On Accepting the Minimalist Challenge

The new buzzword these days seems to be “minimalism,” which is basically the concept of living with less. At first, I wasn’t sure how I would feel about becoming a “minimalist.”  But then my husband and I watched a documentary about minimalism and were totally captivated. We were in the midst of trying to decide whether or not to sell our house and started thinking about all of the stuff we have accumulated while living here for the past 15 years and wondered how we would fit it all in a much smaller house.  Shortly after that, I saw something on Instagram called the “Minimalist Challenge.” So for the month of October, we both decided to take on the challenge to see if we could make a dent in this vast accumulation of stuff that we can’t seem to live without. The challenge is that for each day of the month, you throw away, recycle, sell, or donate that number of things. For example, on October 15, we would each throw away, recycle, sell or donate 15 things. It was a little bit difficult on those first days.

October 1^st: One item from the junk drawer

October 2^nd: Two things from the junk drawer

October 5^th: Five things from the junk drawer

But as the dates got higher, it got easier.

October 9^th: 9 different unused kitchen gadgets

October 15^th: 15 canning jars of various sizes and shapes

October 26^th: Way more than 26 interlocking floor tiles from the basement family room.

Obviously, we couldn’t exactly follow the challenge because some days we got very carried away, throwing, selling, recycling, or donating hundreds of things, like the day Tom got rid of a 5 gallon bucket of assorted screws & nails.  And on the day I cleaned out my closet, 3 large bags full of clothes went to either the dumpster, Threadup, or Good Will. Far more than the 12 things that should have gone on October 12^th. There was also the day I cleaned out the plastic storage container drawer. There isn’t a date that coincides with the number of random lid-less containers, and container-less lids I was able to recycle. And on the day I cleaned out my craft/sewing area I said goodbye to my scrapbooking hobby, my jewelry-making hobby, and my “yarn I’m never going to crochet into anything” collection.

At the end of the month, we could both say that the challenge was a success and we felt much lighter because of it. Unfortunately, I went a little crazy on closet clean-out day because I wound up replacing some key items of clothing that I really shouldn’t have parted with. I’m not sure if we would call ourselves minimalists now, but I think there is value in learning to appreciate a life with less. I’m thinking twice before pushing that yellow “Place Your Order” button these days, and it feels good.