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.
It’s my pleasure this week to introduce you to Sarah Parro. She and her husband are steadily tackling their clutter, and making wonderful progress on their minimalist journey. To read more about her experiences, please visit her blog.
Sarah writes:
My husband and I live in a 900-square foot, one-bedroom apartment. Our first apartment was significantly smaller, and when we first moved into our new place we wondered what we’d do with all of the extra space. Before long, however, we had clutter piling up in almost every corner and closet; we’d shove boxes out of sight when we didn’t want to sort through them; I had more clothes than would fit on my hangers. It’s incredible how quickly and easily clutter will fill a space. I’ve realized that it’s more than just not intending to collect clutter; we have to be intentional about reducing clutter and keeping it under control.
At first, I wanted to tackle our home in large chunks: the bedroom, then the living room, etc. I soon realized that taking on even just one room at a time was too much to handle, so I scaled it down. One afternoon we focused on a single bookshelf. Another we attacked the pile of boxes in the corner of the dining room. I emptied out my side of the closet and ended up with at least half of my clothing in a “sell/give away” pile. Most recently, I cleared out and re-organized the cupboard under our bathroom sink, throwing away old shampoo bottles or expired medications and keeping only the items we really like and use.
We have a long way to go, but our attitudes have changed. Looking at a newly de-cluttered space is invigorating, and it makes it easier to keep going. Sometimes it seems like the clutter will never end, but we’ve come too far to turn back now, and I have high hopes for our minimalist future. When we get discouraged while cleaning, my husband and I will often rally each other by saying, “We’re one step closer to minimalism!”
Adopting a minimalist mindset has opened my eyes to what truly holds value in life. My husband and I are Orthodox Christians, and I’ve found that minimalism, in many ways, aligns with our beliefs. I’m reminded that my value is not found in my stuff, accomplishments, or recognition I receive; rather, my value lies in what Christ has done and continues to do for me. For me, minimalism is also a way to strive toward selflessness. Instead of focusing on what I want or “need”, I can donate items to charity or use my money to help people who are truly in need.
Like I said before, we’re nowhere near where we ultimately want to be in our minimalist journey, but I’m looking forward to a life less full of meaningless stuff, and I’m thankful for blogs like missminimalist that have given us the jump-start we needed to de-clutter and life more fully and selflessly. You can follow my ramblings – about minimalism and other things – at my blog, sarahparro.wordpress.com.
{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.}
Hi Sarah. You are doing it right. Decluttering has to be done little by little so people will stick to it. Targeting a whole room at a time is sometimes a huge chore and many will give up. Congratulations on your decluttering process.
This is almost exactly where my husband and I are in our journey as well right now. Hearing your story was an encouragement. Thank you.
I appreciated that you wrote how living a minimilist lifestyle aligns with your faith. The Bible talks often about our the fultility of gathering more and more possessions and the importance of giving to the poor. Cleaning out and simplifying truly aligns with our faith, allowing us to focus on what’s truly important … relationships, ministry, spiritual growth, and more financial resources to share with others.
I’m a big believer that simplifying our lifestyles and developing a vibrant faith do go hand in hand …
CLUTTER 101
http://creeksideministries.blogspot.com/2008/07/clutter.html
THE ALBATROSS AROUND OUR NECKS
http://creeksideministries.blogspot.com/2011/07/albatross-around-our-necks.html
Way to go, Sarah! Sounds like you have your priorities in the right order.
Sarah- It sounds like you’ve got it down! It’s SO great to get started while you’re young & before kiddos too! Way to go!!
This will sound negative, and I’m sorry in advance. Maybe I’m saying insensitive, mean things on the internet, blurting out my opinion…
All of these “Real life minimalists” are probably very interesting people, but my eyes glaze over when I start to read them. They are all the same! Maybe I’ve just been reading too much about minimalism, but all I notice now is “blah blah blah *some number* square foot apartment blah blah attitudes changed reduced clutter”
Reading what I wrote, my comment was completely unnecessary… I’m not sure what I was thinking when I wrote it. I’ve seen comments like that from the other side (*cough*Everett Bogue) and thought “what a pretentious moron.”
Sorry about that!
Anyway… I just read the whole thing, and really enjoyed how someone different from me (different marital status, religion, etc.) came to the same conclusion as me, and decided to remove the clutter. So I guess the similarity is something I actually like about these stories. For some reason I keep coming back every monday, anyway.
