I travel quite often, and rarely bring back souvenirs from anywhere. I’ve learned that once something has memories, it can be a bear to declutter later on; so I save myself the trouble and typically return only with digital photos and some leftover foreign coins.
However, when I visited Oslo, I found myself in a chic Scandinavian design shop—and couldn’t resist bringing home one of its wares.
Before I continue, let me give you the backstory. On our first Christmas in the UK, a dear friend sent us a beautiful bunch of white tulips. My husband and I were 3000 miles away from friends and family, and her wonderful gesture really brightened our holiday. The problem: having just moved overseas, we hadn’t yet bought a vase. Furthermore, we knew we were likely to move again by year’s end, and were reluctant to acquire a heavy glass piece that would be difficult to transport and awkward to store. So instead, I made an impromptu one from an empty bottle of sparkling water (it actually didn’t look half bad).
Fast forward to our Oslo trip, where I see the solution to this particular domestic problem: a minimal, collapsible vase. It’s completely transparent, folds flat, and is light as a feather. You simply fill it with water, add your flowers, then empty it out and flatten to store. It may not be as elegant as a proper glass vase, but it’s vastly more convenient when you live a mobile lifestyle.
So this weekend I saw some beautiful flowers at a farmer’s market, and thought my clever minimalist vase would make a nice little blog post. But when I returned home, I encountered a dilemma: neither I, nor my husband, could remember the last time we’d laid eyes on it.
Now, when you live in a tiny apartment with a minimal amount of stuff, you don’t lose things. It’s practically impossible. I can rattle off almost everything I own, and exactly where it is. (When our apartment was robbed many years ago, I was able to give the police officer an inventory of the stolen items within minutes.)
Convinced it had to be around somewhere, we conducted an exhaustive search of our small space. We looked inside our closets, cabinets, and travel bags. We looked in between clothes, pots and pans, and our small stash of books and paperwork. No luck—it was nowhere to be found. I have no idea if it disappeared during one of our several moves, or if it has simply slipped into some crevice here, eluding our eyesight.
Oh, the irony.
So what profound philosophical insight can we glean from this minimalist misadventure? Not much, really—to be honest, I just found it kind of amusing (and thought some of you might like the vase). If anything, I would say it’s a little reminder to keep everything in moderation. If we take our minimalism to extremes (like buying a vase that’s barely visible!), we may run the risk of things slipping away. Remember, minimalism isn’t about owning 100 things, or 50 things, or less—but rather what’s just enough for you.
Or, perhaps the message is even simpler—that life has a way of telling us we don’t need certain things after all. ;-)
{If you’d like to learn more about minimalist living, please consider reading my book, The Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide, or subscribing to my RSS feed.}
“That life has a way of telling us we don’t need certain things after all!” AMEN TO THAT!!! Your last line is PERFEKT!
Yeah, I’ve got some good experience too: Last time I was thinking about buying new cell phone. Then I realized that I rarely use my actual old cell phone, so from what reason buying new one? I don’t need new one. I felt so free after I realized that. And I realized another thing: I don’t need ANY thing. I don’t desire any new thing, neither car, neither mobile, neither clothes. So…what now? :-) I even tried to look for some thing to buy, but I really don’t want it, don’t need it. So.. what’s now? :-))
The important lesson is one of introspection – you can at least laugh/smile at the irony in the situation.
My hint for the next invisible vase would be to stick an index card with “Vase” inside when storing it in the spot you’ll look for it automatically when you need it. My family has stored the vases in a cabinet over the refrigerator for so long that I’d have no idea where else to look if one weren’t there.
“That life has a way of telling us we don’t need certain things after all!”
well said :)
Earlier whenever I lost anything even smallest one I used to get very upset but now I feel; was the thing really worth.
It made me smile widely :D, thanks for this wonderful little story in your minimalist life!
That’s hilarious! A vase is definitely a thing I have learned to live without. I had kept one gorgeous red one because I loved it, but this year used it to present a birthday bouquet to my mother in law and then didn’t feel I could be rude enough to ask for it back. I started to hunt for a new one (yes! an excuse to shop!) before realising that the Waterford pitcher we were given for our wedding would be beautiful as a vase….and actually used, since it’s just for looks right now. One more free bit of space in my closet where the vase used to be. :)
What a quirky and cute story about the UN-importance of STUFF :-)!
My husband’s core philosophy is that all we need in life is a bowl and stick – to which I would add a vase!
I love that old Chinese quotation : “If you have two pennies, spend one on a loaf and one on a flower: the bread will give you life; the flower, a reason for living.”
Your last line sums it all up beautifully.
