Minimalism: How Much Is Too Much?
Hi! Welcome back! I’ve written about minimalism ever since I started my Swedish Death Cleaning “journey”. I call it a journey since it never really ends…it becomes more of a lifestyle. What is Swedish Death Cleaning, you might ask? (I think) it originated in Sweden - people would begin cleaning up their home and getting rid of their belongings that were no longer serving them so that when they died, their kids didn’t have to do the cleaning for them.
I have been on this journey for about three years now, and I am still in the process. I continue cycling though objects in my home - take kids toys for example. A new toy comes in at Christmas time, your child plays with it for maybe a couple of months, and then they get bored. Maybe you recycle the toys, so you might put older toys out of sight, out of mind, and then bring them back when your child has forgotten about them. As soon as your child sees them again, they seem like new toys again. You can repeat this process a few times, but eventually it stops working, so then you make a trip to goodwill, and the cycle repeats.
The same thing happens to my belongings as well. Take planners for example - I might use one type of planner for awhile, grow bored of it, and put it in the basement in a rubbermaid container. A couple of months go by, I might watch an exciting YouTube video about how someone else is using that same planner, and then I get inspired on how to use it all over again, so it comes back upstairs. It is a bit different for me, because my business itself is based on social media, YouTube and affiliate products. I will purchase new planners at different times throughout the year to show them to my audience so you can see how I use it. Then I either sell it, re-gift it or re-use it somehow. My business is changing with the trends as well, but sometimes, I find a keeper (Hello Franklin Planner!) and it becomes a mainstay in my collection.
Generally, the rule of thumb when you are trying to minimize your “things”, is: one thing in, one thing out. This way, you are ensuring that you don’t buy more stuff that takes up space in your home. But what happens if you give away or throw away too much? What happens if you go on this Happy Swedish Death Cleaning purge and start throwing away stuff you later on wish you hadn’t?
For me, this happened when I threw away my smaller sized clothes. All of those advice channels you may have listened to always tell you not to keep stuff if you haven’t worn or used it in over a year. Well, a lot of my clothes, I hadn’t. After each child, I gained weight and a lot of my clothes no longer fit me, so I gave them to the Salvation Army. Now that I am on a weight loss/health journey, I have literally nothing to wear. Everything looks baggy on me - am I bemoaning the fact that I got rid of all my smaller clothes? You betcha!
Still, that’s not a good enough reason to keep something. I think I’ve heard of every excuse under the sun - that cost a lot of money! I might still use it or find a purpose for it! It’s a backup in case the first one dies! I’m keeping those clothes in case I lose/gain weight. It doesn’t matter. What if none of those things come to fruition?
Still, if you keep throwing stuff away until it looks like moving day, you have a problem. I would stop when you feel satisfied, and if you don’t know when that is, consult with others living in your home. If you live alone, ask a friend or family member. Trust me - the feeling of organization, fung shui, minimalist living can actually be addictive. It’s easy to go too far, and you don’t want to regret anything. There is a fine line - it’s called balance. Each item in your home should offer a genuine purpose, and if it doesn’t look cluttered, you should be good to go!
Thanks for reading and we’ll see you next time!
❤️ Sandra