Fantastic to see your honest reflection…good for you. :))))
You didn’t need to apologize. I was thinking the same thing. Most Monday minimalists follow the same theme: life circumstances (moving into a small apartment / losing all their possessions / facing tough finances) forces them to look inside and question why they overwhelmed themselves with so much stuff. I think most minimalists have gone this route.
Still, I do skim over Mondays for the reasons you mentioned.
I didn’t find your comment rude, you didn’t say anything mean about the people in the profiles, you expressed an opinion about the feature. Maybe I’m biased as I too skip reading the Monday posts and wait for other topics. It’s great that they are on the path to minimalism and willing to share their stories, and that others enjoy them, but it doesn’t mean you have to feel the same way. Differing opinions in the comment section keep it interesting!
I love hearing and reading all real life minimalists stories. After all- so what if they have similar stories, I love that they got up off their bums and actually made a change. This in itself is wonderful. Why criticise ? If they are boring to you, then don’t read them. Why would you waste your time if the subject matter makes your eyes glaze over. Just my ten bobsworth !
I love reading these stories. They might be same for the readers but I feel that each Monday one minimalist is getting added in this small community.
I love the stories,i want to read more about it I need sanity in my life if it means less, then less it is ,life is overwhelming, I hate shopping,,you go to store for cold medicine 50000 onthe shelf,,its too much,if life went back to simple times, maybe there would be less suicides,less killings, more happy people
Thank you for reassuring some of us readers that minimalism can be intertwined with christianity. Jesus said “where thieves break in and steal and moths and rust destroy” as far as his attitude toward material items. Also, “where your treasure is that is where your heart will be”. Who wants it with stuff? You constantly hear the words minimalism…zen…buddist, but you are showing others that minimalism, or the lack of material possessions is also what Jesus spoke about.
Thanks for another great Real Life Minimalist post. I enjoy checking in on Mondays to read the first-hand experiences of minimalists in diverse situations around the world. The stories never fail to inspire me!
Thank you for reminding us that not adding stuff to your home is not enough sometimes. I will purge and get comfortable, only to wake up and realize there’s still a lot more I can do. Also, I too shove boxes away (until some event forces me to go through them).
It is in the retelling of stories that we truly learn. Think of all the stories we heard in bible school and how they are repeated in Sunday sermons. If we humans could get it right the first time, we wouldn’t need the follow-up lessons to renew our spirit.
Thanks for sharing your story, Sarah. I love reading about other peoples accomplishments and successes towards
their personal war on clutter. It’s very inspirational and makes me want to clean out another closet right now!
Check my latest post… Living Within Your Means: Thou Shalt Not Covet : )
Part of minimizing for me is not bringing stuff home in the first place!
I look so forward to Monday’s and reading the personal stories. I find them uniquely different, but with a common thread that firms my resolve to continue down my path to a simplier more meaningful life, removing distractions that have stood in my way for years. Not only do I bring less into my home, but I am much more resourceful with what I have.
After reading lots of the Monday minimalist stories I find that many of them contain a kernel of truth I might not have considered before that sparks me to move something out or to leave it off to begin with. You never know where the other fellow has an idea that you hadn’t thought of.
I keep finding articles I’ve missed. We continue to find things to give away and pass along. I still have my sister’s wedding dress and sister in law’s photos and sweat shirt. I have an empty dresser to store out of season clothes for my mom who’s in a nursing home. My current project is emptying a bookcase so I can give it to my daughter.
I read and re-read the contributors. I am 65 and sometimes feel like I am alone in wanting less. Many of my friends are major shoppers. Continuously buying clothing and accessories seem like the quest for the grail or something. I do volunteer work, travel, take classes, and try to learn new things.
I was watching a home shopping channel and have never bought from any of them. A friend is in real financial trouble because she buys everything she sees. Other friends buy a lot from TV. I like the demonstrations and think how else I could make what I see. I also think what else I could give away.
I read and reread your real life minimalist stories. Many of my friends are very high maintenance shoppers. A friend who has a 2300 sq ft home was telling me about her friend whose home was over 3000 sq ft. I can’t understand why people in their 70’s would want to have so much to take care of and keep clean. I want less and less. I fill bags with give away and recycling every week. I buy the smallest size of everything and see how long I can make it last.