It's always the most difficult, isn't it? Just making that first change-for-the-better, no matter how small, is always difficult. We fear change, no matter how much it's needed, no matter how much we crave it. But after the first step, we come to realize it's not so bad. Perhaps it's even freakin awesome.
I made my first, exhilarating step towards minimalism about a year ago. I thought I'd have reached my destination by now. One year should be plenty of time to make our home empty of excess junk and clutter and full of nothing but peace and happy family times, right?
No.
Wrong.
Maybe other minimalist converts were able to reach their goal in a year's time, but not this girl. My mind is already there. But putting it fully into action takes an enormous amount of time, effort and patience. I am a minimalist soul, in a materialistic, consumer driven world, trying to break out and create space and peace in our tiny little chunk of this world. It has taken us 22 years of marriage and 4 children to acquire this abundance of stuff. It is certainly going to take more than a year to go through it all and slowly break the bonds of attachment to all that stuff.
Much progress has already been made. Countless bags and boxes have left this house to be sold, thrown out or donated. But there is still so much to go.
I'm not giving up. We take breaks from the intense purging for family events and just living life. That's the point , right? Ridding our lives of clutter so we can actually LIVE more freely. So we live as we purge, as we declutter. We make memories and find joy in every day DURING the journey to a minimalist home, a minimalist way of life.
When all is said and done, my minimalist life might look nothing like yours. But thats part of what drew me to this life change. It not a one size fits all. I will make the minimalist life that works for me and my family no matter how imperfect it might seem to others. We wont be trecking across Europe with all if our belongings in backpacks, nor will we be moving into a tiny house. I respect those that do, but that minimalist life doesn't fit me.
I'm okay with that. My minimalist life is one that will require patience and time and I might not even ever feel that I got there.....wherever "there" might be. But I have to remember....
"Life is a journey, not a destination." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
So I'm already living my imperfect minimalist life. And I wouldn't have it any other way. This space, this blog, is my Traveler's Journal. :)
I made my first, exhilarating step towards minimalism about a year ago. I thought I'd have reached my destination by now. One year should be plenty of time to make our home empty of excess junk and clutter and full of nothing but peace and happy family times, right?
No.
Wrong.
Maybe other minimalist converts were able to reach their goal in a year's time, but not this girl. My mind is already there. But putting it fully into action takes an enormous amount of time, effort and patience. I am a minimalist soul, in a materialistic, consumer driven world, trying to break out and create space and peace in our tiny little chunk of this world. It has taken us 22 years of marriage and 4 children to acquire this abundance of stuff. It is certainly going to take more than a year to go through it all and slowly break the bonds of attachment to all that stuff.
Much progress has already been made. Countless bags and boxes have left this house to be sold, thrown out or donated. But there is still so much to go.
I'm not giving up. We take breaks from the intense purging for family events and just living life. That's the point , right? Ridding our lives of clutter so we can actually LIVE more freely. So we live as we purge, as we declutter. We make memories and find joy in every day DURING the journey to a minimalist home, a minimalist way of life.
When all is said and done, my minimalist life might look nothing like yours. But thats part of what drew me to this life change. It not a one size fits all. I will make the minimalist life that works for me and my family no matter how imperfect it might seem to others. We wont be trecking across Europe with all if our belongings in backpacks, nor will we be moving into a tiny house. I respect those that do, but that minimalist life doesn't fit me.
I'm okay with that. My minimalist life is one that will require patience and time and I might not even ever feel that I got there.....wherever "there" might be. But I have to remember....
"Life is a journey, not a destination." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
So I'm already living my imperfect minimalist life. And I wouldn't have it any other way. This space, this blog, is my Traveler's Journal. :)
