https://www.theguardian.com/environment/shortcuts/2019/jan/13/the-no-buy-movement-could-you-give-up-buying-clothes-and-beauty-products

Over the years, I’ve gotten much better at being a gift receiver, which really helped during this past birthday. These tips may also help you if you are looking to pair down.

Mindfully incorporating self-compassion into my life, like minimalism, has radically changed me. Minimalism has given me more self-compassion and self-compassion has allowed me to pursue minimalism.

When we shop, we often think of the cost as only what’s on the price tag. However, the cost of what we purchase extends way beyond that. Let’s take a sweater as an example.

There are many ways we care for ourselves, some good and some bad. Shopping has been engrained in us as a way to treat ourselves. Yet, it’s not always the best way to show self love and can even have some harmful consequences.

One trap we fall into is shopping for a person we’re not. As a result, we accumulate things we don’t need or really want. When looking to minimize our belongings, it’s important to understand the differences between our dream selves and our real selves.

Keeping up with current events can be exhausting, yet its vitally important. On the search for a minimalist life, some of us may choose to cut out news consumption as a way to simplify. Applying the lessons of minimalism can help us consume news responsibly.

Police violence against Black people is normal and it shouldn’t be. This requires radical solutions. I offer the lens of minimalism as a framework to understand and support these radical solutions.

Clutter and shopping go hand-in-hand. Of course, the more we shop, the more clutter we collect. However, I’ve found that it works the other way too. It may not be intuitive but I believe decluttering has prevented me from spending for several reasons.

Minimalism and perfection are incompatible. I don’t refrain from shopping because my life is perfect and nothing will make it better. I refrain from shopping because I can find contentment with what I have. With minimalism, I’m learning to embrace imperfection so I won’t shop my way out of problems.

This weekend I added five items to my wardrobe, and I feel GREAT about them. These purchases did take quite a bit of planning though, including the following steps.

There is perhaps no better time to try minimalism than when you move. Moving gives you the opportunity to imagine a new life in a home without clutter. If you’re moving soon, I’d offer the following tips.

The narrative of American minimalism is directed by whiteness. This means that white people disproportionately benefit from these resources, while people of color are distinctly disadvantaged. I see this manifesting in three ways.

Some benefits of minimalism are obvious. If you buy less stuff, you can save more money. If you declutter junk, you can keep things organized. However, there are some unexpected benefits of minimalism that have perhaps more greatly impacted me.

While I’ve only considered myself a minimalist since January of 2021, my path to minimalism began about two years ago. It was mostly because of my wardrobe.

There is no one way to be a minimalist. However, if you asked me what the keys to minimalism are, I’d share with you the three below. I don’t follow them perfectly all the time. Sometimes I don’t follow them at all. Keeping them in mind, though, has helped me feel more grounded and grateful.

I’m excited to invite you to read along as I blog my path to a more simple, well-prioritized life, and the thoughts that run through my head along the way… I think it would be helpful to first articulate why I decided to join the many minimalist bloggers out there.