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 pleased to bring you this lovely story from Pamela. She started decluttering over a decade ago, and shares with us the inspiration behind her minimalist journey.
Pamela writes:
Ever since I was a little girl, I have maintained all my belongings in a neat and tidy way. On the surface, everything had its place, from my dolls and books to my school notes. As I grew up, those “neat and tidy” habits stayed with me as I continued to “organize my clutter”. College books and notes filed away in bankers boxes; my doll collection as a child stored neatly away in 5 large plastic bins; books that I had accumulated (my prized possessions!) lined bookshelves and filled yet even more boxes in the basement of my family home. The more schooling I completed, the more boxes I accumulated and filled with all the notes and text books that were acquired through my schooling years. By the time I was in my 20’s, I had so many boxes, bins and possessions lining the basement of my home!
So while it was neatly organized, it was still overwhelming and took up a LOT of space. Despite my attempts to use pretty storage boxes, I was still just “organizing my clutter!”, as Miss Minimalist likes to call it! I remember the first moment I decided it was all too much. I was about 21 when the young man I had a crush on left for a one month holiday. He inspired me so much and made me want to improve my life in so many ways. Upon his departure for vacation, I thought to myself, what will I do with the spare time I will have while he is away? How can I use this time in an inspired way, to make my life better? I decided that decluttering the possessions I had amassed but no longer had any use for would be a good use of my time. While he was away, I filled over 10 garbage bags full of clothes, old toys, trinkets and books to donate to charity. In addition, I recycled my elementary and high school notes. That cleared out a ton of space! It felt so good and it was so amazing to see some empty spaces on my shelves and in my closets, where all that old stuff was just sitting idly and not being used. In that moment, a minimalist was born!
That was over 10 years ago and was just the beginning of my decluttering and minimalist journey! Since then, I have pared down hundreds of books, clothing, kitchen stuff (including glasses, vases, mugs and plates), DVDs, CDs and much, much more. Books are always a little tough to part with, because I love to read so much! But I remind myself that if I need to read them again, I can always borrow them from the library. I also keep in mind that someone else may really need that book even more than I do, which is one reason I love donating them! The staff at the local charity always sends a smile and thanks my way when they see me coming with my big bins full of stuff. Not only has it felt good for my soul to give to a charity that benefits my community, but my home is clean, spacious and very easy to maintain! I have also saved lots of hard-earned money by not making those purchases that promise the world but deliver very little in terms of true happiness. The time I save on cleaning, sorting and shuffling all that old stuff around, I spend with my friends, family and pets. The love and fulfillment I get from focusing on those life experiences can never be replaced by any of that stuff! It has been a truly liberating experience and it all started with the inspiration I received thanks to a little crush.
I am so grateful to Miss Minimalist for posting all her inspiring articles and for you, fellow Miss Minimalist readers and writers, for all your inspiring stories. They keep me going on this exciting journey! And although I may never own just “100 things”, my life is so much better thanks to living with less stuff. Best of luck to you 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.}
I am about to embark on getting rid of study notes – why is this so very hard? Did you miss them Pamela after they had gone forever? Maybe it is hard too because they are of no use to anyone else?
One thing that has helped me get rid of my study notes is the ability to scan them. I might not need the notes again, but having the digital copy helps.
I think that it’s hard to part ways with study notes because we put so much effort and energy into creating them. I don’t know about you, but to me most of my notes are works of art. :)
Best wishes!
Hi Freda! I completely understand what you’re going through regarding your study notes! For most of them, I felt that the information was outdated and therefore much easier to recycle. I did, however keep a couple precious pieces that I enjoyed whether for the information on them, or because of the hard work and energy put into the document. I kept these in a pretty binder and enjoy referring to them once in a while. As long as they make me smile when I read them, I will keep them. Another excellent option, as AmandaS mentioned, is to scan your notes. That option wasn’t available to me at the time, but it is now! I have a small scanner that only scans 4 to 5 pages at a time, so I need to be very selective with what I keep or I will be scanning for hours! But it really does give you a good option if you just are not ready to part with your notes yet. And the nice thing is, although digital clutter is still something to be mindful of, it takes up a lot less physical space then your notes will. And easy to delete if/when the time comes for you to do so! Overall, I was very happy to have recycled all those notes and only keep what I really loved. I did not find myself missing anything and actually look forward to paring down even further. I also realize that I had to be patient with myself during the journey because it really is a journey! As they say, Rome wasn’t built in a day :) All the very best to you on your journey!
