7 Days To Minimalism-Day 1-Why?

"I make myself rich by making my wants few."

-Henry David Thoreau

     

     Is having less really more? Minimalists certainly claim so. I watched this documentary on Netflix last night that I found most intriguing. As of lately I've noticed quite a bit of stress on my mind and in my body. I honestly wouldn't think that having things would contribute to the stress, after all don't the things I have help with my stress? At this point I don't know for sure with me right now, but I'm thinking of trying it out and seeing if the three principles I picked out of the documentary is true for myself. The principles that I picked out were that living as a minimalist makes you focus on the quality of the things you have not the quantity. The second principle that I picked out was that living as a minimalist allows you to live intentionally. I had to look up what exactly that meant. The definition that I found most desired for me was that living intentionally means to "live a life that is meaningful and fulfilling to you." (www.liveandlovework.com/2013/03/15/be-intentional-in-all-you-do/) 

 Who doesn't want that? The third principle that I picked out of this documentary is that having less gives you more. Now this last principle mathematically doesn't make sense, but I kind of link it to the first principle that I found. Which when you add those two together makes more sense. Having less quantity makes you have more quality. I'm willing to see if this works!  So first things first how do I become a minimalist?

     So there are close to 13 million results on google when you search how to become a minimalist, so there is variation in methodology. The simple step by step system that I came across that I could understand conveyed it in 7 steps;

1)Write it down.

2)Discard Duplicates.

3)Declare A Clutter-free zone.

4)Travel Lightly.

5)Dress With Less.

6)Simplify Meals.

7)Save $1000.

    If you want more of an explanation to each step you can go to this link... (http://bemorewithless.com/begin/)... By the way, I like that it is a short URL, they really do make it simple! Haha! But since I'll be starting at the beginning, I need to do step 1, which is write it down. Why do I want live more simply as a minimalist?

    The main reason I want to live more simply with a minimalist lifestyle is so that I can eliminate unnecessary stress from my life. Who needs that? Nobody, that's who! The second reason I want to live more simply is because I'm a big believer in quality over quantity. That doesn't mean I've applied that belief to all aspects of my life though. I've done it with food and exercise, but not with material items. So this will be an interesting journey. If living simply can add intention, fulfillment and more quality to my life, I'm more than willing to try it! That's basically my reason why I'm embarking on this journey to minimalism.

     Step 1 is complete! I'll be doing one step everyday this week to move myself towards a minimalist state of living. I'll be keeping this journey updated everyday this week to show my results. I love new opportunities to learn new ways to LIVE NOW, it makes for an adventurous life! Thanks for reading and we'll talk tomorrow, about step two!