Less can be more

Minimalism

You know how there's something you've always wanted to do. Or maybe let me say there's someway you've always wanted to live but have never followed through. Yet because it's in your subconscious, situations come and opportunities arise that will allow you to do that thing.

OK so. I've always wanted to be a minimilist. I've been interested in embracing a more simple life. But let me note here that those minimilist desires only extend to consumption of things not people. So in other words, I'm not interested in the idea of having less kids for the sake of the planet. I truly believe that I am here on earth to birth and raise our children and that is my life's calling. Now, back to minimizing on "things".

When I was younger I followed the conventional ideas about what a successful life should look like. I day dreamed over the perfect big house, nice cars and a of course clothes clothes clothes and more clothes. I thought I needed more shoes than I already had. And when I moved to the USA, the want and need for more only increased. I found out that you could have so many things and even hire or buy a storage unit to keep your stuff. Everybody had more stuff and therefore I followed by accumulating stuff. Stuff that I later realised I did not need.  Because seriously, do you wear every piece of clothing in your closet? Do you use every utensil in your kitchen? I know I didn't. I think I bought most things just to fill my space, because conventional wisdom says that a home is filled with things.

So here I am. Turning 30 pretty soon. And thinking that it's about darn time to be and do what feels most natural to me. And by natural I just really mean what brings me joy. I now know what I don't want. I don't want to be so busy taking care of my "things" and not have enough time to just live. I don't want to live for the idea that life will be great when we have a big house and more cars. I don't want my children to fall into the trap of believing that having a certain toy will make them happy. I don't want to go through life buying things. I just want to live with what I need. And when figuring out what I do truly need, I realized that majority of what I owned was ego driven consumerism. So we got rid of it.

Now our space looks bare and I love it. It's so bare that the kids have no choice but become more creative when playing. With less things to take care of I've found that I spend far less time on organizing and cleaning. And that time is being spent in areas that matter more, being present with my family. Instead of collecting things, my hope is that our family will concentrate on one another and collect memories.