Becoming minimalist

Summer 2020

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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Letting go

Saturday is my day off. My days have a structure that I follow very flexible. I don’t even set an alarm clock to get up early. Usually I wake up on my own rather early. Today I did grocery shopping in the morning, when the shops were still rather empty. Tonight when we strolled around I realized a long queue standing in front of the grocery store. It rained. I thought it’s always a good idea to get up early. Some people surely have no alternatives, they can only go shopping in the evening, when everybody does it.

In 2020 I enrolled for a workshop ‘becoming minimalist’ I didn’t realize how much excess I’ve hoarded over the years. I don’t see myself as a hoarder. Most things have their place. But I had accumulated too many things. This is for sure. To let go of all my wool and knitting projects was probably the most difficult task. I found a group of people who knit scarves for homeless people. This made it easy to let go.

Things come slowly into our homes. I started projects, then something else seemed more important to do. Yet the first and second and third project still lingered in the drawers and shelves. The unconsciousness knows about it. Sometimes the projects wake up from the underground and inform the consciousness. They complain. Don’t forget me. This creates lousy feelings. With all these possessions that need attention it can be that one can feel overwhelmed without knowing why. I always think that I’ve so much to do. I have a lot to do, but my life should be manageable. I’ve no pets, no kids.

Today I went through this blog here and deleted neglected pages. They became a burden, too. It’s wishful thinking that I can update three blogs in addition to all the other activities.

Bit by bit I’ll feed the remaining pages. The vegan blog, the back bending blog, the gravity page, they all had to go. It’s too much. One yoga blog is enough. Saturday is my day off from yoga. It gives me opportunity to write also about other topics than asana practice.

Within the last 12 weeks I also went through my yoga props. Not everything was used or useful. I use my three yoga mats, but I don’t need five. Twelve yoga pants are too many.

Discarding of things and living with less made my life already easier. I feel relieved. It’s a journey an ongoing process to let go of things, bad habits and so on. Having less possessions helps to focus on what is important.

Flowing through life with ease is so much easier with less possessions.