Thoughts on Minimalism: Book - Everything that Remains
I just finished reading 'Everything that Remains'.
Definitely a good way to help refocus my actions on minimalism.
Some of the key points made in the book that had me thinking:
* Get rid of goals. This one was interesting to me. No Goals. No set amount of time at gym, or schedule of going to gym. No set amount of a project being completed. Just do what you feel like.
* The concept of passive vs active activities, and moving away from passive stuff like FB, emails, watching TV or movies - things that are mostly a waste of time. I've started this. My house no longer has a TV, and the computer screen that my roommate uses to watch her netflick is in the spare room, so I am not tempted to watch anything. I also am not on the internet plan (just the phone data plan) so I am limited on what I can use. I do need to cut down on FB, but I think I can manage that better when I'm not on FB trying to gift things away (Buy Nothing! Amazing Facebook groups where local communities gift items they no longer want to their neighbours for free! highly recommended! Most of the stuff I don't keep ends up being given away there.)
* Ensure you do what you like, and not what you hate . For instance, he made sure to point out that for exercising, he did 18 minutes of whatever he felt like, rather then doing something that he hated (running). For me, after I have the baby, I would like to get back into running. Maybe never go back to gym if I end up getting a treadmill :)
* I loved his quick and dirty method to becoming minimalist - pack everything you own into boxes and only take out what you need as you need it. That's a bit late for my stuff now, but it's one way to deal with the baby items!!!
Some items it didn't seem to have that I have implemented (or it did but it wasn't super obvious and I missed it)
* Minimalizing not just on what we own, but also the things we spend time, or plan to spend time doing. For instance, I had so many different projects and new skill sets I wanted to learn. Singing, dancing, sewing, quilting, piano, flute, writing a book, writing a children's book, web site design, painting, learning code for computer, cooking, canning, ceremony stuff, photography, camping, volunteering, etc.
What it actually comes down to, is to stop them all. Then just do as you do. If you see a cool sewing class and have time and feel drawn, go ahead and sign up. Or if you want healthy food, cook it. Without having a plan, you'll start doing more of what you actually love, rather then planning (and buying supplies) for what you might want to do, but never actually spend time doing.
So right now, I have gifted away 90% my sewing stuff (except the machine because it's good and hard to replace, and I'm hoping I'll feel like fixing some of my favourite clothing in the near future). I also don't have any painting stuff left and I'm careful not to inherit stuff my parent's aren't keeping that could have been used for one of the items in the list above. If I end up needing stuff, they're not expensive and I'll buy just what I need, not more.
What I would LOVE is to know how to implement minimalism in the kitchen regarding food... Maybe just a matter of going more natural, less canned/premade/condiments.
I'm trying, but it's slow. If you get hungry enough, you'll end up making something with whatever's in the fridge, which is a healthy way of doing it. I have to be more careful not to buy food items that 'look good' but I've never used. Or of buying more then one package of something because I am likely to make it again in the future (I can shop every week... no need to stock up on things that I'll forget are there).
Definitely a good way to help refocus my actions on minimalism.
Some of the key points made in the book that had me thinking:
* Get rid of goals. This one was interesting to me. No Goals. No set amount of time at gym, or schedule of going to gym. No set amount of a project being completed. Just do what you feel like.
* The concept of passive vs active activities, and moving away from passive stuff like FB, emails, watching TV or movies - things that are mostly a waste of time. I've started this. My house no longer has a TV, and the computer screen that my roommate uses to watch her netflick is in the spare room, so I am not tempted to watch anything. I also am not on the internet plan (just the phone data plan) so I am limited on what I can use. I do need to cut down on FB, but I think I can manage that better when I'm not on FB trying to gift things away (Buy Nothing! Amazing Facebook groups where local communities gift items they no longer want to their neighbours for free! highly recommended! Most of the stuff I don't keep ends up being given away there.)
* Ensure you do what you like, and not what you hate . For instance, he made sure to point out that for exercising, he did 18 minutes of whatever he felt like, rather then doing something that he hated (running). For me, after I have the baby, I would like to get back into running. Maybe never go back to gym if I end up getting a treadmill :)
* I loved his quick and dirty method to becoming minimalist - pack everything you own into boxes and only take out what you need as you need it. That's a bit late for my stuff now, but it's one way to deal with the baby items!!!
Some items it didn't seem to have that I have implemented (or it did but it wasn't super obvious and I missed it)
* Minimalizing not just on what we own, but also the things we spend time, or plan to spend time doing. For instance, I had so many different projects and new skill sets I wanted to learn. Singing, dancing, sewing, quilting, piano, flute, writing a book, writing a children's book, web site design, painting, learning code for computer, cooking, canning, ceremony stuff, photography, camping, volunteering, etc.
What it actually comes down to, is to stop them all. Then just do as you do. If you see a cool sewing class and have time and feel drawn, go ahead and sign up. Or if you want healthy food, cook it. Without having a plan, you'll start doing more of what you actually love, rather then planning (and buying supplies) for what you might want to do, but never actually spend time doing.
So right now, I have gifted away 90% my sewing stuff (except the machine because it's good and hard to replace, and I'm hoping I'll feel like fixing some of my favourite clothing in the near future). I also don't have any painting stuff left and I'm careful not to inherit stuff my parent's aren't keeping that could have been used for one of the items in the list above. If I end up needing stuff, they're not expensive and I'll buy just what I need, not more.
What I would LOVE is to know how to implement minimalism in the kitchen regarding food... Maybe just a matter of going more natural, less canned/premade/condiments.
I'm trying, but it's slow. If you get hungry enough, you'll end up making something with whatever's in the fridge, which is a healthy way of doing it. I have to be more careful not to buy food items that 'look good' but I've never used. Or of buying more then one package of something because I am likely to make it again in the future (I can shop every week... no need to stock up on things that I'll forget are there).