“Love people, use things. The opposite doesn’t work.”
For the past month, I've been embracing a life with less.It started with a documentary, randomly discovered when scrolling through Netflix - Minimalism, the story of two 20-something corporate execs -Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus (a.k.a. The Minimalists) - who found happiness when they dumped their stuff and started living life with intention. (I actually got to meet these super inspiring guys just a few weeks ago, but that is a story for another post!)
Flash forward to a Facebook post from my friend and amazing photographer, Deb Schell, asking if anyone wanted to join her in something Joshua and Ryan call the #minsgame.#Minsgame: Here's the deal.. April 1 - purge one item, April 2 - purge two items, April 3 - purge three items... April 30 - purge 30 ITEMS!! At the end of the month, you've dumped 465 unneeded items from your home!
Deb and I decided April was the month and found 20(!) friends to join us in the fun!
It started out easy. Just one random cup from the kitchen, two unwatched DVDs from the shelf. As the month progressed, the numbers increased. But, as it turned out, I had no shortage of "stuff" to send on it's way! (The pics throughout this post show just a few of the "treasures" that found new homes.)Every day I found another nook or cranny that held things I hadn't touched or used in years. Some highlights:
- My AP Style Guide from my days as a journalism major at SHIP. It was 15 years old. Believe it or not, this outdated reference book was one of the hardest things for me to get rid of!!
- Old school projects. Yep, 15+ years old!!
- Costumes! We run a lot of races where we feel costumes are important (of course they are)! It was time to let go of ninja turtle shells, cowboy hats, and devil horns.
- Paper! Including Puggy's vet records since 2003 and exit interviews and work evals since I've started working full time!
Some benefits:
- Things that were just gathering dust in my care have been donated and will now get a second life. My books will be read, my wedding dress will be worn, my movies will be watched, my dishes will once again sit on a kitchen table (just not mine)!
- Old treasures have been recovered. In the back of my kitchen cabinet, I found a mug given to me by a very dear friend. It sits in the back because when it comes to coffee, mug size matters, and this one just didn't cut it. Thanks to this challenge, I re-purposed this mug to hold makeup brushes, and now I get to enjoy it everyday! This was a great reminder that stuff is meant to be USED and APPRECIATED, not STORED and FORGOTTEN.
- My house is calm. This part is hard to describe, but my home has a different energy with less stuff. I have a different energy with less stuff! My day-to-day life is fast-paced, and it feels GREAT to not have clutter slow me down. I didn't even realize it was!
The #minsgame was an awesome challenge! Want to try it for yourself? CLICK HERE and get started! Post in the comments to let me know how it goes!!
#minimalism #minsgame #experiencesnotthings
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