Clearing Paths to Minimalism

I've always thought of myself as a minimalist until I wasn't.

I had found a way to accumulate objects as comfort and emotional crutches. For instance, the potted plants started to multiply, making it impossible to navigate around them. I was experimenting, developing a healthy hobby, and fine-tuning the craft of gardening until eventually, after seeding and sprouting, it was a matter of creating a large enough space for them to thrive.

Books are also a passion. I had bought many novels and picture books from the US, where I had lived for almost three decades; they were time stamps of various periods of my life, and now they were the heaviest things I owned. I spent a considerable amount of money shipping books and other household items from one country to another, before I asked myself why I had such an attachment to all these material objects. The answer I came up with is emotions. I needed things to ground me in moments in my past and to remind me of who I was at those times when I read them or purchased them. But I'm going through a change, and asking myself what has changed now that I feel I can let go?

Minimalism

I'm not the only one going through changes: After a world pandemic, everyone's lifestyle pivoted in one way or another, and I think so has our perspective. Climate change has uprooted many in Australia and around the world. So, do we feel any safer living with our material possessions? What has become evident to me is that through all the upheaval, I am willing to let go of things that I consider relics. I whittled down to the treasured objects, the gems, and gave away the rest. I've come to understand what's truly important: friends, family, work and community, everything else is disposable. And with this realisation, I have been comfortable letting go and minimising.

Once I started letting go, I felt lighter, more energetic and unburdened with the attachment to my past. Instead, I looked forward to what was to come with more excitement than I had imagined. I've left a lot of hard rubbish, given things away, and rented a small self-storage for those times that I may not feel so grounded in my own skin. Letting go is a process. It will happen when one is ready. All I can say is that clearing the path to minimalism has made my life more adventurous. 'Tis the season to Spring clear your life and unburden your mind of unnecessary attachments.

I highly recommend the minimalistic lifestyle.