Minimalism

I am pretty sure I would not be a minimalist if God didn't call me to move to Taiwan last year.   In fact, I don't think I would have started this blog either.  You know what? This turns out to be a perfect example of two sides of the same coin.  I guess God knew what I needed, and He gave me a swift kick in the rear so I can finally get on with both of those things I've always wanted to do.

I like writing and I like teaching.  I have enjoyed being a teacher to my kids, Sunday school, and for a few years I taught in a private school.  More recently in Celebrate Recovery, my favorite part of the service is training the leaders and being a sponsor to other women.  It's one of the greatest feelings to impart wisdom and to see a student finally "get it".  The light bulb comes on.  They experienced the "Aha" moment. Because of this new realization, they make a small adjustment or sometimes go in a totally different direction and their lives change for the better entirely.   I have thought about it many times, it would be nice if I could write a book, even a very short one.  After Mom and Dad went to heaven to be with the Lord, I have encountered many moments when I thought, "Wouldn't it be nice if I could ask Mom/Dad about this?  I wonder what advice they would give?"  Like many busy parents, they didn't write a book.

So the question is, if I wanted to write a book and I felt like perhaps God is tugging at me to write something, why didn't I start writing sooner?  The answer is simple:  DISTRACTIONS.  Yup.  You guessed it. As a follower of Christ, I have always known spending quiet time with God first thing in the morning is important, but why don't I do it every day?  Because many days I am distracted.  I sit down at my desk, and I think to myself, "I really have to pay that bill and water my plants.  Oh, yeah, I forgot to wash dished yesterday, and I need to make this important call....."  This happens a lot in our lives.  One of my favorite Bible stories is Mary and Martha because it's so relatable.  Did Martha know that Jesus was a busy person, and he would only be in her house for 2 hours?  I'm sure.  Maybe because of that, she wanted to cook the most special meal and have the house super clean.  Great ideas, but not the most important.  All the second-best choices distracted her from the most important choice of all, which is spending time with Jesus and listening/learning from Him.  Both the door to the kitchen and the door to the living room are open.  Mary had chosen the best.  Marthy had chosen the second best, which is the enemy of the best.  This story was placed in the Bible for us to learn and be careful of distractions.  

This is a quote that has meant a lot to me and it's super sobering:

It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it.  Life is long enough, and a sufficiently generous amount has been given to us for the highest achievements if it were all well invested.  But when it is wasted in heedless luxury and spent on no good activity, we are forced at last by death's final constraint to realize that it has passed away before we knew it was passing.  So it is:  we are not given a short life, but we make it short, and we are not ill-supplied but wasteful of it.... Life is long if you know how to use it.  ---Seneca the Younger (Roman philosopher)

Wow. I'd read that a few more times.  This is the reason I am attracted to minimalism lifestyle.  To me, minimalism means minimalizing distractions to life's priorities and purposes.  I had to downsize to move here so I got rid of a lot of things.  But I know that if I am not careful, I will add them all back in a few years.  It has been about 4 months now living this way, I wanted to talk about the practical ways I keep clutter out of my house.  It hasn't been easy, and I'm relatively new in this journey, so there will be struggles, I'm sure.  So far, I really like it and I want to live this way the rest of my life.  I love that everything has a purpose in my living space, and everything is my favorite.  I mostly love having more time with Jesus and people rather than things.  How do I keep this going?

What is challenging for me is fighting the fear associated with accumulation or keeping stuff.  What if I run out?  what if I needed this?  Should I keep it just in case?  Fear is quite natural and definitely uncomfortable, but we just need to fight it back and drive it to a small corner.  You decide what a reasonable amount to store at your house is, but don't go over that threshold.  We need more than a couple of rolls of toilet paper, but less than 5 Costco size packs of 30 rolls each.  It's better to view the store as your extra storage space and keep just the minimum at home.  Most of us are not that far from the store.  When I buy something new, I tend to keep the box/package just in case I need to return the item.  But I throw them away after a month.   Having a deadline is also useful.  I will keep this just in case, but only until this date.

Fighting back the feeling of being wasteful.  This is an Asian thing.  It was ingrained in us from the time of our birth to NOT waste anything.  It is very hard for me to throw things away.  But sometimes you just have to.  Giving away is a great alternative if the item is still usable.  I used to have a box by the door for donations.  Whenever I come across an item that I didn't want to keep, I put it in there.  I allow things to be in there until the box gets full.  Once the box is full, out it goes to donations.  Sometimes I feel like I can repair or fix an item instead of throwing it away.  Then I would leave it in a place I can see daily.  This is why our things are definitely a distraction because they speak to us, "Look at me, you broke me.  fix me.  pay attention to me."  If I don't have time to do it for 2 weeks, and it isn't something I love to fix, then I throw it away. Some items I actually love to fix and it's important to me. But somethings just become increasingly annoying and adding to my stress.  I love having complete control over my refrigerator now because I do not buy anything until I use up all the food in my frig, every last bit.  I waste nothing.  Life is much simpler this way. Just have to resist the urge to buy.

Fighting back the desire to reward myself with stuff.  Asians love to reward ourselves with food and shopping.  I'm no exception, but I learned to be more aware of those feelings now.  There are other ways to reward myself.  Stuff can make us feel good temporarily, but then we will have to go buy more stuff once the good feelings wear off.  Currently, every purchase I think twice before I buy it and I ask myself a lot of questions.   Do I really love it and will get lots of use out of this item?  Do I have space for it?  Will I need to get rid of something to make room for this?  Do I already have something that does the same job?  Is it worth my stress adding this potential item?  Am I buying this because I don't feel good about myself now?  If it is a bigger item or more expensive, I wait longer to see if my desire is still there and take some time to find a better deal.  A couple of days ago, I felt like I really miss baking.  I used to make healthy cookies. Once in a while, I crave those. Then I ponder some more about my baking possibilities.... At least, I would have to buy a toaster oven, mixer and a large bowl, plus baking ingredients (which aren't sold in grocery stores here).  Then finally the dreaded question:  "where am I going to put them if I do buy them?"  There is currently no space in my cabinets.  So, the conclusion is that this isn't the time to buy.  Perhaps later when I have the space, I can get a microwave and a toaster oven, but not now.  Can a minimalist own nice things?  Yes, most definitely.  As long as it is something enjoyed and very important to the person.

Notice the hardest part has to do with how I FEEL because they are the root of my clutter problems in the first place.  If I do not deal with the feelings, I will make the same decisions to purchase back all the clutter I gave away in no time.   I must say that it is easier to live simply in a very small space which we currently have.  It's easier to say no when I have nowhere to put it.  But if I were to own a much larger apartment, I will need to learn to NOT fill up all the empty spaces.  Let the empty spaces be a statement of my choice to live simply.  I'm learning to enjoy empty spaces.  Much like when you step into a hotel room, sometimes white walls, simple furnishings and empty space bring a sense of peace.  I am a complete person without any stuff.  Some things make my life easier, but I am not my stuff.  There needs to be a healthy detachment.  Our stuff is only one of many things that distract us from what's important in life.  Because we can see the physical clutter, it makes a good place to start.  This is not an easy journey, but many have done it and there are support groups, tips, and resources available.

Additional resources Mental blocks of decluttering | Success God's Way (mysuccessgodsway.com)

It has been said, "The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you discover the reason why."  Joshua Becker, author of "Things that matter", added the third most important day:  the day you throw off the distractions that keep you from your purpose.  Let us strive to live the meaningful life that God intended for us.  We are unique in our being, our personality, our abilities, and our relationships.  Our great creator designed us to achieve great things. Let us get rid of anything that hinders us from that great purpose.