My Minimalism Journey – Living with Less

Before we get started, let me take a moment to simplify what my idea of minimalism is. I have come across mixed opinions about this concept lately and most do not subscribe to the real essence of what minimalism is all about.

Minimalism is not just about living with less belongings – at least that isn’t the idea I agree with. Instead, my belief is that minimalism is about finding purpose and orienting one’s life in a way that what you have is only what you intentionally allow into your lives. This might be materialistic but can and should also include people, energy, and things you do.

Overall, the ultimate aim for a minimalist is being content by identifying what matters the most and more importantly, also identifying and eliminating things that do not serve you.  

And so, we begin my story…

To be honest, I have never been a shopaholic and hence never encountered a time in my life where I felt like I had too much stuff. I know a lot of us find ourselves in such conditions every now and then and this is not to say that the journey of minimalism isn’t for such people. It is about understanding that each of us may have a different definition of “less” and that is perfectly alright. What is important is understanding where each one of us are in this journey and setting realistic and achievable goals and sincerely working towards it.

Anyway, I digress!! 😊

Coming back to my story – I started to live independently from the age of 17 and have since moved across 6 cities and 3 countries. So very early in my life, I knew the pain of having to pack all my stuff in suitcases and boxes and move from one place to another. I guess unintentionally that is where it all began for me.

During one such move, I was asked to temporarily relocate within 2 days, and I thought I would be gone for just 2 months. I had left a lot of my stuff where I was living and thought I’d be back soon anyway. What was a 2-month assignment, turned into a 4 year long stint and I never got the chance to go back and collect my stuff. And when I thought about it, I never for once during those 4 years had any difficulty going about my life without those things back where I left. And that is when I really started to question – do I genuinely need so much stuff?

Second such realisation happened when my husband and I moved to the UK, again for a temporary assignment (and needless to say we were there for 3 years!). Since we thought we had to get back any minute, we were extremely frugal with what we bought, because we didn’t want to pile on stuff and go through the painful process of sending them all back home. And that experience of living with just as much as is absolutely required was extremely liberating.

And this is when I was drawn to the idea of living with less but with more intention.

Once I started to read a little about this, I was sucked right into it. I was obsessed with blogs and books, my first being ‘You can buy happiness (and It’s Cheap)’ by Tammy Strobel. I slowly started to untangle my sense of self from my possessions. I was learning how to be a minimalist – from the inside out – and finally, my life started to change.

What does my life look like now?

From the outside, my life may not seem very different from how it used to be. I haven’t gone to any crazy measures of downsizing either, but I do know that my wardrobe is smaller and simpler than most. It takes me less than 10 seconds to find any piece of clothing in my wardrobe. I own 6 pairs of shoes – 3 for summer and 3 for winter. I have not bought clothing online for over 3 years. The only purchase I did this year were some pyjamas since I donated all my old ones before moving from UK.

I was never addicted to shopping, but I think I am now getting addicted to the idea of owning less. The clarity and peace this has brought into my life is hard to explain – and this is the feeling that really strikes me about my life as a minimalist. There is a subtlety of freedom and comfort that I can feel within.

I feel like I’m finally starting to navigate through life as my own simplified self!

Let me know if any of you have had similar experiences, would love to hear them!