Are You Aware Of Everything You Own?

12 July 2010
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My original impetus to begin my minimalist journey was when I realized I wasn’t aware of everything I owned. As I began going through boxes and digging through the rooms of the house I had just moved into, I unearthed treasure after treasure… …knick knack after knick knack… …piece of debris after piece debris. I […]

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How I Accidentally Doubled My Income And Became Self Employed In Three Days

7 July 2010

This month, my life dramatically changed forever. It happened on accident, and it happened nearly overnight.

This is the story of how I accidentally became self employed and just about doubled my income…

"Oh no!" I hear you cry! Don't worry. This website is not going to become about how "you can to." I'm gonna stick with rabbits and leave the make-money-online bit to people who are more passionate about it and better at it than me.

The reason I'm telling you this is because I hope my story can inspire you to think about similar changes in your life. [Just think mind you…don't you dare actually act on any of it.]

Maybe you've worked the same job for a few years because you're afraid you can't find something better, or maybe you've lived in one city all your life because you have friends there and worry about what an adventure might do to your sense of self, or maybe you've been stuck in a relationship with someone who's "good enough," or maybe you are afraid every time you wash your clothes, or maybe you're tired of the preface and want to get on with story time?!

Okay. Preface over. Story time!

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The Ultimate Minimalist Wallet / Pony

24 June 2010

Since deciding to become a minimalist, I often find myself wondering "what's the perfect minimalist wallet [pony] for me?"

Now I just don't want any wallet [pony]. I want The Minimalist's Wallet [Pony]. I want a palm-sized piece of fabric that holds pieces of paper and plastic in such a way that my entire life is dramatically simplified and streamlined.

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A Simple Smile – Write A Love Letter To A Friend

21 June 2010

Unless we work at a Smile Factory or are a dentist, we probably don't think about creating smiles very consciously. And the dentists aren't doing a very good job—I rarely smile when I think of them.

It just hit me drinking tea on the porch this morning…why don't we start brainstorming ways to manufacture smiles?!

I know…this is totally cheesy. But I'd rather be cheesy and laughing than cool and disaffected. Here we go…my first simple smile tip for you…

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The Proud Owner Of Nothing

10 June 2010

This week Loy told me something…

"I am the proud owner of nothing."

Since Loy's a rabbit, she doesn't speak often. So when she does, I pay attention to what she says. But this was strange to me. When she asked me if I was the proud owner of nothing too, of course I said I wasn't. I own many things.

I thought this might be one of her freaky minimalist things. Minimalism is one thing, but nothing? That's taking it a bit far! But she reassured me that this wasn't what she meant and that what she's talking about is applicable for everyone.

Still, I felt a twinge of shame, thinking about all the unneccessary stuff I own. I told her this, but she said I shouldn't be ashamed of owning things. She reminded me that she owned things as well, like her pair of glasses, and then explained what she meant…

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Minimalists Don’t Organize

5 June 2010

I used to be an organizer. I worked at an organizational store. We sold storage systems and boxes. Metal, wooden, plastic, cardboard, big, small. $50 compost buckets and $200 trash cans.

One woman came to see me repeatedly, asking me for advice and products that could help her stay afloat with all the stuff she had to organize. Her boyfriend had over one hundred pairs of shoes, she had filled three closets with clothes, one room was devoted to furniture she didn't have space for.

Two of the times she visited, she broke down crying at how much junk she was drowning in.

I hugged her in front of our wall of 20 different shoe organizers, telling her it'd be okay. Seriously.

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10 Parties One Saturday Night And Priorities

18 May 2010

Why do we have so many "priorities?"

There's a Saturday night coming up. And you and I are invited to 10 parties. You pick 1 and tell another host you might show up, and I decide to go to all 10. Who do you think is going to have a better time?

You will!

I'm certainly not going to have a boring time. I'm safe, because if a party's boring, I'm out of there and on to the next twenty minutes later. But I'm not going to have an amazing night because I didn't commit, I didn't invest, I didn't settle down and say "I think this is where I want to be and what I want to do."

Why do we have so many "priorities?"

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Give Up Your Priorities

11 May 2010

Why is it so difficult to get rid of things that aren't important to us? When we have houses and cars and rented storage spaces full of stuff we don't need, use, or even know about, why is it so hard to let go?

It isn't that getting rid of unimportant stuff is difficult. That's easy.

The problem is that we believe everything is important to us!

So even when we decide to declutter and simplify our lives, we set ourselves up for failure before we even begin.

Importance only matters when a few, select, truly valuable things have importance. If everything is important, then nothing is.

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