Books and Minimalism: My Story

3/13/2018

The Overview

Books: They’re the love of my life. We have a great relationship; they exist and look pretty, and I can thumb through them whenever I feel like it. They’ve always been there for me, and to show my appreciation for them, I shout about their greatness to the winds (and anyone who will listen {like you. Hi there! [Look, I got to use those fancy squiggly brackets no one ever uses.]}). Unfortunately, over the years, I have morphed and changed into a better version of myself, and a result of that growth is a drastic change in my lifestyle. If you didn’t already know, I have

adopted the idea of minimalism into my everyday life. Just over a year ago, physical and mental clutter filled my life. So, over a long weekend around this time last year, I came to a big decision. I was becoming a minimalist, and no one would stop me.

Click Here to Read More

The Background

What is minimalism, you ask? It’s the idea of living with freedom. Freedom from stress, guilt, worry, and all those other nasty feelings that we all get every now and again. It’s about getting rid of all the extra stuff in your life that doesn’t have a purpose or doesn’t bring you happiness. As I started doing more and more research on this idea, I knew it was for me. I got rid of garbage bags full of clothes, cleared out all the beauty products I would use “one day”, and said goodbye to all the useless knick-knacks and clutter that I had apparently thought was a good idea just to have.

The Conflict

As a book blogger and a lover of books, you can imagine the thing that I looked at with a little terror as I continued on my minimalism journey. Every time I snuck a peek at my shelf when I was cleaning, it made me sad; this was the exact scenario that I wanted to eliminate from my life through this process. Finally, I’d had enough. Living with less didn’t have to compromise the things that I loved most.

The Solution

One day, I just bit the bullet; I went through my books. I took them all off the shelves and decided which ones I wanted to keep, and to which ones I could say goodbye. Granted, I saved a lot. But as I went through this process, I found that the ones that I hadn’t enjoyed, or didn’t have an interest in reading anymore were quite easy to part with. Once I got over the hump of thinking that I couldn’t have any books in my life, I became so much happier. I didn’t realize how unhappy the books that I didn’t enjoy were making me by simply existing on my shelf.

The Lesson

If you are considering a minimalist lifestyle, I highly recommend it. You can be a minimalist AND collect anything, not just books (crazy, right?). Minimalism is living with the essentials, which include the things you need (this is where you put that fabulous new roll of toilet paper you bought) and it consists of the things that make you happy (that lovely new book—I see you).