To me minimalism is the act of buying less, having less stuff, and getting rid of excess. After bringing the Minimalist Documentary to North Attleboro in May, my husband and I decided to see what it would be like to embrace minimalism. We decided to play the 30-Day Minimalism Game to see if we could get rid of as many things as the game encouraged us to. We also wanted to see how little we could spend in those same 30 days. We learned several things while we embraced minimalism.

First of all, we learned to look closely at all of the things in our space. Knowing that we were going to be getting rid of a lot of stuff, we looked at everything. We made decisions on things we hadn’t touched or used in years. There were several things we would not have thought about getting rid of if it wasn’t for the game. It’s so easy to get comfortable in our surroundings that we don’t realize how much we don’t use. Getting rid of this excess stuff made me happy.

Secondly, the game created some urgency to take action. We needed to fix things or get rid of them. So, things that had been waiting to be fixed for a while were fixed or gotten rid of. We needed to read or recycle. Papers that were waiting to be read needed to be read or recycled. Books that were piling up needed to be read or donated. We needed to mend or donate. Clothing that required some mending, needed to be fixed or donated. Getting rid of this stagnate stuff made me happy.

Finally, not making purchases for a month helped us realize we are lazy cooks. We would succumb to the temptation to eat out or get take out way too much. We’re too tired and there is nothing good in the house were common excuses. We decided to change this. We looked through our recipes and picked a bunch to try. We bought new food and ingredients in the grocery store. We’re still working on this, but I’m happy with our progress so far.