A Minimalist is Born

Recently, I’ve found minimalism. One of those part-the-skies, angels-singing, apple-falling-on-your-head type realizations that there’s a better way for me to live. I feel as though this was a missing puzzle piece finally found, one I’ve always known was missing.

I read once that minimalism means different things to different people. One columnist said something to the effect of: minimalism is sorting through and removing the unimportant so that the truly important can speak louder. Of course, I think it was a bit more eloquent than that. That statement best describes my goal for my minimalist journey. I’m seeking my true happiness by trying to focus on the truly important and releasing all the rest.

It was difficult to be honest with myself, especially when I’ve always been one to ignore and hide feelings and emotions. Admitting even to myself that I wasn’t honestly happy was no small task. Am I capable of happiness, and what if the answer to that is no? Will it take up-ending my life to chase my happiness? That’s a frightening prospect when you’ve come so far and are so invested in a particular direction. If I admit to being unhappy, will I be seen as ungrateful? After all, I have a lot of things that many people would kill for – education, my own home, etc.



Photo Source: http://ubersuper.com/are-you-happy/



But the further I got along on the typical American middle-class life plan, the emptier I felt. College, grad school, marriage, career, home ownership…and the stuff starts piling up, and the bills start piling up to pay for the stuff, and auto-pilot kicks in. Soon you’re just living life in a certain way because that’s what you’re “supposed to do”.  Time ticks by and you no longer think about what’s important to you, you easily give up the dreams for the ‘real world’, you feel pressure and lose sight of where you truly want to go.

Despite being on the “right track” I wasn’t truly happy. And trying to gain more didn't make me any happier, in fact just the opposite. But why not? This is how we are supposed to live life, no? For me, it’s a distraction. The pursuit of these things was distracting me from chasing the truly important desires in my life, distracting me from finding my true happiness. The meaning was missing from the majority of my activities. I was existing, but not living. And so I had to change.

So I started to look around and see what wasn’t necessary in my life, what was keeping me from chasing my happiness, from finding meaning? I looked at my home and furnishings, my relationships, my clothing, my career path, my thoughts. And I started tossing. The knick-knacks that collect dust that I have to spend time cleaning every week rather than being outdoors with my husband – gone. The shirts that I keep “just in case” I might wear them one day – gone. And I look now to identify what’s important to me – my marriage, my health, seeking my purpose.

It’s a journey. I would argue a never ending journey; and I’m only at the beginning stages. I’m good at clearing the clutter in my home, but enormously challenged with clearing the clutter of my mind. Luckily, my ever-supportive husband is on the same journey. For once, I’m engaged and honestly excited about the path of my life. Together we’re redefining our lives, and chasing happiness as we goMinimal.