Living With Less | Living Simply

I have been told by many people on different occasions that I have a lot of stuff. I would just brush it off and reply with something along the lines of, "I'm a girl and I love shopping so it's okay!" It wasn't until recently in my life that I began to believe them and realize that I do have a lot of stuff. This summer, I moved all of my possessions to a house right next to my university. This made me see how much stuff I really had because I was physically touching every item and putting it in a box. I decided to get rid of things that didn't really matter to me or that I wasn't really using anymore.

A little over a year ago, I discovered this lifestyle called minimalism and I really liked the idea of it. A minimalist is someone who wants to live a simpler life with less stuff and clutter. (That's my definition.) Ever since then I have been working on my minimalist journey and decluttering my life. I have given three trash bags of clothes and miscellaneous items to Goodwill (and counting) and five big shopping bags of clothing to friends. I have also sold some items on eBay and Vinted that I thought were worth a bit of money. It feels so good to have less clutter in my life than I used to have.

I feel like this new change has made a big impact on the decisions that I make. I know that I still have a lot of things compared to some people but that is why it's called a journey. I'm not done yet. I still have clothes/shoes that I probably don't wear too often, a book shelf full of books that I have never read, and a drawer full of bath products I have yet to finish.

I have also grown and changed since I have started this new lifestyle. I feel a lot happier and less anxious living more simply with less stuff. Something that I just discovered is that a synonym of clutter is chaos and I feel like that is how I felt with a closet full of clothes I didn't even like. I used to go to the mall with friends just for fun but I would usually buy something every time I did that. Now I hardly shop for fun. I am more practical with how I spend my money and I think about what I want to buy before buying it.

My point in writing about this is not to try and persuade you to live this lifestyle too, although it would be an awesome decision! What I am trying to say in this post is that this is the beginning of a new era in my life. I don't think this is a phase and I am just going to go back to the way I was before. I think this is who I am and who I am striving to be.

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"Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'" Hebrews 13:5

Much Love,

Angela Paige