how minimalism changes

I’m often talking about how minimalism has changed my life, but that change hasn’t been static. What I mean by that is that I haven’t stopped learning and adapting to how minimalism can work for me. It’s an evolving conception of my own preferences and priorities and how I deploy minimalism in my life now differs from how I deployed it 12 or even 24 months ago. Considering how often I talk about it with people (and the many books I’ve recommend in the process), I thought I’d write an update on how minimalism has changed for me.

The initial phase of my minimalism journey had me discarding things - left, right and centre. I think back to when I first moved out of home and just how much ‘stuff’ I had to find a place for. When I look back at that moment now, I feel suffocated by the idea that I owned that many things! I came across photos of the room I eventually moved into and couldn’t believe just how different my perceptions were. If there’s something here that’s different now, upon reflection, it’s far less about discarding possessions and more about maintaining an acceptable level of possessions that bring joy to my life.

Nobody is perfect. When I feel like buying something, it’s fairly easy to override that consumeristic feeling - unless it’s technology. Albeit sometimes technology does date and an ‘upgrade’ becomes necessary, I’m constantly inspired by how new technologies get so much better each and every year, so it’s common for me to want to upgrade from the devices that I have to something newer. I don’t need to have the latest and greatest, but technology does spark joy for me, and getting over that - if I want to - will be one of the hardest tasks.

At first, I was so nervous about discarding things. That may explain why I had so many things in the first place - there was no ‘one in, one out’ rule to go by. Going back to that experience of moving house, I genuinely felt like I had to “keep” those things, burdened by objects that I had collected over a long period of time, that I even felt like I wasn’t permitted to discard of many of those things. But once I started, I couldn’t stop! Now I look for new things to discard and donate. I now keep a disposable bag of things to donate and once it fills up, I go to the local charity shop so that these things can find a new, loving home. Perhaps I’m addicted to the feeling of fresh air that minimising my possessions brought into my life.

I'm sure there are many more ways that my minimalist journey has changed over the last few years, and I'll be sure to write about them as they become more noticeable over time.