I remember being young, in a tiny town in South Carolina, thinking that life needed to be different. I was third of four children and I remember feeling that there was never enough, never enough food, time, gifts, or money. I remember watching my parents struggle and vowing that when I could decide my life’s direction, it would be better, it would be different.

You see, my grandmothers met in the fifth grade and became best friends. They both married and had children, settling five minutes from each other. As my grandmothers’ children became adults, they married and settled their families nearby on family land. This is where I grew up. On a dirt road in Sumter County, South Carolina surrounded by loving cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandmothers. It was a simple life with independent roaming, tree forts, and creativity. However, it was too simple for me as I vowed every day to leave. To me, having all that I needed but not all that I wanted meant that life was unbearable. I was too young to see the beauty in the simple and the emphasis my parents placed on spiritual values, education, and living within our means.

When I started my adult life building my career and building my family, I did so with my wants in mind. I built a hurried life with my wants overwhelming logical decisions. Decisions were made based on their ability to impress others and the credit limit on my Visa Card. I focused on what I thought was the “American Dream” and what I should have which included a large house, impressive cars, and debt. It quickly became too much. I felt that the big career and family life dream was supposed to work. I dreamed about it as a child and I saw it every day as an adult through social media, news, and TV. As I was preparing to have our second child, I began to have thoughts of change and a simple life again. But I couldn’t do it. My fears from childhood memories took over and I froze in my choas, hurriedness, and feelings of being overwhelmed. I couldn’t give up all that I had worked for, or could I? I thought a simple life meant less or not enough. And then I was forced to change.

I started to slowly apply minimalism principles. Minimalism is the ability to want less quantity but more quality. It is the ability to focus on things that bring happiness and function and to let go of the “what if” burdens that are just weighing us down. It is to challenge the cultural stereotype that more must mean better and larger must mean success.

I started to incorporate the values of minimalism. The ones that are important to me are:

1. To desire quality of items, time, and space.

2. To live daily with intention and purpose.

3. To minimize needless things and space while maximizing the use of one item and one space.

4. To increase my focus on new experiences with my husband, my children, and my social relationships.

5. To define my needs with specificity and to emphasize those needs in my every day practice with career, family life, and my living space.

6. And finally, the path to minimalism is individually chosen and defined. The journey is continuous, flexible, and without destination.

Minimalism has brought harmony to our lives and has allowed us to amplify the important things. We are three years in and have not looked back.

Does minimalist values resonate with you? and Why?

Drop me a note.

RS