Have you ever heard about minimalism? For me it has been a beautiful journey on rediscovering what life means. Minimalism is a term that has converted into a trend nowadays of learning to live and express anything with the least number of objects or clutter. That is why it is also an expression of art and it is present in our daily lives.
Sometimes we go through our lives without consciously thinking of all the material things that we are slowly piling in our homes. People in general make material items a reward of some kind because we work for a job most of the time to get paid in order to get the big house to just fill it up with stuff we don’t need.
I was watching a documentary about minimalism the other day (it’s on Netlfix if you want to watch it too, it’s called Minimalism) where they discuss that they made a study about the use of space of the average family inside a house. The results where that most of the space used was the kitchen and the private rooms where people sleep.
So, what does this tell us? That society has changed our mindset to pursue these material things, to work so that you can have 3 cars, the big garage, the big house, the huge backyard, several living rooms or dining rooms. And many people pursue this dream, working hard to just fill up their lives with material things that they will not use in spaces they will not use either!
For me this was very interesting because I said, they are right! I do not need to focus my life on proving my economic status with a certain car, house, or life. I just need to do what makes me happy and focus on keeping the things that bring joy to my life.
So… a few months ago I started a blog to start to share my message on how we can start a more sustainable and happier journey to declutter our closets which is a great way to start decluttering your life. I swear I was the type of person that at first would not resist going to sales and shopping for the latest trends. And yes, I love fashion, I love to be stylish but I’ve slowly been more drawn to thinking more about each purchase with a capsule wardrobe mindset. A capsule wardrobe is a small collection of essential items that don’t go out of fashion.
If you are looking to start decluttering your life here are some tips where you can start small but steadily:
- Organize your closet – Start a capsule wardrobe
- Organize your house – Keep the things that are practical and essential
- Find an activity that brings you joy and meditation – It can be running, reading, walking 30 minutes every day, for me it’s yoga it just completely clears my mind and makes me feel lighter and calm.
- Get rid of stereotypes about materialism – Read more about minimalism, subscribe to wellness blogs, follow people that bring a positive message to your life, stop wasting time feeling bad about not having the perfect life that others may presume to have.
- Learn more about sustainable practices – The amount of waste that is generated from daily consumer goods from the plastic bags at a supermarket to the toxic waste that producing clothing makes is just unbelievable. Did you know it takes over 300 years for a plastic bag to decompose? Or that fast fashion brands pay around $3 USD per day to their workers just to offer you cheap and disposable clothes? Once you start learning more and more of the horror of the waste we are making to the world, you might have a more minimalist mindset of feeling bad about consuming things you don’t need or can substitute. For example, start using organic cotton bags to carry your groceries, start buying secondhand clothing instead of new, start using more organic products that don’t use pesticides that harm the world and pay fair wages to their workers, and the list could just go on and on.
I am a firm believer that most important thing that will help you to declutter your life is to change your mindset. If you teach yourself to change your mindset and be grateful for what you already have, you will be on the right path of learning to live with less in your life.
Living with less does not mean to force yourself to live with 10 items in your wardrobe, the change can be as little or as big as you are comfortable with because remember that the minimalist mindset focuses on keeping the things that bring you joy. So if having a 50 item wardrobe brings you joy, that is fine, focus on decluttering other aspects of your life like toxic relationships, unnecessary decorations or items from your home, focus on filling your life with moments that make you feel happy, find activities that reflect who you are, try volunteering, joining a book club, helping a neighbor, overall challenge yourself to build unmaterial things that will overall replace the urge of consumerism in your life.
I hope this post has inspired you in some way to challenge yourself to a more sustainable lifestyle where you will learn to cherish everything more and compare yourself less to others.
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This is a Guest Post written by Natalia from Marmag Creation
Natalia is an ethical fashion blogger from Mexico sharing her perspective of how to become a more conscious shopper. At Marmag Creation you will find many topics related to ethical fashion, minimalist lifestyle and travel tips with a conscious mindset as well as handmade clothing made with natural fibers.
