Do You Want to Play a Game? (#minsgame)

I don't remember how I first read about The Minimalists.  I think it was when I was researching small space organization and de-cluttering.  One of the ads for their documentary video popped up, and I was intrigued.  Around the time I saw them, I was also looking into the whole "Zero Waste Movement".  The two ideals seemed to coincide a bit.  Minimalism isn't just about living with less, but living with more meaningful items that you will use (the same with zero-waste), as opposed to having lots of items sitting around collecting dust.  What I love about that is (1) having less means not having to search endlessly for something you've misplaced and (2) you have more money to spend on experiences or items that will last versus fast-fashion and impulse buying.  Not that you need to follow any specific model, and there are no directions or specific rules-- minimalism is not as constricting as it sounds.  Aside from things like holiday wrapping paper and weather-specific clothing, put items you aren't using in a box.  If, at the end of a year, you haven't opened it for anything, you probably won't use it in the future.

I am a collectivist at heart.  Shells, rocks, mini tsum tsum, Vinylmation, and Disney pins make up the majority of my collections.  Most of the collector in me stems from my childhood.  As I have gotten older, I have realized that I don't need as much as I have.  Does that mean I need to get rid of every collection?  No.  For me, they hold value and joy.  The Minimalists suggested the Minimalism Game to me via twitter, and I figured I'd give it a go.  Typically I would wait until July 1st to start, but I want to go out of my comfort zone a bit and start today.  For those of you who haven't heard of it, the game goes like this:  Day 1, get rid of one item.  Day 2, two items, and so on.  I will go to Day 31 since that is the maximum amount of days in one month.  You know the saying, "30 days hath September..."

Every item I plan to get rid of will be going into one box, and at the end of the 31 days, there will be a post showing everything I let go.  The important thing is to bring in less.  Often we get rid of things only to replace them with even more.  When I'm out, I constantly tell myself that I don't need whatever it is I impulsively want.  Unless it is a deal I can't pass up (I got a handbag I'd wanted for a long time when it went from over $300 down to $12 at a discount store).  Sometimes I will hold onto an item while I'm shopping, and by the end of it I put it back, because I really didn't see a need for it.  Where I have more of an issue is when I'm online shopping.  Even then I have to really think hard about whether or not I need what's in the cart.  Often I end up only getting one or two products out of the plethora of items in the cart.  What I am hoping to get out of this is to have a little less to stress about.  That being said, I don't want a place where there is no character or where it feels sterile.  You don't have to be extreme with minimalism, although you could be.  It's all about little steps that add up to big changes.

Today is June 21st, and the first thing I will be putting in the #minsgame box is a handbag I haven't used in close to 10 years.  If you are interested but don't want to go the whole 30/31 days, why not try it for a week?  You might be surprised at what you discover while you're paring down.

Stay beautiful!