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.
Today, I’m happy to introduce you to Jacob Jolibois, who shares with us his minimalist journey and the joy it’s brought to his life. Please visit his blog to read more of his writing.
Jacob writes:
Due to my obsession with productivity, organization and efficiency, I had stumbled upon minimalist thinking sometime during my sophomore or junior year in college. I was learning to de-clutter my mind, stop worrying over things I had no power to change and focus on the things that actually mattered. Thanks to this mindset and a sort of involuntary minimalist lifestyle brought about by being a poor college student I was able to write and publish a book (ARROWS) before my 22nd birthday. The book eventually expanded into a blog called The Archer’s Guild where I post three times a week on living vibrantly which has some of its roots in minimalist living.
Essentially, I was inspired to minimalist tendencies by things that ‘just work’. Well-made tools, thought-provoking books, rapidly-growing start-ups – everything that I loved was reduced down to its most basic form. It was simple. This past summer I was backpacking across Europe with no more than a carry-on’s worth of gear. Once again, the simplicity felt right.
At this point I actually had no idea about “minimalism” as a concept and it wasn’t until the latter half of my travels that I stumbled upon Joshua Becker’s blog, Becoming Minimalist and Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus’ blog, The Minimalists. Through these two blogs I began to understand the philosophies and practices behind minimalism. For a few weeks after diving in, the prospect of living with fewer than 100 things was rather appealing – especially since I didn’t have all that much to begin with (starving college student, remember?). However, as I began to consider minimalism at its core – removing excess to make room for the meaningful – I realized that owning things wasn’t a bad practice as long as those things contributed value to my life. This opened up an entirely new way of living, thinking, and investing.
I bagged up about 50% of my clothes and brought them to Goodwill. I gave some of the unnecessary things I owned to my school’s theater department to be used as props. I threw out two garbage bags full of junk that I was collecting and never used. I just moved into my new living space which is only one room with a bathroom off to the side and it’s absolutely perfect. The space is small but not cluttered. I look forward to a life that is, at its core, all about the experiences – all about the stories.
I don’t need stuff to have a peace about life – I have my faith. I don’t need stuff to get butterflies in the pit of my stomach – breathtaking views and my girlfriend will do the trick. I don’t need stuff to be happy – friends, good conversation, a cup of coffee and a bonfire sounds just perfect. Contentment with less is a beautiful and energizing practice that inspires action and advances my story.
{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.}
The young people who write in have found some truths early in life. Possessions are temporary and mostly not needed. Learn to live with less.
Don’t stock up because everything will be on sale again.
Congrats on not choosing the usual “first grown-up apartment” stuff stock-up that typically comes with fledgling adulthood! I hope we hear back from you once you’ve navigated the stuff-rapids of marriage, kids, and potential homeownership – all big stuff traps.
You are lucky to have figured this out at such a young age! I call it the new WELL-thy!
I love that you came to minimalism through the mental exercises of developing priorities and productivity. Thanks for sharing your story!
I am taking life ques from my son. It’s never to late to learn and grow.
I just had a look at your blog. I am really looking forward to reading it and I think you are an inspirational person! Thank you for sharing!!
Jacob, that’s awesome you’ve already written a book! Congrats on that and finding out about this lifestyle. As the holiday season is here, there is no better time to embrace this mindset. This year for Christmas I’m buying my loved ones experiences/memories instead of physical things. As you mentioned the bonfire/breathtaking views I was nodding “yes” these are the things we remember, not (usually) any one thing we get as a tangible present.
Great to hear about your experiences Jacob! I am trying to get my 17 year old son to understand that happiness doesn’t come from things. Do you have any resources that you think would speak to a 17 year old boy who is looking to collect things like the Marvel characters and comics to shine light on what really matters?
Or a cup of coffee and a cozy blanket.
Wonderful story — only wish I had caught on at such a young age. I do disagree with one of the posts of homeownership being a trap. You are going to have to pay someone’s mortgage — yours or the landlord of an apartment building (unless you choose to live with family or friends). Homeownership is never considered a debt and real estate prices (if you stay living in your own home long enough) always increase. I know of no one who lost money in real estate (except for some people in the US who bought houses for $500K and only earn $30K a year — no wonder there was a crash in the US!) Selling my current home will buy me a smaller bungalow in retirement and I’ll be mortgage free and with less maintenance.
The battle to be a minsumer is a life-long challenge. We have given away so much and yet there is more that can go.
Living with much less shows that there is more we can live without. I am wearing all the clothes in my closet because I got rid of the clothes I don’t wear. I only have 35 articles of clothing and even though I collect earrings I gave away 6 pairs and I have a pair I am planning to sell.
I gave my daughter a pair of my earrings she asked for. I am growing plant cuttings to give away in styrofoam cups I bring home from meetings. I have plenty of plants. I have a big bag of hobby and craft items to pass along. My daughter in law is getting some candles I have but never used.
My friend from high school and her husband are living on their social security. She inherited a huge house from her folks. He also sells the things he finds while dumpster diving and she sends any extra money to her brothers because they inherited money.