A Minimalist Work In Progress

My take on minimalism is different from that of a, let’s say, ‘traditional’ minimalist. I loosely follow the ideas behind minimalism - basically, I would select certain aspects of minimalism to follow. It began without me realizing that I was into the lifestyle. Recent years, I have moved at least twice - I would stay in one place at most three or four years and then I would move again.

Last couple of years, during my latest move, I realized that I have a mountain of stuff. Living in the fast-paced and the ever-so-busy city that is New York City, I was engrossed in too many interests and hobbies: fashion (though I have no sense of style, I enjoyed shopping for fast fashion clothing), makeup (Korean makeup & skincare specifically), and finally cosplay. With my geeky tendencies plus an ever growing number of trends in the city - all these things combined created a very efficient consumer. As a good consumer, I was always in the lookout for sales, in-store and online. And I was proud of all the “savings” made after every purchase. And believe me, I would even flaunt those purchases to my coworkers.  It was addictive, like a drug. It felt good to show off the deals I was able to snatch. Alas, I ended up becoming something similar to a hoarder, or more like a trend collector.

As I was organized my stuff and packed them in boxes - I realized something: I have a problem. I have a monstrous amount of things ranging from fast-fashion clothing items, accessories, DVDs, comic books, textbooks, two sewing machines, three large bags of unused fabrics, 5 suitcases full of seasonal clothing, etc. There’s more, but I am already embarrassed to keep count. I questioned myself, I am just one person, living by myself, why do I have so much stuff? I found no answer, but shame. I asked myself why I needed all these things. I don’t necessarily use ALL these things - but just a select few from the multiples that I have collected. Why does one person need all of these things? Can I to use them all?

Finally, I decided to relentlessly sort out my things and let go of the stuff that I never touched in a month. I had to rewire my thought process to questioning myself as I looked through my things: do I need this? Does this make me happy? How often have I been using it? Once I have sorted things into things I need and love, the rest I donated them to friends or charity shops. It was all so simple - let go.

*Though I got a few remarks from my landlady, saying how wasteful I am. Yes, I have to admit - I was wasteful because of the things I bought under the influence of trends. They have already served their purpose in satisfying my temporary interest in them. I was ready to let them go, along with my shame, and "wasted money" (this one was added because of my landlady).

It all makes sense to me now, the things I kept were those that are functional and what sparks joy in me. And that is alright. I do not need the extra stuff, because the more I own, the more it will weigh me down for my next move.

Simply put, minimalism helped me move, and move on easier (quite literal at this point, since we are talking about material stuff I need to move with).