THE MINIMALISM GAME days 20 - 31 #MINSGAME

Following on from days 10-19 of #minsgame (see previous post) it's time to document the last 11 days of this rather invigorating challenge from January. As usual, the aim is to throw away a certain amount of items each day and it definitely became more difficult as the month progressed. I can now say after completing one round of the mins game, it's both easy and difficult to part with posessions. The words 'just in case' crept up all too frequently, but the phrase 'does this add value to my life?' remained prominent. So here it goes: 

day 20 - sixteen bath products and four leaflets 

day 21 - fourteen dvd series and seven single dvds 

day 22 - two storage boxes (no longer filled with junk) two candles, six books, one old diary and eleven greeting cards 

day 23 - fifteen plastic wallets, two catalogues  and six pens 

day 24 - twenty four useless paper documents shoved in a box 

day 25 - one magazine rack, twenty four desktop folders 

day 26 - fifteen packs of old/empty medication (seriously, why?) and eleven pencils 

day 27 - twenty seven video files on my computer  (mostly of the back of people's heads)

day 28 - twenty five product packaging (I really should throw them out sooner) and three candles 

day 29 - four purses, six books and nineteen hair elastics 

day 30 - thirty physical photos that were doubles/backs of heads/blurry 

day 31 - eleven necklaces, three bracelets, five rings and twelve bottles of spray/perfumes/lotions 

So, a grand total of 496 items. 

Wow, four hundred and ninety six items that are no longer in my living space. If you're looking for a quick fix of immediate clutter, then by all means give the minsgame a go. Be prepared to be ruthless and begin to scan your surroundings for junk that can be let go from your life and space. 

WHY I CHOSE MINIMALISM

When I mention the word minimalism to people in my 'real life', I'm met with somewhat of a confused and slightly judgmental look. Maybe they just don't quite understand the whole living with less kinda thing. I come from a family who are by no means materialistic and constantly strive to own better things, but between us we own a lot. Money has never been abundant, yet spending and owning 'things' has always been a lifestyle for my family, it's just the way it is. There's absolutely nothing wrong with it, I have no desire to 'convert' any other members of my family to my new way of thinking, but I certainly want to change my own habits/lifestyle. 

So why minimalism? How did I stumble upon this whole new way of life? I actually found myself watching a youtube video, a Ted Talks 'minimalism' speech from Angela Horn (here's the video for those interested) ... this video impacted me instantly. The words spoken, the issues addressed and the notion that the less you own, the more you have just stuck a chord with me. Angela spoke about her parents' house being filled with boxes inside boxes, piles of new towels just waiting to be used - and why? I didn't know the answer, but I knew that I too had things stored in a 'safe place' just waiting to be used, a stock pile of products unused, clothes for special occasions that never came and insignificant momentos which right now, I can't even remember. 

The video I watched that day, led to me searching the web for minimalism, which is quite a common story among other minimalist blogs I have read. I can safely assume that a large percentage of minimalists discovered the lifestyle in a similar way ... video/social media, google, questionning the minimalist way and feeling intrigued. That's certainly what happened to me. 

After this almost instant inspiration from Angela Horn's video, I began to read more minimalism blogs and watch more videos for inspirations on how to even go about beginning this journey. I soon set off with the mission to get rid of the crap in my life, whether it was physical crap or mental crap that was cluttering my life. I discovered belongings I didn't even recognise and continued to sift through the piles of clothes, makeup and other material posessions in my bedroom - eager to discover the next thing I could throw away. It felt refreshing and I liked it - you can read about my 'initial purge' here, and I've also documented my 'project 333' here. 

And so the journey began ...