“Sometimes I almost wish there was a fire and I could declutter all of my stuff at once!” I see this kind of statement posted periodically in groups about minimalism. I realize the person is not serious, but having gone through a house fire myself, I also know better than to wish a fire on anyone. However, I understand the sentiment. Decluttering and creating a simpler, more minimalist lifestyle isn’t easy. It takes time and effort. Once the physical stuff is under control, the challenge of managing our time, work, and relationships kicks in. Why does going minimalist take maximum effort? Why isn’t living simply easier?
It’s all relative, of course, depending on our lifestyle before we came upon the ideas of living more with less. Patience isn’t one of my strengths, so I understand the frustration of anything taking too much time. I have lived fairly simply most of my life, but after stumbling upon the minimalism movement, I was re-energized and wanted to simplify my life dramatically right away. It took a year of decluttering, re-evaluating, and decluttering some more before I felt that I was close to finishing (spoiler alert: it’s never truly finished).
Removing 3 layers of vinyl flooring takes a long time!
Once I decided to move to a smaller house, I wanted to find one right away. Of course, life (and real estate) doesn’t work that way. I had to wait until the market was ready. Then I found a house and had to wait for the inspections, negotiations, and closing. Then I had to wait until the painting was done. Now I am waiting until the new floors are installed, and then I can finally finish unpacking. I’m tired of living in a dusty house with furniture crowded into the wrong rooms. I’m tired of the noise. I’m tired of having strangers in my house. I want my home to be done already!
Patience may be a virtue, but impatience is a great motivator. When I get an idea, I want to act upon it as soon as possible. Luckily, it’s not always so easy to do this or I would probably have made more mistakes in my life. However, when I do get motivated, I like to begin researching, reading, and talking about plans. A few years ago I began to plan leaving a job I disliked despite the convenience of working from home. I started a job search, but cancer forced a postponement. Later, I postponed it again in order to move across the country. It took a year to finalize the move from Texas to Florida and nearly the same amount of time to realize I wanted a smaller house in a different neighborhood after I got to know my new city better. Once in Florida, it took two years to decide what I really wanted to do and then find a new job.
Reading the last paragraph over, my impatience begins to subside. Compared to the years it took to make major changes in my life, waiting a few more days for the house renovations to be done isn’t so bad. Many of the changes culminated in the same week: I sold a house, closed on buying a smaller house, signed a contract for a new job, gave notice to quit a job, and then moved. Despite my impatience to enact all these changes, it was stressful to do them all at once. Every day that week was a test of endurance, and I was often frustrated. Maybe there’s something to be said for having more patience as we move through our life journey. Now if only I can remember that as I tackle the last boxes to unpack!
New tile floors
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Related Blog Posts
After the Fire: Rebuilding House and Life after a Fire
My Minimalist Home: House Hunting
My Minimalist Home: How Small Can I Go?
My Minimalist Home: Negotiations
My Minimalist Home: One Month Countdown
My Minimalist Home: Neither Here Nor There
My Minimalist Home: A Few Steps Backwards, A Few Steps Forwards
My Minimalist Home: One Year in a Smaller House
Unpacking, decorating, and relaxing in your new home–new life!
I’m so glad the floors are done and I can finally unpack the rest. My books are done, which is a big deal, so now I can work on closets. Oh, and the garage – oy, what a mess! Slowly, but surely!
Looks fabulous, Shoshanah! My husband and I kind of went through similar trials in getting to where we are now. Still have lots more to do, but trying to count our blessings and not be impatient! At least we’re not having to adjust to a new job at the same time!
I didn’t really plan to do all these changes in the same month, but oh well, sometimes that’s what life hands us! The floors are done now, so I can finally finish moving in! 🙂
I’ve really enjoyed reading about your “process”, Shoshanah. It’s generally harder for mid-lifers to turn on a dime, especially if there are still kids in the house and embedded at school. I knew in the Fall of 2013 that I really needed to make some changes, I just didn’t know exactly what or how…then in the Summer of 2014 I stumbled across the entire FIRE community online…in early 2016 I left the corporate slog to form a small consulting company with an ex-colleague…and my wife and I are finally decluttering the large house now to sell in early 2018, so we can downsize out of the big city to the lazy SC coast when the 2nd of 3 kids graduates HS in May. It’ll have been almost a 5 year journey, but we’re really excited to be so close now. And so it’s good to hear the stories of others who had to work thru their own process…
Minimalizing, like life, is a work in progress!