The ad found me on Facebook. Perhaps it was also the other way round. A workshop by Joshua Becker * was in my stream. It had the title ‘becoming minimalist’ and should last 12 weeks. I enrolled and didn’t regret it. The course had a dynamic that I hadn’t expected. It became one of my highlights in the Covid-10 year 2020.

What grows slowly gets easily overlooked. I don’t see myself as a hoarder but very soon after this course has started I realized that I had too many things. The course was different than books with the same title. It started with the question why we enrolled for the course. It’s often that people want to get away from being overwhelmed, away from buying things twice because the searched thing is anywhere. Some want to get out of consumer debts.

There are often also positive reasons. Some want to spend more times with their kids. Some want to live in a more relaxed house without all the stuff.

I sometimes skipped the yoga practice because I had so much to do. Soon I realized that all these things that I have keep me from practicing yoga. Every tiny thing that one has needs attention. I started to declutter like a wild one. Many things I could donate. Soon the volunteers knew me at Oxfam. To declutter exhausted me. The sessions lasted much longer than I thought. Very soon I wondered: Why did I buy this and this and this? I found answers for myself. I came to the conclusion that I need so much less. I made the decision to give up knitting. I wont’t become a baker anymore. All these baking tools found another kitchen. I love to cook. It’s enough and already time-consuming. I don’t want to get skilled in baking cakes. I don’t read books twice, so I could let go of many books as well. Every home is different. To declutter forces to focus on what’s important.

There are different levels of minimalism. It might start with things. Soon pictures, papers come into mind. One might also discover habits that one can give up. Do we still need CDs?

It was planned to work intensively within this time frame of 12 weeks. To see an end gave me momentum. When the last day arrived I knew that I had discarded a lot, but there is still a lot to do. Staying decluttered is a process. To take care that the sum of things doesn’t increase again can be a tough job already. Yet I want to have less things and more time.

Summer was almost over and the herbs had to go as well. See picture. I wanted to declutter every day. I did it.

If I wasn’t at home for such long periods due to the lock down I would have overlooked all that stuff. From time to time I would have complained that I have so much to do. But I would have also wondered why this is so. Clutter stole my time.

I’m in for a second round in 2021.

There is still potential.

Stay cool, stay curious, stay creative.

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