Forgetting Our Roots

During the first three years of our marriage, Lane and I moved once a year as we slowly upgraded from a tiny 600-square-foot apartment to a small rental house to our very first home purchase. Between the tight budget of young adulthood and our annual moves, we kept our belongings to just what we really needed and enjoyed. Buying something new was a treat rather than a rash decision, and each time we moved, we gave a bag or two of donations to our local charities.

Our third home was where we really matured into true adulthood, paid our first mortgage, and had our first child. We lived there for nearly a decade and became more capable of buying things right when we wanted it without much forethought, and unfortunately, we forgot our humble roots. Now we lived under the mantra “we see it, we want it, we buy it.” As a natural consequence to this newfound financial freedom, we started having more clutter. As the clutter grew into chaos, I started feeling more frustrated, stressed, and anxious. I didn’t connect the dots strongly enough to understand the need to minimize until our next move.

Moving Toward Minimalism

When we found a one-acre property in the country where I could bring my horses home for the first time, we decided to sell our first home and move again. As we boxed up our belongings of the past decade, our eyes were opened to a new trend of having items we didn’t even remember owning. We had acquired a lot more stuff than we needed.

As usual, we placed several items into bags for donation, and with so many years of things to go through, we had more to donate than ever before. This moving experience was a valuable lesson for me: minimalism helps dramatically and in more ways than one. Not only would we have less to pack if we moved again, but it would keep our house clear of clutter and help calm my mind of the chaos. We decided in that moment that we would start regular purges of donating that which no longer sparks joy (check out Marie Kondo’s book, Spark Joy).

We now understand the value of giving more thought to our purchases and staying on top of ridding the items that only serve to collect dust. We commit to at least two big purges a year and several smaller ones as needed. Through our example and encouragement, our daughters have also learned the joy of minimizing. It’s not a battle and there are no tears shed or arguments to be had. Ember and Karissa actually enjoy the process so much that they have even started bringing us things they are ready to part with on their own volition outside of our dedicated purge sessions.

A Reminder in Tiny Living

Lane and I have a decent amount of experience living in small spaces. Our first apartment was the size of a garage with no balcony. If you stretched out your feet while sitting on the couch, you’d be in two rooms at once. We had to agree which two friends to invite at a time because we didn’t have room for more than that. And our guests had to go through our only bedroom to get to our only bathroom (which contained pink tile straight out of the 70s).

We upgraded to a larger home each time we moved. That is, until we bought our country home. The original house on this property was only 1,000 square feet. That home burned down in a wildfire in 2017 just a few short months after we moved in (The Fire). During the process to rebuild our home and our lives, we lived in a bedroom in my parents’ house for half a year, and then a trailer we purchased for another half a year.

It’s not easy to cram your whole life into a small space, but when you have no other choice, you figure it out. Some people actually find they prefer this way of living. As The Minimalists say on their website, having less material items provides more time to do the things you love. Although that first apartment was tiny, it only took one to two hours max for a full deep clean. Same with our trailer. The ease of keeping our small space clean helped me relax in my space as well as have more time for other experiences to enjoy.

The Biggest Move Yet

As my family prepares for yet another move—this time, a big out-of-state move—we are realizing more than ever how important minimalism can be. Our rebuilt home is just over 1,600 square feet, and we do occasionally fall victim to the clutter in the usual places (the entryway bench, the bar, the dining room table). But we now recognize when these behaviors become prominent, it likely means we are due for a purging session.

Because our destination is about seven hours from our current home, we will soon be living in a trailer yet again as we house hunt in person. In addition, we plan to purchase raw land and build a home. We are experienced with this lengthy process, thanks (or no thanks) to the wildfire five years ago.

We understand that the rigamarole involved in obtaining permits, installing utilities, and building a home likely means we will be in our trailer for about a year, more or less. We also know from our prior trailer-living experience that we will need to get creative and make sure every square inch of space serves a purpose during that time. But if I’m being honest, I look forward to getting a whole-family refresher on living the minimalism lifestyle, and I fully plan to use this to our advantage by purging more than we’ve ever purged before.

To Be Continued…

In the next and final installment on minimalism, I will give you some tips on how to get started with minimizing to maximize your joy.