It's all part of my rock and roll fantasy...

          I’ve been thinking about minimalism lately. To me, minimalism is about being honest and upfront. It’s the breaking down of things, stripping down and just being. Just. Being. It’s the purest and simplest form of being alive. It’s enjoying what you have and what you’ve been given (like the earth) and focusing on what matters. But, it’s not limited. It’s not limiting. It’s not limitations. In other words, it doesn’t offer you few options, it doesn’t confine you and it doesn’t force you to confine yourself or your life. It opens everything up. It allows you to be free.

          I think that I have always had a little bit of a minimalist mind-set. I can remember babysitting in middle school and cringing, because my employer’s daughter owned so many toys. Almost grimacing, because I knew she didn’t and wouldn’t ever play with them all. My dream used to be to live out in the country and sew my children’s clothes, and plant my own vegetables. One of my favorite actors had said that he had wanted to be a farmer and the idea of marrying him and living on a farm together, where we did everything ourselves was like the ideal life to me. Now, I have this uncontrollable love for cities and people, and apartment buildings. When I think about my apartment; my future apartment, that is; I don’t picture much furniture or belongings, though. There is some, but not much. Admittedly, I have OCD, so that could be why I don’t like the idea of things everywhere, but I doubt it. I have a somewhat messy room, as it is.

          Vincent Kartheiser was interviewed for the Guardian/Observer in Spring of last year and told the reporter that he’d been giving away, donating, selling, and getting rid of his belongings and freebies he’d been receiving from award shows. He didn’t need them, he was slowly emptying his house. He hadn’t owned a mirror for six, maybe seven years. On a personal level, I thought that was sexy. He didn’t care about what other people thought and he didn’t care about appearances. Cool. My personal feelings aside, it was an interesting concept and mulling over it, I wondered if I could do the same. I didn’t think I could go to that sort of an extreme, but I could try my hand at it. He inspired me. You see, I’ve been trying to better myself and better be myself this year. I had been trying and I was at a stand-still. I didn’t know what to do or how to continue working on myself. This was the icing on the cake, this was it. I had to get rid of my junk.

          Besides those reasons, however, I wanted to force myself to take risks. Force myself into a place, where I had never been and force myself to be myself completely in it. I wanted to make choices and do things that I would have never done, had I not made the choice and chosen to do what I did. Minimalism was a way for me to do that. It was a way to take myself out of my comfort zone and be vulnerable. It would make me uneasy, but it would force me to take a good, hard look at what really mattered. It was also a way of starting over. Honestly, I have an obsession with the idea. I always envied people who could just pack up and leave, begin a new life. I’m in love with the idea of a blank slate, the idea of everything being wiped away and while, I’ve whittled down what I own significantly, I’m still whittling. It’s a work in progress and I’m still working.

Anyway, I wanted to share some pieces I found on the subject:

Graham Hill speaks in this short video that begs the question, “Can having less stuff, in less room, lead to more happiness?” I disagree about the furniture. I’m a little old fashioned in that area. I like my individual pieces.

This great FAQ page lets you know what minimalism is, the rules (there aren’t any!), the benefits, and whether or not it can be sparse or boring (think again!).

Your Sense of Self Does Not Come From What You Buy - Explains exactly that; why what you own doesn’t define who you are. I used to think this way to some extent and I still struggle with it. It’s important to realize that whether or not you own the latest or greatest, doesn’t make you any better than anyone else or equal to anyone else.

That doesn’t mean, however, that you can’t enjoy things - I do! In fact, I have a growing music and movie collection. It just means that you know you don’t have to have everything. It’s explained really well, here.

It’s not a revolution. You don’t have to live with nothing. Check this out.

Finally, a beautiful comic on how having a lot can weigh a lot on your heart.