For this week’s bettering yourself exercise, I filled my recycling, garbage, organics and donation bins to overflowing with 20 year old items that I no longer have any use for. I shredded old income tax returns, threw out old shoes, and the rooms in my house were cleaner and looked bigger.
Joshua Becker, author of the books “Simplify” and “Living With Less” has many tips on his website on the merits of adopting a lifestyle of minimalism. I found this description of minimalism on his website:
It’s a way to escape the excesses of the world around us — the excesses of consumerism, material possessions, clutter, having too much to do, too much debt, too many distractions, too much noise. But too little meaning. Minimalism is a way of eschewing the non-essential in order to focus on what’s truly important, what gives our lives meaning, what gives us joy and value. – The Minimalist FAQ
By clearing out my environment, I also cleared out my mind, adding calm to my home.
It is a process that I am continuing to work on. I am learning to forgive myself for getting rid of items that I paid a lot for, or have sentimental value, by focusing on the joy someone else will feel when they can use an item I no longer need.
As I shredded up old income tax returns, I thought about how the people and animals in my life come first, then my stuff, not the other way around.
photo credit: <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/therefore/86988892/”>Dean Terry</a> via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a> <a href=”http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/”>cc</a>