Second Attempt At Minimalism

Second Attempt At Minimalism

A long time ago I wrote a post about how hard minimalism is.  It was frustrating trying to do minimalism as I had seen and read so many other people doing it and I eventually gave up.

As a person with a chronic illness that affects the joints, I need minimalism in my life.  There are days when the cleaning just doesn't get done because I hurt so much.  Minimalism not only helps clear the unnecessary but makes it easier to take care of the things you choose to keep.

In 2019 I had two hospitalizations - once in March and the other in August.  You can imagine how little got done during those times.  Right before Christmas of 2019, I made up my mind that I was going to give minimalism another shot.  I scoured Pinterest, YouTube, blogs, and the internet until I found minimalist tactics that could work for me and my situation.

Six Types of Minimalists

At Simply fiercely I came across the line, "Minimalism means different things to different people."  I was like, "Huh?  Isn't there only one way to do minimalism?"

Turns out, that was wrong.

I wanted to see what other people had to say on the subject.  In my research I came across the post Six Types of Minimalists at Simple on Purpose.  Wow!  What an eye opener.  I had preconceived notions of what was and wasn't a minimalist.  I was trying to live an all white, no furniture life when that wasn't really who I am.  I like color and I entertain too many people to just have one chair.  The idea of getting rid of EVERYTHING I own made my blood pressure rise.

All or Nothing

Another thing that made me fail at minimalism is trying to do it all at once.  As a person with a chronic illness, trying to do everything all at once can have negative consequences.  I would yank everything out into a pile and in an hour I'd be exhausted or I would ache.  Then nothing got done and I was left with a huge mess.

This is a lifestyle, not an event.  It is something that becomes part of who you are and treating it like a one and done, all or nothing sort of thing guarantees failure.  Starting slowly is key to success.  After reading 7 Ways To Overcomplicate Minimalism on the blog abundant life with less   I felt validated on that belief.  The other thing that was pointed out was that we can't force our family members along.  Even children.

Any single parent knows trying to wrangle your children into things can be like an uphill battle.  You may win but you'll be exhausted afterward.  For a chronically ill parent, there is more than just exhaustion and frustration to be had.  

The Takeaways

The more research I did the more I realized there are so many people out there struggling to declutter and get to that minimalist life - whatever that means for them.  I realized that I am a frugal-gradual minimalist.  I'm all for saving money and not spending but don't want to empty my entire house.  My end goal is not to achieve the stark colors and straight lines of the ideal minimalist but to be more of an 'Aesthetic Minimalist' with a tidy, clutter free home.

I'm going to keep researching, testing, trying, blogging on this journey until I reach my goal.  We'll see how it goes.

Have you tried and failed at minimalism?  What are some of your tips and tricks?

Thank you for reading.  Keep moving forward!
Kelli