Minimal Minimalism

Minimalism has gained popularity and got me interested. It blends well with environmental consciousness.

I do have minimalist characteristics.

I don’t like multiple frames on a wall. Some of my walls are bare.

My home decors are simple like for Christmas I only have the Belen/Manger and my litte live Christmas tree as I posted here https://joyfullplace.wordpress.com/2022/12/24/my-little-christmas-tree/ I do have a Santa Claus when my young nephews and nieces are coming over but they have celebrated in the province since the pandemic.

I only have one TV unlike my friends who have a TV in the family room and another in their bedroom.

I avoid multiple items and generally buy replacements only or items I do not yet have.

But there are minimalist characteristics that I don’t have or practice.

I still can’t let go of items with sentimental value to me easily. Like our antique furniture. It’s not really that functional and I suppose minimalists would have sold or given it away. But it had been with our family for more than 70 years. I only have 2 pieces which were brought here because they have to be repaired and there were no good restorers in the province. The oval table and other chairs are in our ancestral home in the province. I also keep some greeting cards from that time , long ago , when sending cards was the way to greet and express our feelings. I still have old postcards when pictures of places we went to were shared via mail instead of emails and social media.

I keep my mini library. I’ve given away the textbooks I used in school for the younger generations to use, but I’m keeping the rest. It’s just a mini collection so it’s not a big violation of the minimalist code I suppose.

Minimalists advocate having a few items in our wardrobe, the more similar the better. I’m not ready to have uniform-like clothes, though I buy more mindfully.

I haven’t emptied my closet or given away half its contents. I’d like to make sure that items will find a new home as I’ve written in Mindful Discarding https://joyfullplace.wordpress.com/2021/04/11/mindful-discarding/ . I also think that discarding for the sake of decluttering might not help if the items will be discarded mindlessly and end up as garbage and be an environmental concern.

Minimalism is a continuum. The extreme ones are the ascetics which live with bare essentials. I still think I’m practicing minimalism even if I’m at the other end of the continuum. I’m a minimal minimalist.

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