operation: junk drawer results

                       

somebody gave me some good advice about junk drawers.  they said, “not only is it okay to have a junk drawer, i recommend it.  it gives you a place to put things rather than leave them out on a counter.  however, you need to clear things out every 2-3 months.”

tonight was the first time in more like 2-3 years.  as you can notice, i removed so much stuff from the drawer on the right that i was able to make the other drawer a place to store my children’s art and craft supplies.   i threw away everything that i absolutely didn’t need to keep.  as you may notice, a pampered chef scissors is apparently absolutely needed (i’m convinced that you could stamp “pampered chef” on anything and women would buy it).  of everything that i absolutely needed to keep, most of it was placed into its original home (game closet, work bench, etc.).  everything that needed to remain was nicely sorted into transparent ziploc bags.  i’m pleased with the outcome… and as long as the scissors stayed, so is my wife.

operation: junk drawer, day 1

i had hoped to make some money by selling my junk drawer on ebay - but there were no bidders.  apparently, everybody was too busy bidding on this guy’s life.

so, i’m left to remove the clutter the old fashioned way – the garbage can.  i’ll post some photos when i’m done. 

minimalism and the fourth

total obedience is possible only when God has our supreme allegiance.  today we need to hear again that God alone is worthy of our worship and obedience.  the idolatry of affluence is rampant.  our greed for more dictates so many of our decisions.

the ten commandments begin with three staccato warnings against idolatry.  and the fourth commandment of the sabbath rest strikes at the heart of this everlasting itch to get ahead.  we find it so very hard to rest when, by working, we can get the jump on everyone else.  there is no greater freedom to lay down the heavy burden of getting ahead.

-richard j. foster

the people i’m meeting

since my wife and i began intentionally becoming minimal, i have met some inspiring people through this blog and others (met them digitally, that is).  today, i read an online journal about a family in new york living under a $10,000 budget. 

as i read their story, it became very obvious that i have no desire to live that lifestyle – nor would it fit the life that God has called me live.  but, i do find inspiration in their story.  i find inspiration in the fact that they can live on such a budget and how that transfers to my family.  and secondly, i find inspiration that they are able to detach from the temptations and entrapments from this world that we have grown so accustomed to.  it seems that i could learn much from them.

here’s their story: our simple lifestyle.

benefit #8 – less stress

i can’t take much credit for thinking of this benefit on my own – i originally found it in a zenhabits blog post titled, “a guide to creating a minimalist home.”  by the way, their thoughts on minimalization are amazing!  however, i have noticed that many people are ending up at this blog after searching for “minimalism benefits” so i wanted to be sure that it got on the list because i have found it to be so true!

a minimalist home is less stressful.  clutter is a form of visual distraction, and everything in our vision pulls at our attention at least a little. the less clutter, the less visual stress we have. a minimalist home is calming.

i have found this to be true and you will too with a simple experiment.  go compare two counter tops – one that is clear (minimal) and one that is cluttered.  look at each of them separately.  what is your internal emotional response?  does the clear one bring about a calming effect?  does the cluttered one bring emotions of distraction or anxiety?

a minimalist home is less stressful.  i have found that to be so true as we continue to become minimalist.

minimalist art

my wife and i have always enjoyed the simplicity and beauty of minimalist art.  today i found an artist named alan salabert who has a large archive on his website.  if you enjoy minimalist art or would like to understand it better, check out his archives.  here’s a link to his site: alan salabert.

benefit #7 – minimalism begets minimalism

over the past three weeks since we began this journey, i have noticed a change in my lifestyle.  karen kingston helped me understand it.

in her book, clear your clutter with feng shui, karen writes this about clutter – “you know what it is like.  you are walking down the street and you see that someone has thoughtlessly thrown an empty cigarette packet in the corner near the roadside.  the next day you walk past the same spot, and the empty pack has been joined by a few more items of trash.  before long it becomes a full-blown garbage dump.  clutter accumulates the same way in your house.  it starts with a bit and then it slowly, insidously, grows and grows.”

clutter attracts clutter.  it just takes one piece of junk mail, one article of clothing left on a chair, or one receipt not filed properly to get the clutter momentum started.

what i have found over the last three weeks is that the opposite is also true.  when a surface is left clean, that one piece of clutter seems out of place and calls you to put it away.  since i minimalized my office and removed all the clutter, i can’t stand the idea of leaving one piece of paper sitting on my desk – and so i put it away.  since i minimalized my wardrobe, i can’t stand the idea of leaving one shirt laying on the floor – and so i throw it down to the laundry.   since we minimalized the living room, i can’t stand the idea of leaving my shoes in the corner or a book on the table - and so i put them where they go right away.

perhaps, i should have learned to just put things away years ago when i turned 20, 25, or 30.  but for me another benefit of minimalism is that it leads to even more minimalism.  and that’s a good change in my lifestyle – just ask my wife.

“leveling” vs “minimalizing”

this evening i was having a great conversation with some friends about my new desire to live a minimalist life.  i started telling the story of our basement project that we started last night and mentioned that we had moved some things downstairs to get them out of the way.  one of the ladies wisely responded, “sounds more like leveling than minimalizing.”

i defended myself listing the things that we threw away, but it didn’t take long for me to realize that she was right.  looking back, for the most part, we just “leveled” yesterday rather than “minimalized.”  sure, the room looks a lot better, but it doesn’t address the underlying issue – i own too much stuff.

thanks liz for challenging me to become minimalist and not just another leveler.  we obviously have a long way left to go!

minimalism – the world and america

i ran a google trend labs search on the term ”minimalism” today and was surprised to find the top ten countries searching for information.  here are the top ten:

1. hong kong
2. iran
3. south korea
4. united kingdom
5. indonesia
6. philippines
7. australia
8. singapore
9. malaysia
10. new zealand 

i find two things interesting.

1) the variety of countries searching for the information.  there doesn’t seem to be a ton of commonality between them.  far east, middle east, western europe – all in the top 3.  there aren’t any glaring religious ties that bind as well.  just interesting, that’s all i’m saying.

2) no mention of the united states.  it seems to be a movement that is gaining ground in america especially among the environmentally conscious younger generations, but still not enough to break the top ten.  even with shockingly high energy and food prices, the capitalistic nature of america that is so ingrained in our souls continues to win out.

operation: basement, day 1 results

here is how we left the basement last night:

much left to do, but proud of our progress.