Minimalism is a trend right now, and I think it’s a good one.
I could go on and on about why I think this has happened (we’re living in the aftermath of the newness of credit cards and the belief that there’s no reason to wait for something), but I won’t. Other than that little parenthetical preaching break.
About a year into my own deslobification process, I started hearing the word minimalism. As I realized what it was, and as I experienced how much easier managing my home was with less stuff in it, I wondered if I needed to be one.
A minimalist.
It is a good thought, and aiming for minimalism took me far in finding my own Clutter Threshold. The more I purged, the more my house stayed under control.
The more often I could find things when I needed them.
The less often I caused an avalanche (or as my friend Cliff would say, a crapalanche) while searching for my keys. Or my suitcase. Or clean socks.
But, I never got there. And I’m fine with that.
I’ve realized I have no interest in being a minimalist just for the sake of being a minimalist.
Having a book on my shelf that I’ll probably never read but don’t want to purge doesn’t mean I’m doing something wrong.
I like the big yellow book of Broadway theatre posters that sits on my living room bookshelf. I haven’t opened it in two decades, but it feels like me.
I chose it as one of the free bonus books when I joined a theatre-based, mail order book club in college. At the time, I assumed my life would be full of intellectually stimulating conversations about the latest in theatre news and the themes of longstanding classics.
I wrote last week about grieving the person I thought I would be. But that book doesn’t make me grieve. It just makes me smile when I actually notice it.
I’ve decluttered that bookshelf multiple times, but I haven’t purged it. I don’t want to get rid of it and I don’t have to get rid of it.
Because it fits.
The big yellow book fits on my bookshelf which fits in my house. That book doesn’t prohibit my family from living the lives we need to live.
I don’t need it.
But I also don’t need to get rid of it.
Let me be clear. I don’t believe that those who promote the value of living a minimalist lifestyle are asking people to be miserable.
But people like me, those of us who tend toward ALL or NOTHING and have a very hard time living in between, can easily take it that way.
We think: If minimalism is best, but I just can’t, then I’m doomed to living wrong.
We’re wrong when we think that.
I started thinking about this recently when I got this message from one of you:
“I was getting so caught up in trying to be a minimalist last year that I started getting rid of many special things, for the sake of having a low # of possessions. But I’ve realized that I can enjoy my life and my hobbies (cardmaking, sewing, embroidery, watercolors, graphic art, collecting miniatures . . .) and it doesn’t have to be out of control, IF I TAKE THE CONTAINER APPROACH. I can say ‘Yes, I love cardmaking, this is my card making box’ and not let it overflow. That way I am controlling my stuff, and it’s not controlling me.”
I love this so so much, and it helped me see how aiming for minimalism was very good for me, but achieving minimalism never happened and was never going to happen (at least the way I assumed it was supposed to happen).
What worked for me, and what continues to work for me, and what helps my brain relax and understand, is embracing the Container Concept.
I can keep whatever I want to keep, as long as it fits in my container.
Not sure what the Container Concept is? If you’re new here, the main thing you need to know is that you do NOT need to run out to buy containers.
But do check out these explanations:
Containers and Limits and How They’ll Change Your Life Podcast
Ooooooohhhhh, “Contain”ers! Now I Get It!
Or for a crash course that will take you crazy-far in your decluttering process, you need my new book and the video course. The book is Decluttering at the Speed of Life and you can find out all about it HERE. The Five Day Clutter Shakedown will walk you through the decluttering process step-by-step. You can learn more about how to get access HERE.
P.S. I know for a fact that there is a lot more to the idea of minimalism than the negative reactions I described here. I’ve never studied it carefully.
Courtney Carver, who is the author of Being More With Less posts on FB, had one post about when it might be time to stop purging. I guess once you’re on the track of deleting possessions from your life, it’s easy to get caught up in getting rid of almost everything. I think the approach of the reader you quoted is most reasonable – if it fits, and it brings you joy, it’s OK to keep it. I like homes that look lived in and that show the interests of the people who live there. So no, minimalism isn’t for everyone, and should not be an end in itself. That’s just the other end of the hoarding scale.
Amen and amen! I’m totally with you in wanting to have less stuff, but I also want to guard against trying to shove my family into a mold that just doesn’t work for us. I don’t want to frown at my husband if he buys a shirt he doesn’t absolutely need or my kids who insist on keeping pictures they drew a half-dozen years ago. And nobody is going to convince me to get rid of a single one of my four mini-spatulas (yes, I need them all!). I hope to become more minimalistic, but I don’t ever see myself being a “minimalist.” And like you, I’m okay with that! 🙂
I bought some adorable push pins with hooks so I could hang my earrings from them on a bulletin board. When I started hanging them, I realized that the package of hooks had 40 hooks, and I had twice that many pairs of earrings.
My choices were: Buy another package of hooks. Hang the additional earrings somewhere else. Or, scale down to 40 pairs of earrings. ONLY BECAUSE OF YOUR CONTAINER CONCEPT did this last choice even OCCUR to me! AND, I chose it. My bulletin board now “contains” 40 hooks for earrings, so that is all I have. Later, it makes the “one in, one out” rule an automatic decision. (I did the “50 hanger closet” thing a few years ago, and I’ll never go back to a crowded closet!)
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!
Love it!! I totally agree, mostly because often the BARE look of a minimalist’s living room or other room scares me. It makes me feel like I’d be afraid to set anything down, or even to sit down myself, and destroy the perfect order of the place. But I do like the concept of “everything in its place”. So with your container concept, everything has a place. Even my glass has its place on the end table, while I am sitting on the couch. When I am done, it belongs in the kitchen. And as you said, things that bring me joy, or make me smile, deserve to have a place in my home. I also love what Judy said about creating a limit– defining your own “container”. Your container concept is one of the best, most freeing, and most stress-relieving decluttering ideas I have ever come across. Thank you and God bless you! 🙂
I preordered your new book and look with anticipation to it. I filled out the appropriate information to receive the free video course for preordering the book. I was redirected to a page where I was to enter the “code”. Nothing happened. There was no place to enter the code. I was continually sent to the same previous page. How do I actually get access to the free video course?
Hi Geralyn, when you click “enroll in course for $30” you’ll go to your cart. Between the listing of the course in your cart and your total of $30, there’s blue-green text saying “Add Coupon.” That text is clickable. When you click it, a box will pop up for you to enter the code. I so wish that space for the code was more obvious. Sorry! If you have ANY more trouble, email me and I’ll help you!
I like your idea of working toward, without becoming, minimalist so much better. Those people seem so rigid and un-fun, and like someone else said, I’d be afraid to sit on anything in their houses. That’s not comfort, or coziness, or “hygge” or any of the other adjectives describing what I’d like to be my Sanctuary From the Outside World. Go, you! 🙂
I totally agree. I kind of can’t stand when things like this become trendy. Sometimes people will even say things about becoming a “minimalist” or having a “capsule wardrobe” without even understanding what any of that actually means. They just like to say those buzzwords I guess.
Debates about defining “minimalism” aside, “crapalanche” is my new favorite word!
Love the term ‘crapalanch’. I have a clean washing pile, waiting to be put away. I call it ‘the waterfall’. X
My favorite definition for minimalism is getting rid of the things you don’t love so you can keep and cherish those that you do.