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, I’m happy to feature Dan, who tells us how he discovered that minimalism is so much more than decluttering. If you’d like to read more from Dan, head on over to his website.
Dan writes:
Ever felt like a hamster on a wheel?
Wake up. Commute to work. Work. Commute home. Eat. Sleep. Rinse and repeat. A seemingly never-ending and monotonous loop. A hamster on a wheel getting nowhere fast in life.
It’s frustrating, isn’t it?
I get it because this is exactly how I felt for a long time during my earlier college years. You could probably find me strolling aimlessly across university campus. I had no idea what I was doing with my life and this uncertainty terrified me.
Fast forward to today: I’m in a much happier and focused headspace. Also, I have something pretty cool: goals! Goals and dreams! So, what sparked this shift from uncertainty to clarity?
Minimalism.
Allow me to describe my dilemma in a nutshell pre-minimalism: No goals. No career. No clue what I was doing. I spent my younger twenties wandering.
Then one night, while browsing the internet, I stumbled across an unfamiliar word: minimalism. What the heck is that?! Oh, how my curiosity propelled me down a rabbit hole (the good kind) that taught me so much about life and happiness, especially in today’s consumerist culture.
We live in a consumer era that reminds us to spend, spend, spend.
Buy more to be more.
That is why I found this minimalism so attractive: minimalism is a philosophy that emphasizes less. Less stuff. More living. Fascinated by this lifestyle, I devoured book after book, article after article on decluttering your belongings. I was obsessed (and still am).
I’m sure you’ll agree that decluttering is strangely liberating. Imagine all of your stuff crammed into a metaphorical backpack. With such a heavy burden, you can travel only at a slug’s pace. However, with each item you discard, your burden progressively lightens until you can actually run around. You can enjoy your life.
Seeing bare shelves and spaces between each hanger, I was thrilled. I shared my minimalist journey with everybody. I was having so much fun! However, my excitement lasted for only about two to three months.
Decluttering wasn’t enough.
Decluttering was not a solution to the lingering dilemma posed earlier: No goals. No career. No clue what I was doing. I mistakenly believed that decluttering would calm my anxiety towards my situation and my future. When I realized that decluttering didn’t actually fix anything, I resorted to comforting but very unhealthy choices: binge-eating, smoking, and justifying sticking around a dead-end job.
I was running and running day after day on that hamster wheel and I was miserable. I did this for maybe two years before I revisited the books and videos that inspired me to follow minimalism.
I suppose I did some maturing during these two years because my impression towards minimalism was completely transformed. My first experiences were largely spent decluttering and although decluttering is an aspect of minimalism, decluttering is not the point.
Don’t make my mistake. When decluttering, don’t stop at the physical realm. Dig deeper.
Reflecting, I realize now that I decluttered as a distraction–it was procrastination to avoid what I really needed to do: have a difficult and honest conversation with myself. I needed to critically examine my social groups, my priorities, and my thoughts. I asked myself (and encourage you to ask yourself):
How can I use minimalism to remove what doesn’t serve or inspire me so that only the possessions, people, and passions that do remain?
Asking myself this was one of the most terrifying and rewarding experiences I could ever undergo because it forces you to identify not only your values but also your vulnerabilities. It was only after this that I could step off that hamster wheel and identify my passion:
Writing.
Specifically writing and helping others through writing. This is why I decided to start Motivationalist where I will share tips on how you can build a meaningful life that aligns with your personal goals (with the help of minimalism, of course)!
Because once you remove all the physical junk and mental garbage from your life, you really get to see who you are.
Get to know that person. Get to know you.
Because you are amazing, and you have so much to offer to the world.
{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.}
Thanks for sharing your journey, Dan. I can totally relate to that wonderful feeling of seeing space between hangars. It sounds like such a small thing, but you can breathe so much easier when you’re getting dressed in the morning. Writing has helped me, too. (Writing rocks.)
Hi Priscilla.
Thanks so much for reading! It IS a wonderful feeling, isn’t it? How something seemingly so tiny can make such a difference. & yes, I absolutely agree: writing does rock. :)
Dan
When I click through to your website all I see is a pop up to subscribe to a list of 30 you tube channels to motivate me, to be honest the last thing I need is more digital clutter in my life to distract me from doing the hard real work.
Agreed :P
Hello Jenni!
Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment. Your feedback means the world to me.
You know what? I absolutely agree with you. Reflecting on it now, that was such a silly thing for me to offer the minimalist community. *facepalm* Fortunately, being human, also means learning and growing. I appreciate the beautiful and much needed reminder on LESS digital clutter and MORE hard real work.
Wishing you the best.
Dan
I also agree . . . I’m not interested in subscribing to a bunch of youtube channels.
However, Dan’s piece was very well written and he shared an important discovery. Decluttering is NOT the point; removing what distracts you from what feeds your passions and enriches your life IS. Decluttering (physically and mentally) makes room for everything that matters. It took me a while to figure that out too.
Hi Karen!
Thanks so much for reading and for the amazing feedback! I love hearing the thoughts of fellow minimalists within the community. Yes! It’s strange, isn’t it? How the most profound discoveries always seem to happen after some time and struggling but once that fateful Eureka! moment finally happens, everything just falls into place beautifully. :)
I make art. I have a great time teaching art. I take found objects and create beauty. When I give a class, it fills up the day it is announced. I’ve met many wonderful people. I have been limiting possessions for as long as I can remember. I am happy to help others declutter. The less each of us uses the more there is for all of us. When something comes in, something goes out. I am giving warm clothes to the people in local shelters now because I have enough.
Since everyone I know gives me art materials and they know I have a passion for neatness, they ask how I store things. First, I only keep what I know I will use. Charcoal, pastels, oil paints, canvases, etc. go out the day they come in. Pieces of jewelry I can’t use also go out quickly. Large quantities of sewing, weaving, and knitting materials leave quickly, too. Everything is stored flat or in a rectangular container. I cut the parts I can’t use off greeting cards, egg cartons, and silk flowers. By contrast, an artist I know has garbage bags full of toilet paper rolls and Pringles’ containers. Ugh.
Hi Tina, I am intrigued by your art – di you have a website or a blog?
I can totally relate with you, Dan (not with the smoking though, lol!). On a serious note, you have such an amazing story! Reading what you have written is like reading my story. I started just like you (one night, while browsing the internet, I stumbled across an unfamiliar word: minimalism.), I followed through just like you (I devoured book after book, article after article on decluttering your belongings. I was obsessed (and still am).), I dug deep just like you (How can I use minimalism to remove what doesn’t serve or inspire me so that only the possessions, people, and passions that do remain?), and focused on my passion just like you (Writing.).
Anyway, I hope that you’ll launch your website soon (at the time I visited it, it has a note about “when Motivationalist launches”). Hope to read your posts soon!