Adopting a More Minimalist Lifestyle

Last Friday, I found myself crying on the floor of my bedroom over my room having shades instead of curtains. The only solution that calmed me down was my significant other and my best friend working together to hang up our thrift store curtains with duct tape. No curtain rod, because we didn’t have one that fit. No command hooks, because we didn’t have two matching ones.

My apartment was in total disarray, and now so was my mind.

I was living in an inner-city college apartment where paint was chipping, carpets were coming up, and walls torn out. Nothing about it would ever be perfect, not unless I tore it down and rebuilt it from the ground up. I’m pretty sure that’s not something I’m allowed via my lease.

This had come up before, and once again I was overwhelmed by the thought of my living space not being perfect. There was nothing I could do to fix it though, so I went to bed, still in distress.

The next morning, as I was scrolling through Facebook, one of my mother’s coworkers shared a repost by Joshua Becker of an article by Erica Lane titled 9 Things to Love About Your Lived in Home. Immediately, the title captivated me because of its relevance.

How did this come across my feed? What were the odds?

I clicked on it right away and read it over and over again. The ideas brought up were so accurate, and I sent it to my mother and shared it to my own feed right away. Everyone needed to read this.

Then I clicked on Joshua Becker’s page. I was flooded with the concept of minimalism and the benefits of it. He explained the serious mental, physical, and financial ramifications of owning more than you need.

I know that I have too much stuff, but I’ve never been able to get rid of it. I always stop myself from donating or selling something by telling myself that I’d need it years from now if this situation ever arose.

But why am I holding onto things at nineteen years old for when I’m thirty with kids? It’s just taking up space in my already-small apartment and causing me stress because of that.

I spent the next 48 hours watching all of his videos, reading every post, and writing down lists of my own on what I could do right then to adopt a more minimalist lifestyle. These things were easy enough, because a lot of it was just getting rid of multiples, unimportant, or useless things in my household. I pulled out my tote bins and started filling them.

I was so surprised at how quickly one bin became three, then five, and then I was out of bins altogether. One I filled with clothes to bring to my local consignment shop to earn a little extra money for the bills this month. Another consisted of items I could give away to my younger cousins and family friends. Three more were filled to the brim with items for Goodwill. Why had I been keeping so many things that I really didn’t care about?

Once I asked myself this question, the answer wasn’t clear, but the solution was. No matter how many trips to consignment shops, garage sales, and Goodwill it took, I would clear my apartment of anything that was mine that I didn’t need or want anymore.

The doors opened for me then. I started waking up every morning with a more positive mindset. My house was being improved by the day, and I wasn’t spending a dime to do it. I sat at the table with a cup of hot chocolate, marveling at the things around me that were so unnecessary. I would smile at the thought of someone else coming into Goodwill before adding it to their own home.

It’s not the easiest thing–adopting a more minimalist lifestyle as a college student with roommates–but the effect it had on me in just a couple of days was life-changing. Because I wasn’t cleaning, organizing, and constantly trying to declutter my home, I could appreciate it for what it was. It was a blank canvas that I could design any way that I wanted–I just had to unbury the paints from under the clutter.

I look forward to continuing this masterpiece that is my life.

For more minimalist articles, click here

Find my favorite tote storage bins here and here