Adventures in Minimalism

We’re sort of slowly getting ready to move across the country in the spring, and so I’ve been trying to get rid of things – extra clothes, furniture, etc, that I’m not using/don’t need…nothing weird (except for maybe having been planning this move all year). I’ve been thinking about how nice it feels to have less random stuff, and so I may try to experiment with minimalism leading up to, and following The Great Moving Adventure. I did some reading (a few hours last night, nothing extensive by any means) and while everyone I read gave lipservice to minimalism looking differently for everyone, they all seemed to make a point to…..degrade keeping things for entertainment.
KieryGeek aside, this bothers me and isn’t something that would benefit me in my own minimalist excursion (depress, on the other hand…). While I’d like to live with less, and the idea of being minimalist appeals to me in a fight-the-machine-kind-of-way, I’m not going to give up my gaming consoles, my tv, or netflix because some random dudes on the internet say “it’s better” and that tv/gaming/entertainment-that-isn’t-reading-or-music is a waste of time (which, I thoroughly disagree with, for lots of reasons).
So, I’m gonna experiment with something I’m dubbing “keep-only-the-shit-that-you-like-ism!”. Which is still living with less, keeping only the things you need and enjoy, but basically, not eschewing the value of entertainment. I think any time anyone says “Stop gaming, it’s a waste of your time/life” I get angry and triggered. πŸ˜›
Anyway, aside from the STFU-gaming-is-good tangent, I think for me it will largely look like pack up whatever I can fit in my minicooper, getting rid of the rest, and hitting ikea for desks and a couch. πŸ˜‰
As a personal quest, I’m going to only keep like 6 place (for the rare time the two of us have breakfast) settings so I have less dishes to wash on the chance that we get an apartment sans a dishwasher like our current place. I’ll probably do another run-through of my wardrobe, decide how badly I want to keep the ornaments that have pictures of baby kiery (which won’t ever make it on a tree, because no), and figure out how to travel-ize my jewelry collection (probably will throw it all in my makeup box. shhhh).
Anyway, the glorious part of keep-only-the-shit-that-you-like-ism, is that it’s about not having stuff you don’t like, but also not making a huge (anti-entertainment…) religion out of it either.
Okay, maybe those articles triggered me more than I thought they did.


In other news, I’m taking a mental health break. Right now that looks like muting a lot of twitter and playing a lot of minecraft and throwing personal comic schedules and completion to the wind while I try to catch my breath and chill. I feel like my brain needs a hard reset involving not noticing the world is going to shit and falling to pieces every 10 minutes. I may or may not update here with more thoughts or progress on minimalism, or anything deep, or anything at all. I don’t really know. Right now I’m just trying to give myself a break and figure out that I’m okay for existing and my validity isn’t dependent on anything else and it’s okay to not work myself ragged. Taking it one day at a time.
Today, I stayed in bed until I got hungry and needed coffee and then I basically only played minecraft. So, yeah. Don’t talk to me about wasting time on video games. Mental health is important too. πŸ˜›

Comments

  1. Kathleen Margaret Schwab Avatar

    I also got into the minimalism thing this past year. I moved into a condo that is literally half the square footage of my previous place, and so had to seriously weed things out. I kept all the stuff i like, the stuff i use, and the stuff that just plain means something to me. I still got rid of so much. The thing is, if I like everything I have, I feel richer than when I have more actual possessions but like them less. Moving gave me the excuse to get rid of things i was keeping out of obligation (I spent $ on it! Aunt Betty gave me that and then she died of a stroke!), and since i am unfortunately all too likely to fall for even internal guilt trips, being able to blame moving gave me the out I needed.

  2. Mousethoughts Avatar
    Mousethoughts

    I came here from HA, and kept reading. You’re crap’o’meter is working well. There is this whole school of thought about minimalism and architecture saving people’s souls and revolutionizing behavior (not kidding). Some people are religious zealots about it, and its just as creepy as any other form of Fundamentalism.
    Of course, pack-rats think that stuff will save them: “I need to save this because it might come in handy some day!” Which is re-enforced when you discover that your best friend’s 4th cousin just happens to need the curlers you have been saving/archiving for the last 30 years that they no longer make… πŸ™‚ yeah, I come from a very long line of pack-rats.
    I am finding a type of freedom in learning to keep my stuff thoughtfully curated, and neatly organized. πŸ™‚ Good luck on your endeavors! Downsizing can actually become kind of addictive.

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