Every once in a while, I fall deep down the hole of minimalism content. I can’t get enough of it. If I’m being completely honest, it’s probably because I have such an addiction to consumerism, that I’m always in awe of those that feel satisfied. Listening to minimalist helps me break the mental chain. It puts my habits in check. It almost feels like listening to modern day American monks; when they are doing it for the right reasons.
Somewhere down one of those rabbit holes I stumbled across Joshua Becker and decided to download his book The More of Less on audible.
If you are thinking that this book is about selling everything you own and living with 3 shirts in a bare home, you are missing out. Giving this book a listen reframed my way of thinking day to day.
Not just about stuff, but about time and freedom.
Within the western culture, “busy” can become a badge. When someone asks you how you are, I find people saying “busy” right off the bat. Possibly followed up by a list of things they are doing or “but great!” or “ugh, I’m tired.” And by people, I mean me. Those are my go to answers. Often I feel like if my response doesn’t include “busy” I must be in a lazy season.
Joshua Becker found himself captured by minimalism after a weekend of cleaning out his garage.
His son was playing, and he was… yup, busy.
At some point during the day, his neighbor came by and said “You know you don’t need to own all that stuff.” For some reason, in that moment it bit him like a snake.
He was slaving over stuff. Losing time because of stuff. Losing life because of stuff. Losing freedom because of stuff.
It flung him into a trajectory of downsizing. If something in his home, or his life, was costing him time, and not providing purpose in return, it was gone.
I often find myself making piles to list on Facebook Marketplace or ebay or Poshmark only to end up with piles and bags to take places. But then Joshua mentioned how this was absorbing my time as well. Trying to find the right home for the item or get the right amount for it was also consuming me.
You aren’t wasting money by giving that thing away, you wasted money when you bought it.
Whoa.
And you might not have wasted money at all. But maybe that thing ran it’s course. Served it’s purpose.
It’s ok to move on.
I realized that the items would find the right home. If I dropped them at Goodwill, and someone bought the coat for $10, then that was the right home. They needed that coat. If I listed it for free pick up and a family grabbed all those toys, those children needed them. And wanting to experience that joy myself was somewhat selfish, or wanting that $10 for myself means maybe I need to look at the money I’m mindlessly throwing away.
And my Busy Badge? That went to Goodwill too. If I miss my family, I’m going to get in the car and go see them. If there is too much on my plate that makes me unhappy, that’s being reevaluated too. Just like I like clean spaces in my houses, I like clean spaces on my calendar. And just like I only want my favorite things hanging around, I only want to surround myself with wonderful people too.
There is no rule book that says a cluttered life, or house, or schedule is best.
It just so happens that I’m writing this heading into the holiday season. Which is why this book probably hit me on another layer. With two little girls, I feel the need to make Christmas magical by buying a bunch of stuff. But aren’t there other ways to make things magical? Or maybe, I just need to be mindful of what I’m bringing into the house for them, so that it doesn’t feel junky 4 months from now.
As holidays and the New Year approaches, I highly recommend this listen. It’s an easy one for the car, or a walk, but it will make you think. It will change your perspective if you are paying any attention. And when I hear myself constantly saying, “I can’t play right now, I’m busy” too many times in a row… I reevaluate quickly.
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