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Real Life Minimalists: Alex Gonzo

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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 Alex Gonzo, a 21-year-old college student majoring in philosophy. He’s also a fellow minimalist and runs a witty humor blog when he’s not studying.

Alex writes:

My interest in minimalism was an accident. Trust me, I hadn’t the slightest clue what downsizing was, because my friends always invited me to go out and buy things with them. We’d go to the mall and buy hats, shoes, ties, DVDs, and a bunch of other junk.… {Read more}

Wanting to Want

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In my younger, more acquisitive years, I had a problem with “wanting to want.”

I subscribed to several magazines, and would page through them for ideas on new clothes to wear, new beauty treatments to try, and new things to decorate my home.

I received a mountain of catalogs each month, and would scour them for products I never knew I needed.

I would stop by the mall on my lunch hour and browse the racks, waiting for something to catch my eye.

The cycle went something like this: a particular gadget/outfit/book/decorative item/piece of jewelry would capture my imagination; I’d spend a few days or weeks wanting it; I’d acquire it; and then I’d look for something else to want.… {Read more}

Historical Minimalist: Saint Francis of Assisi

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When I was a young girl, I attended Catholic elementary school (yes, complete with plaid uniform, oxford shoes, and nuns). I remember in first grade, one of the first orders of business was assigning each of us students a patron saint. The selection was based entirely on our first names, and would stay with us as we progressed through each grade; our responsibility was to learn more about our saint through various projects, and share their life story with the class.

I was assigned St. Francis of Assisi (1181/1182 – October 3, 1226). After my 6-year-old self got over the initial irritation of not getting a “girl saint,” I realized how lucky I was.… {Read more}

Real Life Minimalists: Tim Lewis

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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 meet Tim Lewis, whose minimalist journey started right out of university. He tells us how he decluttered his excess possessions, and is embracing a life of freedom and travel (check out his blog to learn more). An insightful and inspiring story!

Tim writes:

I believe that I have always enjoyed having less since an early age and like to think that I had minimalism born into me. As a child I used to love to hang around with my friends in the fields and forests of my home town and have many fond memories of travelling the country with my family and going on holiday in some fabulously remote parts of the country.… {Read more}

Exorcise Your Clutter Ghosts

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We all have some clutter skeletons in our closets—purchases and behaviors that have junked up our homes, emptied our bank accounts, and perhaps even chained us to an unsatisfying work-spend treadmill.

And despite our best intentions, some of these demons continue to haunt us, sucking the space from our homes, the money from our wallets, and the joy from our lives.

In the spirit of Halloween, I propose an exorcism: let’s call out each of these clutter ghosts in turn, and banish them once and for all!

Novelty. If you find yourself idly browsing retail websites, paging through catalogs, stopping by the mall every weekend, or otherwise looking for things “to want,” the ghost of novelty may be haunting you.… {Read more}

Real Life Minimalists: Lorilee

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.

I think you’ll find this week’s story from Lorilee very inspirational. She tells us how minimalist living has brought her family a new sense of freedom and joy—and I just love the beautiful family photo she’s shared with us! Check out her blog to learn more about her journey.

Lorilee writes:

I love simple and minimalist living! It has been a process for us since the beginning of the year slowly getting rid of stuff.… {Read more}

Real Life Minimalists: Megyn

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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 have a wonderful submission from Megyn. I love that she addresses the issue of buying (and wanting) less—because stopping the inflow of stuff into our homes is just as important as decluttering! Please visit her blog, Minimalist Mommi, to read more.

Megyn writes:

I grew up in a house full of covered surfaces. A mom who loved to shop. A dad who loved to save. It was an equation for a house full of a chaotic mass of “stuff.” As a child, I went along with it swimmingly.… {Read more}

100 Possessions: Laptop

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When you live with as little as possible, every item has to pull its own weight. And the more needs a single thing can satisfy, the greater its value in a minimalist household.

With that in mind, if I had to pick my most “valuable” possession, it would be my laptop. It’s a true minimalist workhorse; not only has it enabled me to purge scores of other items, it’s also greatly reduced the amount of living and workspace I need.

How has my laptop helped simplify my life? Oh, let me count the ways! This one little device has eliminated the following physical things from my home:

1.… {Read more}

Real Life Minimalists: Sarah Parro

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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.

It’s my pleasure this week to introduce you to Sarah Parro. She and her husband are steadily tackling their clutter, and making wonderful progress on their minimalist journey. To read more about her experiences, please visit her blog.

Sarah writes:

My husband and I live in a 900-square foot, one-bedroom apartment. Our first apartment was significantly smaller, and when we first moved into our new place we wondered what we’d do with all of the extra space.… {Read more}

Get Your Mujo On

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One of the central tenets of Zen Buddhism is the concept of mujo. Mujo means impermanence, transience, ephemerality—in other words, everything is changing in every moment, nothing ever stays the same.

As minimalists, why is it so important that we get our mujo on? Because when we see that everything is impermanent, we become less attached to possessions and consumer goods.

When we embrace mujo:

* We let go of sentimental items and other reminders of “who we used to be,” instead of clinging to our past.

* We accept that our bodies change, and don’t hold on to the clothes that no longer fit us.… {Read more}