“As long as they make me smile when I read them, I will keep them”, what a great help this sentence is to me! It is a simple formula for thinking about decluttering!
I kept bins of notes, papers, portfolios etc. from college for years–even when they started to smell musty! I never used them but for some reason they seemed to be important relics detailing my hard work. I finally pitched the notes, portfolios that don’t help me in work, and any other odd pieces of work. I did keep a small binder of some papers I wrote–my degree was in English and writing and so my papers are still useful to me as a teacher. I did not keep my history, economics, or any other papers in fields I do not work in. It was liberating to toss that stuff!
https://awellstockedlife.wordpress.com/2015/02/09/ten-ways-to-save-money-this-week/
Stacy, yes, you are so right! It is very liberating! Similar to you, once I got rid of the notes that I did not have a use for, any remaining pieces I kept were much easier to find (I put mine in a binder too!) and refer to when needed. I didn’t have to sift through boxes to find them! Very freeing and practical, too. :)
Until recently I struggled to declutter books. Then a relative of mine went into a care home. She had endless books in her home, and I realised how stagnant the energy was from them. For me books are there to be read not sit on a shelf. I now own very few books
Samantha, I couldn’t agree with you more that the energy from books and other items just lying around and not being used really does just feel stagnant! I find that every time I give away the books that I haven’t read or referred to in a while, I am more motivated to read the more current/newly acquired titles that I do have. I don’t know what psychology there is behind that, but it feels good and my donations go to a good cause and I am more motivated to read so it’s a win-win for everyone :)
We had to get rid of 60 or 70 boxes of paperback books when my mom moved out of her condo. They were mildewed. I let her keep 100 of her favorites she had in a plastic bin. I keep them at my home and bring 4 a week to the nursing home with the date written inside. I figure she has a 6 month supply of her favorites and I supplement with newspapers, magazines, puzzle books, and other books I pick up second hand. When we visit we play games or work on jigsaw puzzles. She also crochets. I take home things to be recycled or given away when we visit.
I started decluttering three years ago. Last year I got rid of/donated 1000 books. That left me with 250 books in my bedroom and 250 in my office. I continue to release books by choosing 8 at the start of each month from my bookshelves and then put them on my nightstand to be read 2 per week. The first book I read, I loved. The next two I discovered, after reading a few pages, I didn’t want to read, so tossed them in the donation bin. And so it goes. I’m finding that books I held onto, and thought I really wanted to read, are no longer interesting to me. My goal is to get down to 40 books and then to 20.
Also, I keep a running list of the items I declutter each day. It’s inspiring and fun to look back at. I just wish I’d started it three years ago!
I got myself into a similar position whereby I started to find innovative ways to organize my junk. After stumbling across minimalism I found out that I was wasting valuable time a resources organizing, collecting and maintaining the junk. After a few days of reflection I finally took the plunge and threw away 70% of my stuff and since then I feel lighter and brighter! thanks for the inspirational story.
As and ex-homeschooling Mum (my eldest has just started tertiary studies. Books are/were a major part of our life. We have so many that are completely redundant. I will be going through them, maybe a box at a time. But I will leave them in a central place for a few days so the kids can choose any that are sentimental/still useful (and then get them to store them with their own possessions!)
I am also so thankful to Miss Minimalist for this long-standing series. It showcases all sorts of scenarios and walks of life, taking on or continuing their minimalism journey. So helpful and inspiring.
My husband just got rid of a pile of old catalogs he found while looking for something else. Then I found 2 paperback books while looking for drawing paper. I gave away more art supplies to the park district yesterday. I have more old dishes I could give away, but I’m waiting to see if my son will take them.
I have some stuffed animals I was saving for my grandsons. They never took them home so I am donating them next. There is always something to give away.
I have been donating beautiful cups, saucers, and tiny bowls to our local historical society. The ladies put candies or a tea bag and wrapped biscotti in them and decorate with a tiny ornament. Then they sell a cup or cup and saucer, or a small bowl for $5 or so. They asked me to save some so I have some to donate next year. I still have 10 or 12 small plates and more small bowls. I also gave all my old advertising refrigerator magnets to a lady who cuts them up and makes bookmarks out of them. I may use some string to try to crochet snowflake ornaments. They would be a good gift for my son’s mother in law.