Reminds me of my bowl. I had this handmade ceramic bowl from a local craftsperson, used it for everything from cereal to soup to stirfry. It was one of the few items that made the cut to come overseas with me. Then it broke. Because I had already embraced living minimally I was able to step back, say my peace to the bowl, and toss the shards.
It really is freeing, isn’t it?
Great story. I too own very few things, but I really couldn’t give an exact inventory. Material possessions are just the last thing on my mind.
That was a cute story, Francine. It’s nice to know that even you can misplace something every now and then. ;)
So funny! Love the story of not finding the elusive almost impossible to see the collapsible vase! Maybe next time you have flowers, you can stop by florist’s shop and ask for an unwanted, about to be thrown away vase. I worked for a florist once before and every time during post holiday, the unbought/unwanted vases get thrown away, literally! Oh, and when you move again, you can leave the vase behind for someone else to use when they move in! Never worry!
:)
I think flowers always look perfect in untraditional vases. Cleaned out spaghetti sauce jars are adorable. :-)
Great post as are all of yours! As I clear out the stuff in pur home, I am becoming less and less attached to everything. I love flowers as well, but happily put them in my pitcher.
I just ordered your book and am looking forward to reading it.
Off to clean my house, which is getting easier to do.
Your story gave me a good chuckle. Yes, indeed, life has a funny way of letting us know when something is extraneous.
A valuable antique plate was knocked off the wall and broken recently. Instead of being upset, I swept it up, threw it away and moved on.
Minimal living is so freeing.
Great post!
I recently lost a beloved bookmark of mine. I scoured my small collection of books, checked the last places I used it, and even went to the two thrift stores it could have possibly turned up at- no luck. My husband said it was just a bookmark and to get another…this coming from someone who doesn’t embrace minimalism! I guess it wasn’t meant to be (sorta like your foldaway vase) and I have temporarily embraced dog-earring the pages. Here’s hoping the next time I lose something I let it go with a little more grace:)
That’s funny! Maybe you need to take a digital photo of the beautiful flowers. You could save money on flowers, save water and the need for a replacement vase.
Always love how you encourage people to question their stuff. Nice work (as usual).
I agree with Annabelle the first poster.
Yes, everything in life is temporary, including life itself. It now gives you the challenge of improvising a temporary vase by recycling something else.
I like challenges, don’t you? :-)
I love the story and the way you tell it without taking yourself too seriously! You have been one of my favourite blogs for a very long time. We just visited Oslo a month ago. Being from Australia we joked we had almost travelled from one end of the world to the other! I can imagine the design temptation you came across and indeed such a clever vase idea. I love that you continue to say that minimalism is about what’s right for you. To me, a couple of vases is important because I don’t like to buy souvenirs or dust collectors. A living decoration of fresh flowers each week is inspiring and uplifting decor that suits me. Instead of knick knacks on the tv cabinet, I currently have a bowl of yummy, juicy oranges that look great but can also be picked up, eaten and relished.
So what did you do with the flowers?
(I’d lay bets on a mason jar!)
we’re buying a sandbox. minimalism is really redefined. :D
I’m amused that your book cover offers a solution to the ‘problem’ of the missing vase :~j
Great post and timely- I just yesterday lost a lovely necklace I received as a gift from my best friend. I was feeling quite upset earlier but you’ve helped me remember it was just an item, I wore it and enjoyed it for 6 months, hopefully someone else will find it and enjoy it now…
I stumbled onto your blog today after looking at your book on Amazon. I’m impatient, so I’ll be ordering it on my Nook in a few minutes. After getting lost among several great posts, I have now subscribed. Thank you for the inspiration!
This reminds me of a quote from the Tao te Ching. “What is brittle is easy to break. What is small is easy to scatter. Put things into order before they exist.”
If I have a pen, I KNOW I am going to lose it. So lately I’ve been tying pens with yarn to places where I use them, like my desk, and to my little notebooks. I haven’t lost a pen in a week because of this [and that is quite a feet for me!]
This is also why I love big clunky colorful things despite being a minimalist – something big and bright is hard not to spot.
I saw this foldable water bottle and thought of your vase:
http://www.deluxe.com/shopdeluxe/catalog/productDetails.jsp?parentCatId=&prodId=109347&id=
That is true. What we need (and want) is not always as much as we initially believe. It is not about quantifying what we own as much as setting our priorities on what matters the most.
I read this and couldn’t help but have a little bit of a giggle. It’s sort of nice to know that no matter how much I minimalise I will probably still end up losing something!
I put flowers into Mason jars in summer and into a white ceramic vase in winter. Not too often because flowers are a cat– magnet. Then when I’ve had enough looking, I pass them on.