Hello!
I was referred to this site from an online discussion forum. I posted a message there about living a minimalist lifestyle and someone was kind enough to post a link for this place which I have followed through. I must say I am impressed.
I think I may have an unusual story to my minimalist lifestyle but if you bear with me, I will do my best to explain. First off I am a 30 year old male from the United Kingdom and to cut a very long story short spent two very wonderful years living with a sect of Buddhist monks in the Japanese mountains between 2008-2010. I’m not a Buddhist and I certainly didn’t have any religious motives but seeing their basic lifestyle made a huge impact on me and upon returning to the UK I was looking at all my things one night and thought “ do I really need all this?” and it somehow went on from there.
As a previous hoarder I had a lot of things, near 300 films, about 200 music albums, a small library of books and entire rooms filled with junk and trinkets. In the end I had to ask myself if I was really going to watch those movies again, if I really needed the whole album if there was only one song I liked or would I really get around to reading those books that have been sat on the shelf gathering dust for the past five years?
The answer was always a resounding no and so began the exodus of my belongings. Some went on eBay, some were given to friends, some donated to charity and a lot was thrown away. I now sit here with all my worldly possessions fitting inside just two boxes. They consist of 2 films, 1 music album, 4 books and some sentimental items that I will soon get rid of in the coming weeks and you know what? It feels great, so liberating.
If I had to move home tomorrow I could carry everything I have by hand (my clothes fit inside the second box) and make a totally fresh start. I have no television, no Xbox or games console, no three-piece suite and not even a toaster. I should point out that I don’t mean to attack those with televisions, mobile phones or masses of movies and music. I only mean that I myself had no use for them. When I realised that I was only watching 30 to 40 minuets on television a week (and it was mostly news that I could read on line) I decided to get rid of the television. That was the drive behind my logic.
Life has never felt so much better and it made me realise how much useless junk I had weighing me down. My possessions aren’t going to dictate who I am anymore.
