AMA - My Journey to Minimalism

[Verbena17]

Hi 😊
Ask me anything…. about how I went from cluttered house, mind and life to how I started and continued my minimalism journey.

I don’t know if this is something that interests people but if it is, ask away!

Maybe a rewording of your first sentence could have good 😬.

I’m very happy with my life thanks ☺️.
It is far from joyless! Clearly, what one person sees as joyless, another sees as absolutely fine.
Just because someone’s life is hard, stressful or monotonous, doesn’t mean at all that they’re not happy in it.

I’m not at all obsessive about decluttering! What I think you were perhaps (badly) trying to say is that I seem to be an introvert. And if you had said that, I would have quickly agreed. I’m a total introvert and get very stressed out with shopping centres, food markets, parties, clubbing etc.

I love my own company - I love talking to myself, having my own thoughts and dreams. Love taking care of people - whether it’s my own adult DC’s, DH or my parents and friends. I have a few life long friends and friends I’ve met along the way but only a few. I have a degree, worked for the civil service until I had the DC’s and then have worked part time for a few years, until my DC needed me more and more as they got older. I’ve just adapted as my circumstances changed.

I don’t think being on a journey to a clear mind and a declutterred house necessarily means your existence is joyless. Thankfully as a strong person, I’ll manage to cope with your ‘joyless’ comment.😂

@Verbena17 what a gracious reply. I'm a bit of an introvert not that I don't like company I have several good friends but I like time on my own to recharge my batteries I like uncluttered spaces as clutter stresses me, I don't like grey and white my main Colour schemes is wood cream, brown and dark red, I love books and a few pieces of art etc but I'm not sure I'm a minimalist apart from clothes were I like to have not more than 50 items and keep them several years. To me I get joy from house being quick and easy to clean and always able to find everything as it's always away in right place this gives me time and money for what matters most to me, my daughter good food some travel and finally having time to do some art My joy comes from inner peace and contentment though my life is far from straightforward or easy

Thank you @Cottagecheeseisnotcheese you sound very similar to me.

Mainly commenting to keep this wonderful thread for further reference.
And to say thanks OP for the inspiration!

My connected recommendation is Alain de Botton's book 'A Simpler Life'.

I'm also an introvert and the comment about finding joy in inner peace and contentment really resonated for me.
I sometimes feel I have to justify that to people for some reason, in a world that seems to locate joy in the big stuff.

Sorry if you have covered elsewhere - I haven't read the whole thread. Would you mind expanding on this a bit? I have autistic children and just wondering how decluttering helped. Thank you!

Thanks - I’ll check out this book recommendation 😊.

You’re right in what you say about the world finding joy in the big stuff - it saddens me. My parents were not wealthy as we grew up but we never knew this until we were older, purely because most things we did as a family didn’t require much money.

We went out for walks after tea, had holidays with family every summer and didn’t have lots of expensive toys and clothes. I think this was similar for many children born in the 70’s. We didn’t need ‘stuff’. We made up games, we didn’t have a computer until we bought a second hand one just for games when I was a teen and we just loved spending time playing outdoors with cousins. I do wonder that if my childhood hadn’t been like that and had been more ‘stuff’ oriented, whether I’d be less able to live such a simple life now.

I guess I mean that by having less ‘stuff’ in our home and in our minds, I have more capacity to keep a positive focus on the DCs without feeling that there aren’t enough hours in the day.

It also means I have more physical energy to spend on them because I’m not continually managing a huge inventory of my own. Coping with housework is very manageable, doing laundry is easy, i have time to deep clean as and when because there’s not piles of stuff in the way.

For my autistic DS especially, he likes to see spaces that are simple and not cluttered. It makes him feel calm and more relaxed. He does find it hard to throw things away as he worries he’ll forget his childhood memories, so decluttering his things is slightly more tricky. So we have a large drawer in his chest of drawers just for a few things he doesn’t want to get rid of. When I do want to declutter his room, I have to give him lots of notice and have big chats about why we could let go of some things.