59 - Living with less things

An attempt at minimalism

Dec 05, 2022

The weather has gotten much colder over the past week and this weekend I spent most of my time indoors, tidying up around my flat and finally setting up my Christmas tree. It has taken three months, but finally, all my boxes are unpacked and I’m starting to feel settled in.

It is interesting how I moved to this country a little over 4 years ago with only two suitcases in my possession, and now have enough stuff to fill an entire flat.

I first heard about the concept of Minimalism from a friend many years ago. He had met someone who owned less than 500 items as his total life belongings. As someone whose ~~shoes~~ books alone would probably account for half of that number, this sounded like madness to me, but I was intrigued. I couldn’t imagine a life without all my stuff, but it got me thinking about all the stuff I’ve had to let go off at the different points in my life when I’ve had to move countries, and how my life didn’t miss a beat without those things.

According to The Minimalists, everything we own can be placed in three piles:

Essentials - Things you absolutely need e.g - food, clothing and shelter.
Non-essentials - Things we don’t absolutely need but add value to the experience of living, so for example you could choose to eat out of the pot after cooking but it’s nice to have a plate.
Junk - The things that don’t serve a purpose or bring us joy, so maybe the extra 5 plates in the 6pc set of plates and so on. These are the things that clutter our lives and should be let go of.

In theory, I like this classification of things, but in practice, (for me at least) things are different. For example, instead of buying a full dinner set, I elected to buy 2 of each item because I live alone and hardly entertain. However, I own eight pairs of sunglasses and would definitely not classify any of them as “junk”.

While the minimalist life might not be for me, I do like the premise of it. It has definitely helped me become more conscious about the things I add to my life and the things I surround myself with, physically, emotionally and even digitally. Thinking about things (and even people) in terms of what value they add to my life has been helpful in letting go of things. In the same vein, I’m not hesitant about adding things to my life that are not essential but definitely spark joy.

I’m also trying to be more conscious of the impact of our consumerism on the planet and so I try to do my part by spending less on things I’m not likely to get much use out of (think fast fashion) and embrace second-hand items even more. Recently I’ve been using facebook marketplace to furnish my flat as well as get rid of some of my junk and this has saved me quite a bit of money.

Spending time on facebook has also reminded me of all the random people who I am no longer in touch with but have access to and vice versa, thanks to facebook. So I’ve been doing a bit of decluttering on that front as well. There’s really no need for me to keep receiving updates on the lives of people I genuinely have no interest in, and vice versa.

The Minimalists have a rulebook - 16 Rules for living with less, which has some useful and actionable tips, like the 90/90 rule - If you haven’t used an item in the last 90 days and are not likely to use it in the next 90 days, it’s okay to let it go.

There’s also the 1 in 10 out rule, which says that for every new item you add, you must let go of 10. Again, not for me at the minute but good to think about.

I do like the Wait for it rule, a.k.a the 30/30 rule. “If something I want costs more than $30, I ask myself whether I can get by without it for the next 30 hours. (If it’s $100 or more, I tend to wait 30 days.)” . Last week, while I was tempted by the Black Friday deals all around, I would walk away from my computer after filling my basket and remind myself that there was nothing essential in any of those baskets and should they become essential, I’d still be able to buy them.

What has also been helpful is asking myself why before I make any purchase. Unfortunately, we live in a capitalist, consumer driven society and when you’re bombarded with advertisements from social media apps to television, we start to want things we don’t really need, so pausing to ask yourself why you want that new thing can be helpful. So now before I buy a new dress, I ask myself how many places I can really wear it to, and if I’ve managed to wear all the ones I bought before. When I’m eyeing a new pair of heels, I remind myself that I no longer have access to a car and then decide if I really want to take such a risk, and so on.

Sunglasses however can be worn year round and the right pair can also double as makeup so can’t have too many.

I’m definitely no minimalist, but I think we can all do with a bit more evaluation of the things (and people) we hold on to and/or admit into our lives, because things (and people) take up valuable space and time.

This week I read

The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki. Earlier in the year, I added all the books shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2022 to my list and this was one of them (the prize winner). It’s a long book and took a while to finish but happened to tie in perfectly with my theme this week.

The book is about a boy who starts hearing voices after losing his Dad. His mum has a pre-existing hoarding habit which gets worse after her husband dies and almost costs them their accomodation. I quite liked the idea of inanimate objects having thoughts and feelings which they sometimes absorbed from the materials they were made from. I also liked the sensitivity with which the author wrote. There was a depth and nuance to each character that I really appreciated. Sometimes we hang onto our possessions with good reason, but it’s also important not to lose sight of the things that really matter and prioritise accordingly. A long but good read.

This week I listened to

A The Minimalists Podcast which I recently discovered. I first came across them a few years ago on Netflix when I watched their first documentary titled Minimalism. I also took part in their 30 day Minimalism game and it really helped me start thinking more about living with less.

Small Things

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