Anti-consumerist weekend

As regular readers of the blog (and friends who have heard my unprovoked rants) may have guessed, I am opposed to consumerism for the sake of consumerism.

My house does not look like the houses that pop up when you search "minimalism", though. I painted my walls bright colours which repulse people with dark souls, and every wall is covered with a generous amount of rescued or self-made art. All my frames are rescued from bins or relative's basements and it turns out, you can put anything in a frame and it looks like art. 

Being anti-consumerist doesn't mean you can't own stuff. Fighting consumerism is a conscious choice; everything in your house has been reflected upon. Every picture, plant pot, bowl, cat, and computer has been invited into my home after much deliberation. I don't go shopping and buy something unless I have a need for it and have already researched alternatives to that thing, or that thing second hand. This probably sounds like a lot of work to people who love going shopping and coming home with an empty bank account but lots of pretty new things to store in the closet and never look at again.

It is easier to buy without thinking than it is to walk through rows of cheap goods and only buy the one thing you need. It's harder to go to the hardware store and find the part to fix whatever is broken than it is just to buy a new thing. Just remember, every time you spend $80 on stuff you didn't need, that's another day you have to keep working that job you hate (if you don't hate your job, awesome!). 

I live happy in the knowledge that my actions are in line with my world view. We make too much stuff, throw out too much stuff, and if we could all take one day off work per week we would be less stressed and make more conscientious choices. If life isn't so hectic, you can take time to pause and ask yourself "do I really want this?"  (This applies not only to stuff, but relationships and lifestyles!)

If you really want to unwind next weekend after your stressful week at work, instead of shopping, try to turn something you already have but kind of hate into something that is brilliant. Pinterest is full of awesome ideas to turn junk that's sitting in your basement into something artistic and fun. And if you still hate it, no problem! You were going to get rid of it anyway. If you love it, you can feel good that you got a cool new thing without spending any money and without consuming more precious resources and destroying the planet for future generations. Bonus points if you learned a new skill and increased your confidence in your own abilities!

Well done you!

Minimize that Wardrobe

It is said that we use 20% of our belongings 80% of the time. Despite practicing minimalism for the past year, every week I find more items that have so far evaded my minimizing purges. Every time I think I have nothing left that I could live without, I find myself staring at a piece of furniture or a knick-knack and imagining life without it. Inevitably, it's the next thing I get rid of and the cycle continues.

My 'decluttering' is usually pretty unfocused in nature, and I never developed a system beyond It Must Be Beautiful, Bring Me Joy, or Useful. This system works less well on minimizing a clothing collection. I still have duplicates of black sweaters, farm work jeans, tank tops, etc. 

Until recently I moved every 6 months, and traveled a lot. All my clothes fit in a backpack that wasn't heavy enough to burden me. The climate was not as harsh as Canada, so I didn't need long-johns, snow pants, winter coats, mittens, etc. Mostly I lived in Scotland where summer clothing was equally unnecessary, so no need for summer dresses, multiple bathing suits, or shorts.

Remembering my slightly nomadic existence inspired me to go through my wardrobe as if I still lived that way. Considering my current circumstances I asked of each item of clothing:

If I was going on holiday for several months, somewhere where temperatures ranged from -30C to +30C and I was planning on working on a farm while I was there, would I bring this with me?

It occurs to me that this formula could help others declutter and return clothing into circulation. All you have to do is alter the details within the commas according to what your life and climate look like.

Suddenly it made a lot less sense to hold onto some of the 'just in cases' that have survived monthly clothing purges. 

Perhaps the same trick can help you on your way to living more lightly.

Minimalism Inside and Out

Last year I got very excited about decorating Eden's Rise with upcycled objects, and wrote a post about it (link here). I have since adopted minimalism, or simplicity, as a lifestyle. At its most basic, living simply means living with what you need, what you use regularly, and removing the excess. 

When I look at decorations in people's gardens, and my own attempts at adding decorative flourishes to Eden's Rise, I am embarrassed by the enthusiasm I had in this regard last year. Man-made objects deteriorate rapidly when exposed to the elements. My neighbour on one side has a crumbling concrete bench, another has a rusting statue of a knight in armour, another has a peeling lawn gnome. My decorations are no different. The post I wrote about upcycling was called "Paradise or Junkyard: The Fine Line". What keeps objects on one side of the line is regular maintenance. 

Part of the philosophy of minimalism and simplicity is that even though you are not aware of the 'stuff' in your house taking up your time, they do require maintenance. Whether literally, in tidying up, or in a larger mortgage to afford the space to store all those useless (to you) objects. I was blind to the fact that my orchard decorations would become a drain on my time-- I prefer to spend my time working with the plants, not repainting decorative gates or repairing raised beds. 

Here is a quote from Francine Jay to start your week:

"Strive not to get more done, but to have less to do."