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I gave away one thing – hair curlers.
Neil came back from Spain. We were all so happy to see him return, especially the boys. Not just because they like him a lot; they also wanted help with some technical things on their laptop/devices that I am a bit clueless about.
I was still fairly jetlagged. I was up the night before from 1230pm to 0530am. Then I managed to get up in time to pick up Neil from the airport by 9.55am. Just. After he arrived home, he fell asleep for most of the day, and I fell asleep for most of the afternoon. Accordingly, it wasn’t exactly a productive day in terms of decluttering – or doing much of anything, really.
But what I am learning from this challenge is that there is rarely an optimum or ideal time to declutter. Decluttering takes energy, and it takes focus. In our modern life, you need to keep doing it all the time because it is so easy to accumulate stuff.
Minimalism movement
In the afternoon, I received a request from a journalist to talk about the minimalist movement. I was flattered especially as I don’t identify as a thought influencer on minimalism. Yet. Although I have downsized and decluttered, and I am giving things away, I don’t really describe my life as minimalistic. For one thing, I have waaayyyy to many bags of clothes under my bed. Even if I rarely buy anything new.
I love clothes, and books, and stuff. I love thinking I am good at interior designing, although the reality of my all over the place apartment is different. But I guess in a sense I realise that I value friends, family and community more than stuff. If I don’t need something, I am generally okay with giving it away. Well, I do have quite a few ‘aspirational’ items of clothing that I hope to fit into again. Well, probably too many of these items if I am honest with myself.
I am, however, hoping that this year of #joyfulgiving366 will help to reshape my relationship with stuff. Maybe I can even get rid of a lot more of the stuff I no longer need or want. Maybe I could even end up with a capsule wardrobe, or a kitchen cupboard that is all need rather than all over the place. I suspect that I am not intrinsically ordered enough to enjoy living in a stark minimalist environment, although I do really love the Zen aesthetic. One item at a time, let’s see how I go.
Hair curlers
A friend bought these hair curlers to the clothes swap meet I hosted a few weeks’ ago. I posted them to my Buy Nothing Project group yesterday, and someone came around and picked them up last night. It ended up being a fast gift. Sometimes it happens like that on the Buy Nothing Project.
Do you live a minimalist life? Do you aspire to live like a minimalist? What things are important to you?