Every time I do any kind of cleaning around the house, I get all excited as things get discarded and I feel that sense of relief like a weight has come off. I then go on to dream of that minimalist lifestyle where the home would be clutter free and no one would ever feel any kind of stress that comes from seeing things lying around or feel frustration that comes from not being able to find what you need. I dream of closets that would have space rather than oozing with too much. I dream of kitchen cabinets filled with only those things that get used rather than cabinets overloaded with stuff that gets saved for that special occasion which rarely happens. I could almost write an “I have a dream” speech too but you get the point.
So I did some research about minimalists. Who are these people and what do their homes look like? Basically minimalists are simple people. They are the kinds of people whose lives revolve around fewer decisions, less distractions and limited to basic expenditures. These are the kinds of people that focus on experiencing things rather than accruing things. When they want to do something they start with what they have and work from there rather than accumulating what they think they need. They work with the basics and probably find ways to think out of the box because of that.
A little more digging and I found out some of the basic things minimalists refuse to burden themselves with. I, on the other hand, have fallen prey to almost all these items on the list. So let’s start…
Unnecessary paper. Come on. Everyone of us can say we own unnecessary paper. What does that look like? Old mail, magazines, coupons, calendars, old telephone diaries, notebooks, kids school papers (the ones that looked cute then and now but will truly amount to nothing but clutter), paid bills, etc etc. A few days ago I had an issue with the dishwasher and it led me to what has become a huge folder. I opened it in search for the manual which I store in this huge folder. Out tumbled not one but way too many manuals accrued over the years. Some by me some by my parents. Every manual for every appliance ever bought existed in this folder. While we may be owners of some of these appliances even today, most of them have lived and died and moved on from this home, leaving behind their memory in the form of these manuals. Needless to say I spent the next hour cleaning out this folder and discarding all the old manuals of nonexistent appliances and ridding myself of unnecessary paper. Almost all this critical information is now available online and so it really made me wonder what my need for this folder is. I am starting to dream my recycle bin is filled with papers.
Anything broken. How many times have things been broken and you have stored them away because they can be fixed? The pile of things to be fixed grows and your valuable time is never free to attend to things broken. The lid of the sugar pot. A handle. A loose frame. The ceramic vase. The refrigerator magnet without the magnet! The souvenir with the missing stand. This list can go on too. In this case, I cannot dream. I can only do. That is, remove those items. I have enough replacements. My sugar is nicely stored in another pot. The photo from the loose frame is hanging in another frame. The broken handle has been replaced and the refrigerator has more than enough magnets!
Bags. Once upon a time it was only plastic bags. Now we have become environmentally friendly. So we have paper bags and reusable bags and tote bags and zip lock bags and trash bags and this list can go on as well. So I designated a specific area for accumulating bags to be used. Only that area filled up so I designated another area. That’s full too. I keep some in the car to use and honestly those are the only ones I really use. The rest are just too many! So I am dreaming I can commit to only one area in the house for storing bags and every other area simply gets rid of all the bags without any consideration or second thought!
Multiple kitchen tools. Any household where there is daily cooking happening is bound to accumulate all things kitchen related. While multiple frying pans and certain utensils are useful and required, there is almost always an abundance of other not so necessary multiples of tools. The one tool I find most annoying is the abundance of knives. Let’s admit it. Spoons and forks are the ones used most. Knives take a back seat. So what are we supposed to do with so many shiny unused knives? Any ideas?
“Someday” items. Minimalists don’t live for someday. The someday items are the ones that get accumulated every time you entertain or your child’s special school projects or work requires presentations. Sadly we live in a world of bulk shopping. We pay less and get more. More of stuff we don’t need. The minimalist puts a cap on the amount spent. If the item falls under a certain price and hasn’t been used in a year, there is no need for it in the home. I now dream of no longer being lured into shopping in bulk.
Florist vases. Being a mom is special. Mother’s Day therefore is always made special. Like clockwork the bell rings and a beautiful bouquet gets delivered. Many times it comes in a vase. Vases I used to think are always useful (which they are) and I always appreciated that the flowers came with a new vase. Suffice to say over the years there is a nice collection of vases lined up in my cabinet. How many vases is considered useful? I already had my own collection of vases to begin with. I now dream of gifting flowers in pretty vases hoping to make the next owner of the vase equally happy and appreciated.
Excess containers and utensils. Home delivery has changed the way we shop and eat! For every time food gets delivered at home we accumulate utensils, napkins and food storage containers. I won’t lie. They have come in handy and have been used but even so, it’s easy to accumulate more than we need. This one’s easy and I haven’t been hoarding on them so I can feel a little bit minimalist in this category.
Don’t you just hate it when you are made to realize how unreasonable some of your behavior patterns are? I don’t think I will ever succeed in becoming a complete minimalist but I will think twice the next time I put a paid bill away for safekeeping or store shopping bags that came from a day spent at the mall. Little changes come from being aware and today’s contemplation made me wake up fully aware! Hope it does the same for you.
Yes! I dream of being a minimalist but my reality is more akin to hoarder! I have reached the age of "I need to get rid of all this stuff!" As far as owner's manuals go - I just throw them away now because they are mostly online or I end up looking at a YouTube video for repair instructions. I think manuals are useless after you get it up and running. I am also struggling to throw out broken items - I'm never going to fix them so just throw it out now! The struggle is real! Thanks for sharing!
we should have a barter day , everyone brings in stuff they do not need and exchange them with what they need. And have tea together too :)