Are We Still Pursuing Minimalism? A life update.

It’s been two years since I felt the urge to start pursuing minimalism. Today, I’ll give an update on how things are going, and where we’re at on our minimalism journey.

If you’ve been following along for very long, I’m sure you remember the time that I “went crazy” and got rid of 60% percent of our stuff in pursuit of minimalism. Many, MANY messaged me saying, “Are you ok?! I’ve seen you taking truckloads to the donation center…”. Truthfully, I’m not so sure I was ok two years ago, BUT the decluttering I did to our home is still affecting how we live today.

Want to read my very first minimalism post? Check it out –> Why I’m Pursuing Minimalism + How It’s Going So Far

A little more than two years has gone by, and our house has been through many phases since then. About eight months after I majorly purged things, I got a little discontent with the “emptiness”. I had gotten rid of several big pieces of furniture, and the majority of things that filled our walls. The blankness of the rooms felt invigorating in the beginning, but after a while I started craving “more”.

So, I did what any frugal girl would do…I went thrifting. It’s amazing how quickly you can fill up a space after working so hard to declutter it. Utterly amazing. I like to call this the “rebelling against minimalism” phase. Talk about falling off the bandwagon and nearly getting bitter about it. I neglected my simplified wardrobe, quickly pulled out the decor pieces I had left and filled up shelves and drawers again. You know what else came back? The suffocating stress that goes hand with clutter. I couldn’t keep up. I didn’t want to keep up. After having a taste of a highly simplified home, managing it full of clutter again wasn’t something I wanted, or was capable of doing.

Slowly and painfully, I started peeling back the layers.

This time, at a much more manageable pace. Slowly weeding through my closet, the cabinets, and the drawers. With every item I removed I felt it easier maintain. I quickly remembered the relief that came with every bag of donated items. My home felt lighter, and in turn, I felt happier.

Are we minimalist? No. Are we still chasing after minimalism? Kind of. Am I Incredibly thankful I did the hard work of decluttering two plus years ago? YES! I appreciate the minimalist mindset, especially the aspect of consumerism, but I don’t love the mental load I carried trying to find the right balance between “too much and just enough”. The problem came when I let it control how I felt about our home. I started to feel like the progress I made decluttering was useless because our house wasn’t that sleek modern feeling. Our home will never look like the modern, streamlined spaces you think of when you hear the word “minimal”. I love antiques and vintage things. I enjoy using warm colors, and cozy textures.
No longer do I want to be consumed with how many spoons we have (but seriously…where did all of our little spoons go!?) I don’t want to feel guilty for buying a new home decor item or having two sweaters. Will I continue to simplify our home? Absolutely. I will continue to declutter, reduce, and make do. It gives me great joy to live in a simplified home. I love having less to maintain, especially in this very busy season of life. My highly simplified wardrobe is still the best thing I’ve ever done for myself. Having less dishes to wash (by hand because our dishwasher is broken…again!) is a huge blessing. Less laundry, less clutter, less stress. I appreciate the peace that comes along with a simplified life, and I will continue to share what I learn as I go.

If you’ve stuck around for all these years, I appreciate you. If you’re new, I’m so excited to have you join. As always, thanks for spending a tiny part of your day with me.