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This is what it looks like after a month of being a minimalist in the Philippines.
If you read my previous post with regards to my minimalism journey you’ll know that I am not a conventional minimalist. I don’t wear the same kind of outfit every single day, I still have a lot of things that I own and can’t make myself give them away, and I still splurge on myself sometimes.
In this post you’ll know what happened to my life after trying my best on being a minimalist here in the Philippines.
ADDICTION
I think I already wrote something about this on my previous posts but I’ll still include it here anyway. After purging my belongings and cutting my number of owned clothes into half (actually more than half) I can still feel the desire to purge some more.
When I first did my purging I was so heartbroken because I’m very much attached to my belongings and making the decision if something stays or not is a heck of a challenge for me. Aside from the clothes one of the hardest things for me to let go of is my books. Each book I own has a story and connection to me whether I’ve read it or haven’t started it at all. While running through them I can still recall why I bought it and what’s the story is all about and that is so hard.
Fast forward one month after, I already made myself to let go of a sack full of books that I decided to give to my friends and relatives whom I know will like and take them.
I started purging my clothes then went back to my books when I already have the grip of it and the next thing I know is that the only books I have now are those books that can still touch and influence my life at the moment. I already let go of those novels that I used to read but not anymore because life happened.
FALL + BACK (FALLING THEN BACK AT IT AGAIN)
As I’ve said, I still splurge on myself sometimes and those times are the moment I consider my setback. I personally think of it as a setback even though I am not a conventional minimalist because I feel like I’m disappointing my future self.
I want to be better than being a consistent setback.
So after every fall I try to condition myself to be back at it again. Resume where I stop and try to finish the track I’m taking in. So far I keep moving but in very slow motion. I slow down with my progress to minimalism for it to settle in me, the values and such, so that the setbacks will not be a fast-approaching thing and at the same time so that I can control them in a lighter manner.
MINIMALISM IS NOT JUST ORGANIZING
Probably one of the misconceptions people have with minimalism is that minimalism is organizing and making your place white.
If you are using Pinterest you’ll know that when you search for the word minimalist the majority of the results are in white. We thought that as long as your house is neat and white then you are living a minimalist life, it doesn’t matter that all your decors are newly bought.
One of the realizations I had is that buying storage bins or learning organization hacks is not enough because in the end you only hide the things that really don’t matter to you and it still takes space.
I was tempted to buy a shelf because it was on sale and it was aesthetically beautiful but thankfully I did not! Yey, for me. After that I discarded most of my bins and containers as well as the things that no longer useful for me.
This journey has a long way to go. Being a minimalist here in the Philippines is not that easy, I just hope that everything will be as positive as I hope it to be.
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