Real Life Minimalists: Aspiring Minimalist

Every Monday I post Real Life Minimalists, a profile of one of my readers in their own words. If you’d like to participate, click here for details.

I don’t have anyone scheduled after today’s post, so I’d love to receive more stories. I know there are more Real Life Minimalists out there — don’t be shy! :-)

Today, Aspiring Minimalist shares her story with us, and explains why she has chosen to pursue a minimalist lifestyle; check out her blog to learn more!

Aspiring Minimalist writes:

Growing up, my family has always been frugal. My parents immigrated from Hong Kong in their late twenties, to start a new and better life in Canada. My two sisters and I were fortunate to have been born in Toronto, and given the opportunity that my parents didn’t have growing up.

We grew up poor, with only my dad working outside the house – he worked at various factory jobs in order to provide for my family. My mom stayed home and took care of us. She also ran a home daycare for up to 5 other kids at times (she is a super woman!).

My sisters and I never had fancy toys or clothes growing up, but we always had shelter, warm clothes and lots of good, healthy food to eat. We grew up happy and oblivious to the materialistic society we were in. We had one (real) Barbie, but I think we were most happy making soup concoctions from the leaves and grass, catching grasshoppers and playing tag in our backyard!

I want to share a story early in my life that still affects me to this day about materialism:
In grade five, I got new sneakers and I wore them (very proudly) to gym class. One of my classmates came up to me to check them out – Jonathon. He looks at them and smirks, “Those are no name brand running shoes. Hahaha. She’s wearing no name brand running shoes!” He runs off to tell his friends.

I was confused. I thought they nice sneakers with nice shoelaces (I only had velcro before these babies!). Not to mention they were Venture brand, not “no name”. I didn’t understand why the other kids laughed, as well. Because I was perfectly happy with my new sneakers until that moment.

I went home and told my parents. They explained to me that some people have brand name clothing, and they might think that makes them better than other people. But as long as our clothing keeps us warm, and comfortable, that’s really all we need.

I guess the moral of this story is that material things have a different meaning and purpose to everyone. How we use those things and how we view them is what’s important and can dictate our happiness. The way that I approach my minimalist lifestyle is simple – I want to be happy.

I want to make changes in my life to make my life more fulfilling, happy and simple. I will make the changes for myself, not because of what someone else thinks or believes. The choices I make, are my steps to freedom and happiness.

Growing up, I’ve had a few brushes with a more minimalistic lifestyle. In my college days, I alternated working full time (apprenticeships) and school every four months, so I had to move very often. I got so good at packing and moving, that I could pack up my life in about 5 or 6 Rubbermaid boxes in about 2 hours!

I also did a fair bit of traveling in my college days and backpacked across South East Asia, Europe, and Egypt in a 50L pack. It’s very exhilarating to be carrying all that need for the next few weeks (or months) in one pack. I was like a big snail with a mobile “home,” I began to realize that I really didn’t need much to be happy. Hence, a minimalist was born.

My passions in life are food and travel. I explore these topics on a daily basis, and sometimes through lifestyle changes (small and big), general thoughts and musing, and a bit of personal finance. Please join me as I embark on my journey to a minimalistic lifestyle.

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