Real Life Minimalists: Sandra

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.

This week, Sandra tells us how she pared down after the birth of her son, and found her true calling in her newfound space. Visit her blog for more inspiration.

Sandra writes:

Hello! My name is Sandra and I live in Spain with my partner and my five year old son. I have read all kind of stories in this Real Life Minimalists’ section so I know I am nothing out of the ordinary. I lived in a mess of stuff almost all my life, accumulating “useful crap” since my childhood until I left home at age 23. Then, I had to get rid of stuff: I couldn’t carry all my books with me neither all my clothes since I moved into what I called a “hole in the wall”, a tiny studio. I really didn’t miss anything and learned that I needed very little to live fully and passionately. But when I moved with my partner, things turned around. I wanted to create a home, which in my mind meant “stuff”: things that made me feel I was in a “proper home” and not a half-empty room. I linked “warmth” with “plenty of things”.

When our son came along, the mountain of things that surrounded us made me feel I was trapped into a volcano, surrounded by lava. I couldn’t see the floor, that’s how bad it was! I was overwhelmed. My previous interests and hobbies made no sense at all and I started seeing everything as a burden, instead of a possibility. My brain was clogged as a result of seeing my surroundings so full, and I couldn’t concentrate in anything, not even in spending fully present time with my family or learning, which is my favourite thing ever.

I started by clearing out the things I was just not happy with. Then I realised I didn’t care about many of my old hobbies. They didn’t make sense. My son put everything into perspective because my time to be messy and purposeless was much less. I realised time was precious and I didn’t want to waste it putting things back into place. I cleared my desk and found peace. I cleared my wardrobe of old memories. I went into “practical mode”. The desire for space got bigger and bigger and, just when I got this space I needed, I found my true passion: coaching, therapies and teaching inner wisdom. I couldn’t have found my passion in the chaos. I needed the chaos to be over so I could see that what my intuition told me was absolutely possible. Because without the burden of your excess, you can fly really high!

I write now about coaching and minimalism on my blog (www.presente-simple.com) in Spanish and recently started the same project in English (www.simplyinthepresent.com). Miss Minimalist, Leo Babauta and The Minimalists were my first inspirations on the Internet. People like me, who could see the potential of an intentional life which purpose is lost in the confusion of the materialism of our times. You guys really change my life and point of view and it’s just fair that I spread the word as well.

{If you’d like to learn more about minimalist living, please consider reading my book, The Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide, or joining my email list.}