nice warm cup of coffee or tea. Find a quiet moment this weekend. And enjoy some encouraging words to inspire more simplicity in your life today.
I Was Getting Buried in Clutter. Here’s How I Finally Got Free. | The Washington Post* by Valerie Peterson. It might help to look at why we accumulate so much in the first place.
Decluttering Burst: Let Go of 100 Things in Less Than an Hour | Motherly by Courtney Carver. Set your timer for 60 minutes and get rid of 100 things. Here’s how to do it.
A Simple Phrase to Help You Stop Buying Stuff You Don’t Need | Dr. Allison Answers by Dr. Allison Niebes-Davis. I wish I could say that when I started practicing minimalism, I stopped wanting things. What has changed however is my ability to resist the pull to things.
The Pitfalls of Minimalism | Medium by Sílvia Bastos. Minimalism is for you—you just need to make it your own.
Keep Your Head Up: How Smartphone Addiction Kills Manners and Moods | The New York Times* by Adam Popescu. The problem of looking at our devices nonstop is both social and physiological.
*Editor’s note: The Washington Post and The New York Times limit the number of free articles nonsubscribers can read in one month.
I love the phrase “You have enough.” I have been saying it to myself in many situtation this past two weeks – it works in so many ways, not just for shopping!
I stumbled across becomingminalist.com and feel as though I’ve found some kindred spirits. We moved from Columbus, Ohio, to St Augustine, Florida about two years ago. In the months prior to selling our home of 18 years in Columbus, we “de-junked” it hoping to make it more attractive. That phrase alone should told me I had too much stuff, but if it didn’t, the multiple trips to the landfill with a total of 1600 pounds of “I might need this for something” confirmed it. Now in Florida, we’re still ridding ourselves of clutter, just not nearly as much of it. The feeling after donating items we don’t use is wonderful! Father Richard Rohr says that the more stuff we have, the more time and energy we spend guarding it, worrying about it, allowing it to run our lives. Becoming minimalist is altering my approach to everything in a positive way. Thanks!!
Following your blog for years and always waiting for the weekend reads! :)
I look so forward to the ‘weekend reads’. Every weekend I feel like a kid opening a bag of M&Ms or something whenever I’m clicking into the email! The funny thing is, my grandmother is a hoarder. Due to some extenuating health reasons, she is living with me. Guess what I read out loud to her? She hates it. I love it!!! Lol
Thank you! I discovered your blog just this week while looking for advices and experiences from others about living a minimalist life. I am expecting my first baby and already can see the “pressure” around of getting things that are not specifically essentials. A friend also told me “this is now when you and your husband will have to set boundaries with those close to you”. Like -already got offered to take toys for the baby who hasn’t even be born! I said “no, thank you.”
I personally, born in Honduras, my parents being from Chile and Peru, we’ve travelled most of our life. From my dad I learned the bliss of a simple life, and since we travelled a lot, there was no need to carry things. All I carry now is a huge baggage of wonderful memories! But now living in the US it is tempting to fall in the trap of ownership and you start accumulating things… I had to respect also my husband’s life, he grew in one country, so has accumulation of stuffs… Little by little I noticed though he is eliminating stuffs that are no longer needed.
What I’ve read so far in your blog has helped me to strength the decisions to continue being minimalist and enjoy the real value of a simple life.
Just FYI- Washington Post is free for educators, and the Times has a deal where it’s only $4/month for educators. Other professions may have discounts as well, so it’s worth looking into, and it’s good to support quality journalism! Thanks for the interesting articles!!
Dear Joshua, thank you for sharing these amazing resources on Minimalism. Also, I read your articles(Archives) repeatedly. I finally experienced the joy and freedom and understood what you shared “Maybe you don’t need to own all this stuff?” on that Memorial Day May 26 2008. What a revelation that to me that I REALLY need not own the stuff (that once upon a time was my favourite collections but it is no more). https://www.becomingminimalist.com/5-years-of-better/
Hello Joshua,
Could you write about self sufficiency in a minimalistic manner some time? I am really interested what your take on this is.
I second that request! About 5 years ago, our family decided to move away from the burbs and onto a small farm with the goal of living more self-sufficiently. While our home possessions downsized due to our home size, we increased possessions such as tools and tend to not throw away with the purpose of re-using when needed. While minimalism and self-sufficiency share the characteristic of simplicity, it can look quite different from a material standpoint. I’d be interested to hear your opinion.