Minimalism | You need less shit than you think

Small but space craving

The house I occupy is small. One bedroom, one bathroom and a small living space.  It’s no mansion, but it’s big enough for a Beth. The possibility that the blank walls and empty space invites, does nothing for me. Because I’m a devotee of a new religion – called minimalism.

Despite the plentiful legroom I enjoy on pubic transport and air planes, I still crave space. Not just the physical kind though – I crave the mental and emotional expansiveness that comes with it, the space that brings me calm, peace and quiet.

I suppose that’s a pretty good summary of what minimalism means to me.

What does minimalism mean?

Before you assume I sleep on a mat on a concrete floor, let me explain what minimalism actually looks like in my life. My bedroom, for all its size and capacity has 2 items of furniture in it:

  1. A king bed
  2. A teak bedside table
The bedside table has a candle, a stack of books I’m currently reading and writing in and a dangling charger cord for my phone (hey, I’m minimalist, not perfect).

Every now and again I’ll add a vase of fresh flowers for a pop of colour against the plain white of my walls and sheets.

My bed doesn’t have a frame and instead rests on 9 wooden slats.

I’ve got a wardrobe that’s the entire length of the room but that’s only half full – because I’ve spent the last year cutting it’s contents down from over 300 pieces (of clothing, shoes and accessories) to ~100.

Inside it I also have a shelf that houses 3 Kikki.K folders full of documents important for adult-ing and a few rows of books.

Boiled down – the entire contents of my life fit (very comfortably) into this decent sized room.

And I could fit a lot more in here if I wanted.

I could add a mass of shelves, a giant TV, a desk, pictures, knick-knack’s, decorative pillows, plants, shoes… but I don’t want to.

Because I crave the space.

But more than the physical space, I crave the mental space to think and feel with ease and clarity without the weight of all the stuff I used to hold onto.

The stuff that I barely used or wore or looked at.

The stuff that simply took up space – precious space that I now use to move my body and create weird and wonderful things in my mind.

Because despite what you might think, practising minimalism isn’t about restricting yourself. It’s about freeing yourself from the things that restrict you.

And I’m more free now than I ever have been.

If you want more practical info on how to bring minimalism into your life you should definitely check out The Minimalists!

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