the simple life

Someone's turning 25 this week!

I notice lots of my friends as they approach their birthdays writing posts about goals, things they're thankful for, what they've accomplished and what they know now. I think it's an important way to track growth and encourage lifelong learning.

Recently, I stumbled upon a great blog that is all about minimalism. Reading through a list of how to reduce your consumer urges and create a more simple lifestyle, I realize there is so much that I already do. The big thing is not owning a car. 97% of the time I get around by bicycle. Sometimes I ride on Adam's xtracycle. I very seldom ride the bus, and, unfortunately, I rarely walk these days. Less than 1% of the time I depend on others for their motor vehicles, but that is generally a "carpooling" type situation and not me bumming a ride.

Other things that help create a minimalist lifestyle are eating less meat, cooking instead of eating out and buying in bulk and using less packaged foods. I do this rather well, though I really enjoy eating at the fabulous vegan-friendly, locally-owned restaurants that we have here in Rochester. Adam and I are busy and sometimes it's easier to grab some take out so that we can spend our evening hanging out with Kevin, Wallcat and Jilly in the garden.

One of the main things this blog talks about is getting rid of stuff. I am a pack rat and a consumer, and I am the first to admit it. I can't tell you how much junky stuff I have around that serves no purpose whatsoever. I couldn't believe how long it took me to move into the house with Adam, especially since I have never had much space to keep all of my belongings. Of course, during the move, I was too anxious to get moved in to properly sort through piles and get rid of what I didn't need. So now it's here, occupying the voluminous space in our turn-of-the-century home.

So. I'm turning 25. I already have a lot of minimalist experience under my belt. I believe we should be free from being owned by our things. I believe that I will be much happier if I reduce the amount of money I spend on things I don't need. I believe that changes I make towards creating a minimalist lifestyle will benefit the life and home that Adam and I share together. It will allow us to make improvements on our beautiful house and spend more time on those improvements than simply sifting through clutter every week. It will make it easier for us to move and sell the house if we choose to do so, and it will make more space to fill with friends, family and possibly some more non-human animal friends.

I'm going to own less than 100 things this year. I have no idea how long it will take to get down to that, since I haven't the slightest idea how much I actually own. But every week, I will sit down and purge old papers, knick knacks and possessions that have no purpose. I will make a list of all the things I want to keep, and begin to throw out the things that don't make the cut.

To see what a 100 thing list looks like, go to this dude's site.

I'll be creating a list in a future post and editing it as I go along. I'm not sure that me lamenting the "history" and "sentimental" of certain items I dispose of will be that fascinating to read, so I'll try to cover the lessons I learn along the way.

Also, I've already started getting rid of books I don't want through this website. It's not quite "getting rid" of them, since you earn credits to be sent books on your wish list, but at least you can get rid of things that don't fill you up, and then fill your shelves with the ones that matter.

So let's get this started. 25 is going to be a great year!