Tag Archives: minimalism

Day 3453 – We Don’t Give Christmas Gifts – repost

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I read a fantastic article yesterday – The Case Against Buying Christmas Presents. It really struck a chord and I wanted to share it and my thoughts on gift giving at Christmas.

I stopped buying Christmas presents about 9 years ago. Like most things in my life, I started/stopped doing it for a superficial reason but the deeper reasons that resulted from the change became very important to me. I stopped Christmas gifts because of my own debt and the example of a close family from church who didn’t do gifts. I thought, huh, that’s interesting. So, I stopped. I’ll admit, that first Christmas was a little awkward, but my friends and family know I don’t do gifts. I still get a few gifts here and there (which I totally appreciate!) but now it’s expected that I won’t give one back.

As time went on, I still didn’t give Christmas gifts. Bret felt the same about giving gifts, so we didn’t. Looking back, I can see how those deeper reasons were a lot of the points the author of the above article made. Since we’re minimalists, we’re all about less stuff. And in turn, we don’t want to add to someone else’s “stuff.” It also frees us to give generously at other times of the year. The unexpected gifts are the best, in my opinion. 🙂

But I have to say, the biggest benefit has been a nearly stress-free holiday season, every year. There’s no “what am I going to get XXX for Christmas?” or “I have SO much to do!” Honestly, the biggest stress of our holidays is getting to and from the airport and flight delays. Since we’re not stressed about all the “stuff you have to do” at the holidays, we can truly sit back and reflect about the real reason for Christmas.

So, what do you think? Are we completely crazy?
(Just be glad I didn’t talk about some of the other topics that we’re REALLY in the minority about!)

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originally posted 12/1/16
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Day 3436 – Are We Still Minimalists?

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Yes, most definitely. I would say our definition has stayed pretty much the same too – owning only the things you need/love and getting rid of the rest – continually questioning if something is something you should keep, and really thinking about new purchases.

Do we have real furniture yet? I will say we may be changing in the furniture department. I recently purchased a larger desk and a big chair, but here’s the thing – I spend most of my day in front of the computer, so this is an investment in myself.

We still sleep on the floor and intend to do so for a long time. I know I’ve said it before, but it really is the best sleep I’ve ever gotten. We still only have camping chairs.

It is such a freeing lifestyle and it makes you really appreciate your things.

We’ll see what the future holds for us in terms of furniture and more things, but you know I’ll be taking y’all on that journey. 🙂

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Day 3225 – Minimalism Series – What Is Minimalism? – repost

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Ah, I’m getting super close to finishing my review of my blog and cataloging my posts. This post was the last I reviewed this morning and as we get a lot of questions about minimalism when we talk to people, I thought it would be good to give you our definition again.

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As we’re gearing up for a new year, I wanted to do a series for y’all about minimalism. I’ll share some things we’ve learned over the past few years and give you some tips to make changes in your life.

For today, I wanted to answer the question “what is minimalism?” What I love about it is that it can have a million definitions and I don’t think any of them would be wrong.

To me, minimalism is minimizing the bad (and the good) to make room for the great.

If you want to get rid of a lot of things just so you can have a massive movie collection, I think you’re still a minimalist, for example. Or if you have a big house with furniture, you can still be a minimalist.

What minimalism has taught me is that is causes you to ask why more often about what you own, as well as the things you do, more often and more deeply. It’s not about getting rid of all of your clothes, it’s about asking – “Do I wear this? Do I enjoy wearing it? If it doesn’t fit right, why do I keep it?” Some things are harder to let go than others, to be sure, but it’s a continual process. I can tell you, about 90% of the clothes in my closet bring me joy and I would call them my favorite clothes.

It also makes me more purposeful in the things I own and do. I don’t just whittle down my to do list and social calendar for no reason. Everything I do and everyone I see is on purpose. This gives me more time to hit the businesses hard, to read a lot, and hang out with Bret.

Originally posted 12/24/17

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Day 3222 – Sleeping On The Floor, By Choice – repost – With Updates

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Three years ago today, I wrote the following post. Three years later and we still sleep on the floor. It continues to be the best sleep I’ve ever had – though, I have also been sober for the duration of sleeping on the floor, so I’m sure that has some weight on the quality of sleep.

We made a YouTube video about sleeping on the floor, which you can watch here, if you haven’t seen it already.

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Originally posted 5/7/15
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We have been sleeping on the floor for almost 3 weeks. Here’s how it’s going!

First and foremost, we LOVE it! I feel like we get pretty restful sleep…even if it isn’t a full 8-9 hours. I want to say the last 3-4 nights, I’ve gotten between 6-7 hours…yet, I’m getting up with Bret and I’m feeling great throughout the day. I don’t really yawn (except for right now…because I said something about it) and I don’t really feel tired. I have no aches and pains.

Sleeping on a pile of blankets means that cleaning is SO easy. Just pull the blankets to the other side of the room, vacuum, move back and done!

There was one bad….a huge bug….a centipede bent on attack. Seriously, it RAN toward our bed! The alarms sounded and I was sitting up slowly and I saw his approach and I leaped from the floor with the grace of, well, there is nothing I can compare it to….I did not sound out a verbal alarm, only the wide eyed look of fear and Bret leaped too. This guy was in the corner of the room and RACED to our bed and ran around on it! Bret grabbed a shoe and that was the end of that. As far as I know, there have been no other attacks….but for the sweet sleep, a bug here and there is a small price to pay.

Since we’ve been trying to “live light” and only have things that we need, it’s helped with cleaning the apartment. I did a good scrub down and vacuum yesterday and I think I finished in under 30 minutes. What? I mean, that’s awesome! What have I learned in this area? By George, I want to get rid of more! It’s crazy how easy it becomes once you start. It is so easy to throw things away when your eyes are not on this world.

So, would you sleep on the floor?

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Day 3191 – Benefits Of Being A Minimalist – repost with updates

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We currently doing more purging of our things. Last night, I spent most of the evening going through my old wedding photography folders, recycling and shredding documents. It was so nostalgic looking through all the paperwork. Rereading notes from clients and reliving that time in my life. I also went through our two bookshelves and found even more to give away or recycle. I have to say, I keep looking over at the bookshelves because it feels SO good to see them clean and straightened.

One benefit of minimalism is that I know what we own, I know that we love what we own, and I know that we use what we own.

While, it doesn’t take ten minutes to clean up now – mostly because we don’t have a dishwasher in our current place, it’s still fast to clean up.

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originally posted 7/23/16
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I love living a minimalist life. It was one of those things that came out of nowhere but it makes complete sense for our lives. In the last few days, two experiences stood out that made me want to write this post.

First, the apartment was a little messy and impeding my ability to work. It was still morning and I wanted to get to work. So I set a timing for 10 minutes. In TEN minutes I cleaned the apartment. Not a “shoved everything into a box or a drawer” cleaned but actually straightened up. Since we have so little, everything has a place and it’s easy to get it there.

Second, I was able to spend about 3 hours last night finishing a book. I read about half of the book in pretty much one sitting. Now, this is more a time freedom thing, but I think it still goes along with our minimalist life. Because my responsibilities are light in the home and in life too really and I can carve out time on a Friday night to finish a book. It is amazing freedom.

What about you? Are you living a minimalist life? Even if it’s just one aspect of your life. What are the benefits you’ve found?

This is the book I finished last night. Great story by the way, I can’t wait to get the next book. This guy also write The Grimm Sisters series.

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