Week 15 – Bettering Yourself – Apr 8 – 14, 2013 Learn about Minimalism

 

It's not always about what you add, but what you take away.
It’s not always about what you add, but what you take away.

“Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.”

– William Morris

For this week’s bettering yourself exercise, I am going to learn about minimalism, and how I can achieve a minimalist mindset.

As I was clearing clutter out of my house, I reached an impasse.  It was easy for me to clear the obvious clutter, broken, mismatched items and duplicate items, but personal items that I have had for a long time that have a connection to my past, are difficult for me to get rid of.

Small items like my son’s first shoes, the Christmas ornament I made in grade one, hold sentimental value for me, and I feel sad when I try to get rid of them.

The reality is that I no longer need these items and have no place to store them, so I must find a new home for them, and create a minimalist atmosphere in my home, and create space for new items to come to me.

As I study the minimalist mindset this week, I am going to seek tips on creating space and simplicity in my environment so I can travel light, and as William Morris said, have only items in my house that are either useful or beautiful. 

 

photo credit: <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/nomad-photography/13973600/”>Nomad Photography</a> via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a> <a href=”http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/”>cc</a>