7 Years Of Minimalism — Websites, Tips, and Tricks

4 min readMar 19, 2022

We’ve been minimalists for 7 years now! It’s been a rollercoaster ride, and like most things in life, it’s fluid and not static — ever-changing as life happens. I’ve included some of my top blog posts on minimalism as well as websites that helped me in my journey especially early on. The biggest lesson I learned is that minimalism looks very different to each of us, and we need to find what it is on our own.

There are A LOT of ways to determine minimalism — counting items, rotating seasons out of your closet, utilizing a certain amount of space and nothing more, creating a uniform to remove the guesswork out of what to wear, etc… Some people remain in a larger house with much more intention placed on how it looks and feels, some own only what’s in a backpack — and everything in between. Whether you Kondo your way through (and I love her philosophy) or you count every single item you own — it’s definitely a process and you will need to revisit it fairly often. Stuff has this insidious way of sneaking back in.

We’ve downsized from 2300 sq ft to 1000 sq ft, and have almost finished an RV renovation so that we can live in it. There is a thoughtful process that happens when letting go of what no longer serves you, to embrace the things that you use or that bring you joy.

WHAT I LEARNED THAT MADE IT EASIER

There is no one size fits all
You will determine what your style REALLY is as you go through items and weed them out. This is so exciting because you get super clear on what you like from the clothes you wear to your furniture and pictures
I have regretted (almost) nothing I’ve gotten rid of — and the couple items I do miss, I could replace if I really wanted to
Paring down the toughest things — stuff you’ve been carrying around for years, or sentimental belongings — if you just take some time, and allow yourself to work through the emotions, become easier and easier to let go of

LEARNING THROUGH LOSS

Two weeks prior to this post, my almost-22-year-old daughter’s home burned to the ground. She ran out of the house with only a t-shirt and spanx shorts on, in winter. She had the dog, but not even a pair of shoes. Minimalism can feel good. It’s freeing to create a life with less stress. Losing everything because the neighbor in the condo next door wasn’t watching the BBQ and it was windy, does not feel good. In our conversations, there have been some huge learning moments.

Most things are just things and can be replaced. Having said that, replacing every single thing is difficult and emotional
Your family and the community are really there when you need them and it feels good to know you’re loved
The items you lose that are sentimental — you will wish you had done something with. Take photos of cards, scan photos and albums so they can be reprinted. Basically, if it’s important to you, figure out how to “save” it as best you can
If it can’t be saved, you have to process that it’s gone — be kind and gentle to yourself
YOU are more important so the fact that no one was hurt
A lot of what you owned, you don’t want to replace. You realize a huge amount of it doesn’t matter and isn’t worth replacing
A comfortable bed is priceless — as are comfortable shoes

The biggest learning lesson I’ve experienced over this 7-years of minimalism is that less stuff equals less stress, and I have loved feeling less stressed. The second lesson is that adventures, or experiences mean far more than physical stuff, and if you aren’t buying stuff, it’s easier to afford the experiences. The third lesson is that the process never ends, although it might change over time to suit the way life changes.