If you had asked me a year ago, I would never have imagined myself becoming a minimalist. In fact, the world of Minimalism had never crossed my mind.
Now that I am a minimalist, I wish I had started this journey 10 years before.
But If you are just starting your minimalist journey, no need to feel that you are far behind others. Because, let me tell you, although I have only started my journey six months ago, I have felt significant changes in my life that completely blew my mind.
Hello, space
This may be an obvious one because most people start their minimalist journey by decluttering their homes.
I, as well, started exploring minimalism by decluttering. Mind you, I had always considered myself a pretty organized person, but I soon realized that all the baskets, bins, and organizers that I bought didn't really help me manage my clutter, they encourage it.
My family has been living in a rental house for almost 7 years. It's an okay house but is definitely far from the Pinterest aesthetic houses that we all dream of.
But once I removed the excess and unnecessaries from the house, I started to see it with a fresh set of eyes. My master bedroom, even with two desks and computers since we don't have a separate home office, is actually pretty spacious. My main floor, although had an awkward layout designed in the 1990s, is actually not as bad as I felt for years.
Minimizing our home sets the important first step for me to appreciate what I have in my current space again.
Goodbye, stress
One of the important Fune Shui principles emphasizes keeping a line of sight in our physical space.
When our space is cluttered, so is our mind. When our mind is cluttered, we are stressed and irritated. We don't sleep well, we are tired, and have a hard time focusing on tasks, then we get more stressed and irritated. The cycle continues.
Once I started decluttering and clearing up more and more space in my home, my stress level lowered significantly. I no longer feel unreasonably overwhelmed, which actually makes me want to declutter more.
Impulse buying no more
I used to buy things to relieve my chronic stress. Retail therapy anyone?
But as I started decluttering my home, I not only realized that a lot of the things that I brought into the house have little value but temporary excitement but also how much waste I have created by spending money on things that I did not need in the first place.
It makes me think twice before buying anything ever again.
And since my stress level has gone down so much while continuing this journey, I noticed that I don't have the urge to just browse online and buy things randomly anymore.
Less spending, more savings
Since I have less urge to spend money on things that I do not need, I found myself having more money in the bank.
My credit card balance has gone down, and I actually have the opportunity to look into investing the additional savings that I have.
Time to enrich my life
Reading is a way for me to expand my mind, open my eyes, and fill my heart. --- Oprah Winfrey
I've always wished I were a better reader. I was always "too busy" and too tired to read. Even when I actually had time to sit down my mind was filled with all the tasks that I haven't finished that day or those that I had to do the next day I couldn't get myself to focus on reading.
As I have less and less clutter to manage at home and I feel more relaxed, I found myself having more time and energy to do something that will bring value into my life, and one of them is to read more books.
Unfortunately, becoming a minimalist hasn't turned me into a faster reader. I am still not good at sitting down to read an actual book.
So I choose the next best thing: Audiobooks.
Now I listen to audiobooks when I drive to work, when I walk my dog, and when I fold laundry. It brings new motivation and inspiration to my life that I haven't felt for a long time.
Activate the body
Just as I became a more active reader since I became a minimalist, I became more active physically as well.
Giving myself 15-20 minutes to exercise is no longer a luxury, but essential to maintain my physical and mental health. I no longer feel bad because of all the mess I would have left behind if I had spent the time working out.
Enjoy the home
I am a true introvert all my life. I never enjoy partying or having large gatherings with friends. But when my home was cluttered, or before I realized that my home was cluttered, I always wanted to go out, maybe just buy a couple of things to make myself happier temporarily, which contribute to more of the clutter.
It was not until I started decluttering my home, I realized that I didn't need to bring in new things to make my home better. It is better with less.
And with a more minimized home, I feel more content embracing my introversion and staying home without feeling stressed.
Time with the kids
Did I tell you that I couldn't focus on doing anything at home before I was a minimalist? Yea, even when I spend time with my kids, my head just races with all the things that I have to do around the house, the dishes, the laundry, the dirty floor.
Then of course I'd have all the guilt from not being present and focus on my time with them.
Since my home became less cluttered, so is my mind. I became more present and had less worry about keeping up with house chores. Spending time with the girls became more enjoyable with less distraction.
Better relationships
This is probably the most surprising impact on my life since I became a minimalist.
For many years my husband and I did not have a good relationship. He is not a particularly tidy person, and I've had so much resentment toward that. I constantly felt that I was the only one who has to deal with the mess and chores at home.
But as I started decluttering, I realized that I had been a contributor to the mess, and I was responsible for part of the clutter as well.
As I cleared out more and more space in the house, I somehow also became more open to talking to him about minimalism and what I vision our future home would be like. He also started to feel the benefit of a simpler home.
We started to have more engaging conversations with each other that we honestly hadn't had for a long time. It's refreshing and frankly surprising. I can now see a better future in our relationship.
To summarize
Becoming a minimalist has been one of the best life decisions I've made. Although just a short time I've felt so much impact from all areas of my life, and I can't wait to continue to explore minimalism and make my life happier.
Comments