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 we hear from Pierre, who details the life changes that started him down a minimalist path, and the joy he’s found in paring down.
Pierre writes:
I have been considering minimalism for a few years, but until a few years ago I got nowhere. I used to live a life of accumulation like many people and had so many things that might come in handy one day, most of which were in the loft. In around 1995 my wife suggested getting a skip and filling it with our accumulated detritus but I wasn’t ready. Ha not me! I needed more stuff.
But then several things happened. First…marriage ended and I became solely responsible for the family detritus. Second…I moved house and realised what a pile of utter rubbish I had accumulated and had to move. Third…I moved into a smaller place and just had to get rid of stuff. Fourth… Work opportunities came up that gave me the chance to work abroad and this was the killer blow. Paying for storage rankled and I ended up giving a huge pile of stuff to Oxfam, which made me feel good on two counts. Also stuff I ‘really needed’ went to a friend’s house and now I can’t even remember what I gave her. I will never ask for it back. Fifth…I eventually moved into a rented apartment, so no tools or DIY stuff needed. I love it. Sixth…I gave up camping and gave all the gear away. Seventh… I sold my daughter’s piano. She never played it and had grown up and gone to University. Eighth… I outgrew a massive bunch of clothes and donated the lot. Ninth…I got an e-reader. No more books to cart around the place. Tenth… No more CD’s. All on a hard drive now. Eleventh…No more documents or photos. All scanned and on the same hard drive. Twelfth… no monkey on my back carting all this stuff around in my head (sorry to mix the metaphor).
I still have a way to go and I am loving the journey. I have an ambition to be able to get all my worldly possessions in a modest size van (or smaller) when I retire in a few years’ time. I still accumulate cooking utensils and always have way more bathroom gear than I need but my imperfections are mine and I love them.
It has absolutely been a cathartic journey for me and I have a long way to go and am immensely looking forward to it. Best wishes to everyone in their own journey.
{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 loved this post. Short, concise and inspirational. Good job on your purge. I hope you told your friend to get rid of the stuff he/she is storing for you. I stored my brothers stuff for years and then he told me to ditch it.
Hurray for your discovery of minimalism in a way that works for you! It sounds like an exciting process.
I grew up seeing my parents store way too much junk for other family members over the years without knowing when it was safe to ditch it. Please do the decent thing and pick up your stored belongings from your friend. It’s not that person’s job to dispose of it for you, nor to keep it when you don’t even want it. That space belongs to your friend, not to your unwanted possessions.
Fabulous post! In reference to storing items for others, I have my own method. I tell my children (one gone, two to go) that they are allowed four bins only in my garage when they leave home for college, traveling, marriage, or for whatever reason. If they leave more, then I reserve the right to minimize their stuff down to the allowed four bins. So far, it’s working well! Good luck with your retirement plans, Pierre!
My older kids took their stuff long ago. My youngest was in the Navy for 5 years after college, so we have some things here. mostly books. He is living with my daughter. We also have some of my mother’s things because she’s in a nursing home and doesn’t have much room.
So inspiring! Especially the documents and photos, which kill me and make it hard to figure out the best storage solution.
Awesome! Now that’s the kick in the pants I needed to get rid of my ridiculous cd collection and mounds of paper. Thanks Pierre, best of luck to you!
What a lovely reflection. I love your line ‘my imperfections are mine and I love them’. I wrote a blog post this week about being a Good Enough minimalist. I don’t have to be perfect, just good enough.
Good for you Pierre.
I did the same with the books, music and photos. The few books I have remaining, I cannot replace on Kindle and several are first editions that I treasure.
Having an iPod is brilliant, unfortunately I need to upgrade mine already, not enough space for over three thousand songs (and growing) but imagine the number of CDs that would be taking up space!
We just sold our house and I love decluttering (maybe a bit too much for my husband). As you said it is cathartic.
One day I want to own very little……the day will arrive.
Well done Pierre, I enjoyed reading about your journey.
Pierre, what an inspiring post! Thank you so much for sharing. You are motivating me to get up from my computer and go declutter a few (ok, a LOT of) things.
Blessings on your life’s evolving journey!
I know this is a late response, but was so glad to have kinman in this area. I too, sold the house, sold the stuff (took 3 yrs), got a new job and transferred to a state I’ve always wanted to live in. I became an empty nester and too got rid of the damn piano, stuff, house, etc. I own a car but keep it in storage and bike, bus and walk everywhere. It’s so freeing and I am saving so much money and feel much more adventurous in life. Although I am renting a small apt, I did get a few pieces to furnish it but it’s elegant and simplistic. Nice to hear a similar story. My friends don’t get it but I am really living life and they are dreaming out living life.
I too have been downsizing quite a bit as I prepare for retirement. I’ll be moving across the country into a much smaller home (between 400 & 700 sq.ft.) with only two suitcases. I’m excited that I get to start new and limit the amount of furniture I’ll be buying this time around. I don’t watch tv but will buy a laptop so that I can stay in contact with family and friends and get the news around the world. I won’t get a landline phone — just a cell. I don’t plan on entertaining (did that all my life) so no need for a dining room set — I’ll buy tv tables and use those if and when I have someone over for a meal (or get big pillows and sit around the coffee table). I’m selling all my books, cds and dvds online as well as some furniture I really don’t need anymore. I’ll buy a sofa-bed for the living room so that family and friends can visit me. I’ve gotten rid of the bulky photo albums and now keep my photos in a large envelope. The only item I will bring besides a few souvenirs of my mother and grandmothers is my Vita-Mix blender which I just can’t live without!
I have my son’s table and folding chairs here because I am making a party in October. I have no steps and can seat about 20 with the borrowed furniture. A good reason not to have a lot of stuff is you can have more people over. I am looking forward to a good time.
Very inspirational post. It’s been an ongoing process for me, I find even after having done the major de-cluttering and purging months ago, I am still finding items to donate. I keep a large Hefty bag in my mudroom and when it’s filled, I take it to Goodwill.
I just read a post here on the site about people not owning couches, and I’m so ready for that step!
We recently bought 2 small chairs from Ikea and gave our big old chairs to my daughter. I have a lot of dishes I would like to give away, too. There is our weekly Goodwill donation and 2 bags of recycling. I gave away 2 bags of books this afternoon. There is a box of houseplants which will go when the weather warms up. I seldom buy anything new but people give me a lot.
We have another full bag for Goodwill. Another bag of plastic recycling to take out. More magazines to take to the library. My friend sorts broken crayons by color, melts them and molds them into new crayons. I just donated a bag of craft items to the activity room at a local mental hospital. So many people can use things people have given me.