I may sound like a broken record but I will say it anyway. Because as I watch YouTube videos about minimalism, I also see some videos that are very much opposed to it. First of all minimalism is not something new. If you are Catholic then you know since the beginning of time 'gluttony is a sin'. What is gluttony? Wanting of excessive of anything under the sun. So minimalism has always been around. Being taught to all races and religions. But because of so many inventions over time that almost all of us in one point of our lives are guilty of gluttony. Minimalism happened to be quite popular because of some rich people for whatever reasons, woke up and decided to minimize their lives, often times to the extreme. It is true that poor people like me tend to hoard because of the fear that time may come that we need that 'something' but we do not have money to buy it. But seriously. Please. About time that we get get out of that mindset.
I said numerous times that more than a decade ago I came to UAE with only two pants, two shorts, two shirts, two formal clothes, socks and underwear good for four days. I survived. I was okay. I was fine. Washing clothes by hand at night does not even make the water meter higher than usual. But I succumbed to consumerism and has been guilty of gluttony. That for the last ten years unintentionally and unknowingly I accumulated a lot. While losing a fortune that I could use for my future or other more meaningful things for me. I started this so called journey of minimalism only mid 2016. Guess what I do not miss nor need all the items I gotten rid of since then. It has taken me time to finish for the simple reason that I have way too many of everything. I was and still I am a dirt poor. As I am living a hand to mouth way of life.
Aside from having too much I also had a separation anxiety with my earthly possessions. And I do not have a plan on which to tackle first. Whatever I see first then that is the first thing I will work on. People share their journey with minimalism to inspire others that if they can do it then others too. Or just because they are simply too happy for succeeding in the journey they have chosen. Or just like me they want to document the process they have gone through. Or the progress of it. Minimalism does not mean you will throw everything out. Because each one of us has different needs in life. Like in my case we have uniform at work and so I can go back to where I started when I only have two sets of everything. We have winter here but it does not snow so I only need one outfit for snow which I get to use only when I am on vacation somewhere with winter.
Since December 2017 I had been more intense with my cleaning up the small space. And I want to kick myself for keeping whatever I kept. In UAE whenever you shop, most stores are using paper bags. Paper bags that I take home and I used them to store whatever I see inside then put them in the corner until one day they piled up into nothing but a clutter inside the house. Then I had this 4 layer drawer that I bought in 2010 and used to store just about anything. Guess what are the things I found and thrown out since December 2017? Even me was surprised. How on earth did I kept so much garbage inside the tiny space? All the receipts dating back in 2008. All the bills dating back in 2009. All the flyers (not sure about the word) from the movie house you know the list of showing and timings since 2010. Such documents were placed in different locations all over the house. Think about having small items all over that can be a breeding place for insects. More than a dozen CDs. I took photos of everything and posted them in my Instagram account. And right now the said account has more than 1,000 photos. Half are the items I have thrown out.
Maybe I will be done if I will spend one month continuously doing what I am doing. Will take me half a year if I will not take it seriously. One year and six months had passed and I am still doing it. One instagram user has even mistaken me for a seller as I also posted the makeup I decluttered. I wasted time. I wasted space. I wasted money. And I can never turn them back anymore. 2017 I still buy some items but there has been a huge different compared to what I was like in 2016 and previous years. I do not buy just because something is cheap. So what if the pants or slippers is on sale for only 10AED? Once I give in and buy them then it is another clutter inside the house. Will surely use it once or twice then ignore it afterwards. At least when my place is totally clean up and I only have whatever I need, I will then have time to put on makeup everyday. Or do other things that I need to do. But not now that I am still surrounded by clutter.
I said numerous times that more than a decade ago I came to UAE with only two pants, two shorts, two shirts, two formal clothes, socks and underwear good for four days. I survived. I was okay. I was fine. Washing clothes by hand at night does not even make the water meter higher than usual. But I succumbed to consumerism and has been guilty of gluttony. That for the last ten years unintentionally and unknowingly I accumulated a lot. While losing a fortune that I could use for my future or other more meaningful things for me. I started this so called journey of minimalism only mid 2016. Guess what I do not miss nor need all the items I gotten rid of since then. It has taken me time to finish for the simple reason that I have way too many of everything. I was and still I am a dirt poor. As I am living a hand to mouth way of life.
Aside from having too much I also had a separation anxiety with my earthly possessions. And I do not have a plan on which to tackle first. Whatever I see first then that is the first thing I will work on. People share their journey with minimalism to inspire others that if they can do it then others too. Or just because they are simply too happy for succeeding in the journey they have chosen. Or just like me they want to document the process they have gone through. Or the progress of it. Minimalism does not mean you will throw everything out. Because each one of us has different needs in life. Like in my case we have uniform at work and so I can go back to where I started when I only have two sets of everything. We have winter here but it does not snow so I only need one outfit for snow which I get to use only when I am on vacation somewhere with winter.
Since December 2017 I had been more intense with my cleaning up the small space. And I want to kick myself for keeping whatever I kept. In UAE whenever you shop, most stores are using paper bags. Paper bags that I take home and I used them to store whatever I see inside then put them in the corner until one day they piled up into nothing but a clutter inside the house. Then I had this 4 layer drawer that I bought in 2010 and used to store just about anything. Guess what are the things I found and thrown out since December 2017? Even me was surprised. How on earth did I kept so much garbage inside the tiny space? All the receipts dating back in 2008. All the bills dating back in 2009. All the flyers (not sure about the word) from the movie house you know the list of showing and timings since 2010. Such documents were placed in different locations all over the house. Think about having small items all over that can be a breeding place for insects. More than a dozen CDs. I took photos of everything and posted them in my Instagram account. And right now the said account has more than 1,000 photos. Half are the items I have thrown out.
Maybe I will be done if I will spend one month continuously doing what I am doing. Will take me half a year if I will not take it seriously. One year and six months had passed and I am still doing it. One instagram user has even mistaken me for a seller as I also posted the makeup I decluttered. I wasted time. I wasted space. I wasted money. And I can never turn them back anymore. 2017 I still buy some items but there has been a huge different compared to what I was like in 2016 and previous years. I do not buy just because something is cheap. So what if the pants or slippers is on sale for only 10AED? Once I give in and buy them then it is another clutter inside the house. Will surely use it once or twice then ignore it afterwards. At least when my place is totally clean up and I only have whatever I need, I will then have time to put on makeup everyday. Or do other things that I need to do. But not now that I am still surrounded by clutter.
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