“Do you like what you like, or did someone tell you to like it?” -Joshua Fields Millburn
I have been following the Minimalists for a few years now. It started out as an interest but the past few months have been different. Essentially, I went from a listener to a follower/liver of my own sort of minimalism. As day 72 of our blog and decluttering adventure was coming to an end, I saw a quote from Joshua above. To start, no one, even the Minimalists themselves, told me to like minimalism. Instead, in the Minimalists case, they used their real life stories to talk about how minimalism impacted their life. It was this that inspired me and made me really think about my life and my decisions. This is what some may call a “quarter life crisis” except in my case it’s not a crisis, it’s more like a calming. It is easier to be calm and confident when you have less things to worry about, literally and figuratively. So if this is the calming, where was the crisis that lead to this?
So I must tell you, someone did tell me to like minimalism… It was a younger version of myself! Amalia recently was talking to me and said “you never really were into possessions” and it dawned on me, well she is right (but don’t tell her I said that). My quarter life crisis is not me decluttering items everyday, it was when I first got money from my job out of college. I didn’t know what to do with money but I was fascinated by it. I wanted to do stocks, I built a computer, I traveled, I leased a car, I “bought” (financed) a truck, I bought a bunch of collectible Funko Pops (see below lol), I went out for food a lot, I paid the minimum on my loans, I put money into my retirement and so much more that I can’t think of… Some of this is good, some of this is ok and some of this is bad. Why am I telling you this, well, I didn’t know what I wanted to do with this new found money. So instead of reading and researching, I started spending and accumulating “affordable” debt but this isn’t me. I wasn’t doing what I liked to do, I was doing what I thought I should do based on people around me. I wasn’t doing what I like, I was doing what I was told to like from various sources, you know advertisements in social media, peer pressure and the “American Dream”. So the bigger question is, how did we get from the crisis to the calming?
When I think back to when I was a kid, I used to wear the same blue sweatshirt everyday to school. I never cared much about having possessions, I just wanted to have/wear things based on necessity/ease of use. Sometimes you just need to listen to your younger self and go back to your roots with things. How was I before I had money vs. after and why would my values change? The answer is simple, your values shouldn’t change and having things is not of big importance to me. This was my big step forward and I really do feel more like me again because of it. To help me with finances, I wised up and read articles/books which helped me become more informed. Everything put together has made for a great year so far, living most days to the fullest and learning from the others. If you have had any similar life experiences feel free to share them with us, it is the best way to learn together.
Item 072 of 360+
Today’s item is another Supernatural Funko Pop! To be honest I don’t even remember this specific character Castiel played in the show named “Steve” that well. At the time of purchase, we loved the show but now we have moved on from the obsession and it’s items like these that make me scratch my head. These Pops will stay in our memories except for this case where I kind of forgot the character already, lol. It’s been fun Steve, enjoy your new home.
Minimalism Everyday 