Minimalism always gets my goat. It’s right there, ever so slightly out of reach, taunting me from seemingly up close, but disappearing into the ether whenever I reach out to grab it. It’s hard for me, okay?!
But after years of casually hoarding, I’m coming to terms with the fact that it’s got to happen. I just have to get rid of things. I know this may be obvious for some (many), but throwing away things kind of hurts my soul. This is why I have an obsession with finishing things—I don’t want to waste anything, even if I’m over it. Put it down to that ol’ Scottish/Northerner mentality of using everything you have (which is split with the bougie British mentality of indulgence and class—hence why I’m so conflicted!)… but at this point, it’s not really serving me.
The thing I’m noticing is, when you hold onto everything, you don’t make space for anything new. Mind-blowing, right? But honestly, this never occurred to me. There is always a cost and a benefit to everything in life, much how every action has an equal reaction. It’s just physics, doll.
But by trying to be savvy, and maintain the status quo, I prevent new things (energy?!) from entering my life. On a practical level, I prevent any new space being made on my shelves to even store any new items. And it’s stressful, having a bunch of items/boxes/random bits & bobs always tucked away, but never being used… but still taking up precious, precious space.
Whether this applies to clothes, beauty products, household items, books, random papers… you name it, I’ve done it. But the thing is, most of these things have an expiry date. Whether it’s a literal one, in the case of cosmetics, or a metaphorical one, in the case of fashion trends (although we all know trends are circular, and some things are worth holding onto), there is always an unforeseen cost in keeping too much stuff on hand.
I remember once when I was travelling back to Australia, and I had packed my hand luggage so full. I, again, thought I was so clever for stuffing as much, let’s be honest, crap into my carryon… successfully thwarting the bagging allowance which I’d surely gone over (so much stuff). But after making it through security, I was picking my things up when my handbag broke.
It all happened quickly, but I remember seeing (and hearing) little items everywhere. A scattering of minis, if you will. From memory, most were cosmetics, but I probably had a bit of everything jammed in there. And I’ll never forget some snide businessman, seeing the commotion, scowling and almost walking over me with his tiny little wheelie bag as I scrambled to pick up all my pieces of stuff from the floor. It was a glamorous moment.
(At this point, I’d also like to point out how much I dislike when men don’t help women—I don’t think chivalry is dead, but I think there should be some kind of decorum. It’s (not the same, but) like that feeling when a pregnant woman is standing on the train, and there are men sitting… like, what?! Get up & give up your seat, dagnabit! Yes, I’m biased and obviously wanted help in this moment, but as a casual observation on society at large, I would love to see men kindly assisting women when they clearly need it. And oh boy, did I need it.)
So, that memory burned in my brain and was another wakeup call for me. To be fair, these happened fairly often, but it’s funny what we can ignore when we just don’t want to see something. The obliviousness is real!
But these days, I’m getting better at recognising the cost of holding onto too much stuff. Whether it’s doors that don’t close properly, lack of space for anything new, things sitting around that don’t fit in storage… I’ve done it all. And I’m kind of over it!
This year, 2020 (in case you forgot), was always going to be a reset for me. In January I posted this about it, and was looking forward to starting afresh and moving forward—but of course, I could never quite have expected what was in store. But still, it’s been a very fun year, probably the best of my life. Of course, I’m speaking personally here, and trying to see the best of things, as wars have raged over the years and all kinds of injustices occur at any given time, whether we know about it or not—but I can only control my perspective, really.
And I think it would be good to finish it on a bang, continuing this journey of minimalism (attempted, should I say) and striving for a simpler, cleaner, easier life—at home, at the very least.
I’m determined to make this work whilst still reviewing product on a beauty blog and making recommendations—as the whole point of this blog was to share what made me happy/what was useful for others. And that won’t change! But there’ll just be less stuff for me to trip over in my hallway, that’s all. And more of a focus on nature, good food, my handsome man & gorgeous cat… the simple things.
Have you attempted minimalism? What’s your thoughts on it? I’d love any tips from the experts out there!
Steph x