My First Step To Minimalism

For the last 2 weeks, I ruthlessly culled out the clothes in my closet. I sorted them out in piles: ones I wear regular (or my favorites), and another pile for the ones I haven’t worn in 5 months (heck, there were some laying there untouched for years!).

And all those clothes I have arranged for my good friend Xandra to give them to her outreach community, where kids need and can use them more than I do. I was able to fill one and a half box!

Why? Because I’m taking my first step towards a minimalist lifestyle.

A lot of factors triggered me to take the first step. For each time I made a major purchase that took a huge dent on my salary was a trade-off to my financial capacity of pursuing more meaningful and valuable experiences. Then I came to realise I don’t want to be enslaved anymore by the illusion that owning more stuff will make you happy.

I didn’t really fully understand the concept of minimalism before (though I stumbled on The Minimalists blog but didn’t pay attention to it). I grew so tired of aimlessly buying stuff I don’t need and these things taking up physical and mental space. I desperately felt a strong urge to discover and understand a lifestyle of simplicity and contentment. Remembering what The Minimalist heralded, I fell in love with it and how it completely resonates my life.

Backtrack a bit: Just like any other girl, I love to shop. I used to scroll through Lookbook and copy all the cute outfits I saw. BIG RED SALES make my eyes widen. I constantly convinced myself that I needed another pair of shoes. I amassed and hoarded lots of clothes, shoes and bags that had my closet bursting. But at the end of the day, I looked at all of them and feeling empty. There wasn’t really anything valuable in them.

I just remember one day I lost my zest for shopping. Sure, I still buy a few things, but only when I really need to buy it.

I also think how absurd it is to own 5 pairs of shoes (each costing around Php 3,000- 5,000) when there are 100 kids who don't even have a pair of flip-flops to wear.

I was also caught in a mad cycle of wanting to own better gadgets. When I started earning my salary, I was hungry for a tablet. I thought it could give me the value I needed. Because it was too big for my liking, I ended up trading it. That started a series of looking at online traders and shoppers and trading and selling and trading. I think I have met 5 people who I traded with. It was so tiring! I finally realised how useless, meaningless, and a total waste of time it was.

Minimalism for me is stripping to the bare essentials. It’s about freedom from consumerism and the need to just buy buy buy without thinking. Material things can never bring lasting joy and value. It’s about enjoying true happiness where it truly matters- valuable relationships and the time I get to spend with people and experiences. It’s about the freedom to be able to pursue my dreams.

This is how (a part) of my closet looks like now. This used to be full to the brim and when I open it the clothes would just pour out.

I feel lighter now knowing the items inside are the things I wear often.

I still have a long way to go in my journey towards minimalism. When I sorted my clothes and put them inside the boxes, I found myself not being able to part ways with some it. I thought of how much money it cost me and it wasn’t worth giving away. But I think overcoming this hurdle is an important step- that I should never find attachment and value to material things. I still have an insane obsession with LBDs and I’m still working on it.