.SOMETIMES RAW.

My son and I are moving soon. (I have been asked where we are moving to so I want to add that for many great reasons we stay in Canada!) Moving for me means decluttering, selling and getting rid of things. Having less stuff makes me feel good, makes me less distracted, focus on other things that really matter (to me) and embrace a minimalistic mindset. I want to shift my thoughts from materialistic distractions that take way too much of my attention and time to less stress, more free time and flexibility. Essentially, minimalism for me is doing more of what matters – the little things in life. 

Whenever I tell people I embrace a minimalistic lifestyle they ask me things like, “Oh, so you own like 100 items?” Far from it people- I love books!

When it comes to minimalism, there really is no right way to do it. Marie Kondo’s approach, for example, emphasizes that one should get rid of anything that does not spark joy. 

There are many other methods on how to declutter but there is no right way to do it and there is nobody really can say you are doing it wrong. I read an email from a reader the other day saying that he only owns one cup and one plate and that I am not qualified to call myself a minimalist if I own more than that. Duh! I do not need to call myself anything or be recognized as such because it does not define me. I use minimalism as a tool to remove distractions from my life – any distractions that get in the way of doing more of what matters to me. I love to lower my stress levels, spend more quality time with my son, my friend(s) and those things usually never involve too many materialistic things. 

I use the analogy that minimalism is like my camera lens. I am adjusting the lens and pull into focus what I want while I softly blur out everything behind and in the front. This helps me to realize and make decisions on what matters in my life and what does not. Minimalism is not a catch-all problem solver or the final answer, however. It is simply how I use time and space through a minimalistic approach to change my life for the better. These days, my son and I find joy in donating things for example. Toys he does not play with anymore, clothes that don’t fit. There is a lot of money to be made in selling what I don’t need which is a process that gives me clarity and satisfaction. Minimalism does not make my life perfect but it is a catalyst that gets me there one day at a time because I realize how little I actually need to be happy. 

I have mentioned previously that I have had a pretty rough time for the last couple of months but minimalism created a space for me to handle these difficult situations more effectively. Applying a minimalistic mindset, I overcame financial struggles, relationship issues and other hard decisions that I had to make. I am more ready to handle the move because it is so much easier with a lot less stuff. I have fewer expenses which is helpful because I still do not have a job. Most importantly though, I do not have debt since I won’t use my credit cards to purchase things. In the long run, knowing that I do not need much makes me more flexible in my search for a job. 

I believe that there are substantial advantages to buying and owing only what serves me or/and allows me to serve others. Minimalism is not about deprivation, however, having fun is perfectly acceptable. Just by removing distractions I make space for what I want to do. I slowly built habits that reflect the activities and goals that matter to me. In the long run, flow and creativity built upon those foundations of habits and I enjoy a life more based on curiosity than fear. Of course, living creatively looks different for everyone, but I reckon that habits and minimalism can get me there. Minimalism creates this space and habits that let me show up in the way I like to. My framework of minimalism, creativity, habits, and freeing the mind continues to work well for me.

Maybe it helps you to do more of what matters – whatever it may look like for you. 

Cool jeans dress, eh.  And organic ketchup for BBQ later.

Fashion versus Style. I have always been more interested in style versus fashion. I also know that I do not need to spend a lot of time in the morning to get dressed to start my day. When I worked for the German Police, putting on a uniform in the morning made everything so simple. I applied this notion to my everyday style as well; however, added a little style to it since style encompasses everything. It is a mood, it is my clothes, it is time and energy put into it. Afterall, clothes are made to wear and not to wear us. 

My style is very simple. I want comfort, at times cute, sexy to go out and sporty when I work out. For some reason, I combine all this with a bit of hipster even though I do not put a label on myself. When someone has style, you feel it and you know that it is not about the latest fashion or the most expensive designers. I never figured out how anyone is willing to pay these amounts of money for a piece of fabric no matter how nice it looks. Style for me is that I am wearing what I want to wear because I want to wear it. Simple! I add a personal touch and nothing is holding me back; such as other people’s opinions, comments or thoughts that anyone cares how I look or if I am accepted the way I dress. I do my thing and do not care. 

Nobody is perfect, and those who think they are while sashaying around in their designer costumes just try to hide things like fear of being rejected, fear of being unwelcome, fear of not fitting in, fear of not being beautiful or fear of being too big/fat/thin/obese/ugly etc. They forget that they should simply dress for themselves and nobody else because nobody really cares. Just dress like this: 

I would like to share other realizations I have come up with that act as my foundation and are a daily reminder to truly not give a f*** what other people think since again those you think who judge you actually do not even care about you. 

We only have a tiny amount of time on this planet so WHO cares about clothes? There is so much more. When I was a teenager in High School, I spent a bit more time getting ready in the morning. There was even a short time I bothered applying make-up. This soon stopped. I never really cared about those things. It was way more important to chat with my friends, read, write or secretly smoke in the school washrooms. People judged me for wearing a leather jacket I found at a vintage flea market but it looked so epic. Quickly I realized, however, that I do not allow this self-limiting judgment of myself or those of others to affect me and what I wear since this is all such a waste of time and energy.

These days, I also love to dress like this: (It comes in handy if you have a partner who owns a plethora of funky socks) 

So, I usually leave the house wearing something like above. 🙂 What matters is that I am happy with how I look. I learned that whenever I was too fixated on what people think of me, I limited myself. The style is about so much more than clothes; I mean, look at those socks. I have style and have a je ne sais quoi about myself that goes beyond what I am wearing. Isn’t it better to feel good, comfortable, charming and unique and that we do not want to be different? I stopped questioning and over-analyzing my outfits because I know if I lack anything in the outfit, I can make it up in presence, intellect, and conversation anytime. 

“The famous pipe. How people reproached me for it! And yet, could you stuff my pipe? No, it’s just a representation, is it not? So if I had written on my picture ‘This is a pipe’, I’d have been lying!” — René Magritte