Be More with Less

simplicity is love

Simplicity in Action: Kim

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Editor’s Note: This is a post in the series, Simplicity in Action. If you’d like to submit your story of how simplicity has worked in your life, please read more here. You can write about anything from decluttering a junk drawer to simplifying your diet. Let your small and big changes inspire others.

Kim

In 2007 I got engaged. We had just moved back to the Mainland from Hawaii and, after “making do” in our small 500-square-foot apartment, we thought it was time to upsize our lives.

As many newly engaged couples do, we happily shopped and registered for all kinds of items at Amazon.com and Crate & Barrel. I really enjoyed picking out all kinds of fun stuff I was ready to “need.”

I thought the brand-new food processor & mixer seemed like appropriate items to get, and so onto the registry it went. Never mind that I don’t really cook.

Fast forward to a few months ago. I was in the kitchen and my eyes caught sight of the mixer and food processor we received as wedding gifts. They both sat there unopened and unused.

I felt guilty that I’d never opened them and wondered why I had thought that by just having them around I would somehow want to cook more.

Then I started looking around the rest of the house and suddenly realized we had really done a fantastic job of accumulating a *lot* of stuff.

Along with completely unused items, it seemed we had extras of everything, too: office supplies, toiletries, shoes for this & shoes for that, jackets for this & jackets for that. How
had this happened?

We collected some things because of seemingly good reasons, like:

  • We had the space and figured we could find a use for it somehow.
  • We thought maybe some day we might have a need for it, so we’d better keep it “just in case.”
  • We thought it might spur us into adopting and honing new skills (like cooking, perhaps?).

But, looking around, I knew that most of this was just stuff. Stuff we didn’t really need, stuff we never really used, stuff we didn’t even want.

The timing was good, though, because around the same time my husband and I had decided we were ready for a big change. We had decided to move to Alaska.

Now that we’ll be moving again – and this time most everything we own will need to fit in our car – my husband and I are ready and excited to be really ruthless in giving away or selling practically everything.

We’re now two months into this new challenge and with every item that leaves our house, I feel a sense of lightness.

Somehow our stuff was weighing me down. Our house became a bit too cluttered and a bit too full of extraneous things and it ended up affecting my mental peace.

I’m just getting started and it already feels incredible. It’s been a lot easier letting go of things than I’d ever imagined, and I only wish we’d started sooner.

I can’t wait to continue sorting through our things and paring down our belongings to the absolute essentials (plus a few meaningful and fun things, too). It’ll be like a brand new start.

Read more about Kim & her journey to Alaska at Kim Olson Photography, say hi on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.

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More inspiration to live with less …

 

Comments

  1. Dear Kim,
    I’ve come to the same conclusion as you (to live more lightly) but from the other end of the age spectrum. I’ve always valued living simply, but as a baby-boomer I’ve collected many things through parenting 4 children. After they all were sprung, I held on to baby and children’s clothes and toys “just in case” the grandkids would want/need them. Occasionally that proves true but usually they are too dated, unsafe, or just not their style. I blog about my experience of giving away at least one thing a day for a year at http://www.SusanVogt.net/blog. One area that I’m looking for advice about is how to use technology to simplify one’s life and not complicate it further with a plethora of gadgets. (Since it looks like you are a generation earlier than me being newly married, you and others may have insights/ideas on this.) I await your wisdom and experience.

    • Hi Susan,

      Thanks for your comments and for sharing a bit of your story. I am totally with you on trying to keep life simple and not go crazy with gadgets. I personally try to limit what technology items I use and try to find ways to make use of only a cell phone, laptop and iPod. I could probably even eliminate the iPod since my phone has enough space to hold most of my MP3 collection.

      I’ve been pretty paperless for a while which helps eliminate file cabinets and saves space. For things I may need to keep copies of – like receipts, ticket stubs, or other important paper items – I take photos of everything or scan them and save it digitally. Then if I need it again, I can reference it or print it out.

      Because I’m paranoid about losing important documents and images and I don’t want a bunch of external hard drives I have to cart around, I also use services like Dropbox (for documents) and SmugMug (for photos). They let me upload my data to the “cloud” which provides an offsite backup. It’s been great.

      I hope that helps. If you have any other specific questions, let me know. 🙂

      Kim

  2. Hi Kim,
    Living minimalist truly is freeing, especially if you move a lot. I work for the National Park Service and we’ve moved 3 times in 4 years. Lugging around a bunch of stuff just doesn’t make sense. I have found life is richer without it anyway. Experiences and relationships become the center of your life.

    Good luck on your new adventure. Alaska is a wonderful place.

    Dan @ ZenPresence.com

    • Hi Dan,

      Ooo, working for the NPS must lead you to some wonderful places! Where have you worked?

      Yeah, I really can’t get over just how freeing it’s been. I won’t lie – getting rid of some stuff isn’t gonna be easy. I do tend to get attached to certain items (like my favorite reading chair – it’s so comfy!), but as you said, lugging it around from place to place just doesn’t make sense.

      And I really love that with less stuff, my focus has shifted more towards building relationships and having memorable experiences.

      Kim

  4. I agree that letting go of things is much easier if you realise that stuff can actually be holding you back mentally. We downsized six months ago and got rid of a lot of stuff but I’m ready to reduce my belongings further again. Good luck 🙂

    • Hi Claire – for us, it’s definitely a one-step-at-a-time kind of thing. I’ve gone through my clothes so many times and things I wanted to keep a few months ago, I now look at and can more easily let go of. Once the whole process started moving along, it became easier to shed more things.

  5. Thanks for sharing, Kim! Your story made me laugh, because I remember all the “must-have’s” that we got, as wedding gifts. Here is a blog post I did about them, recently: http://oursocalledlife.blog.com/2012/11/08/something-we-do-without-electric-cooking-appliances/ . Yes, we actually had a pizza cooker!

    There definitely is no cure for hoarding like adventuring. We live on a sailboat in the summer (100-200 square feet of living space), so we quickly learned to downsize and streamline. Good luck with your adventures in Alaska!

  6. Bethany, your post rings so true to me and talks exactly about all of the things that I started noticing around our kitchen, in particular.

    In no other room did we have so many items that seemed designed to do only one or two tasks. Why did I need a food processor when a little manual chopping does the job just fine? And I also have had nothing but trouble with electric can openers. My manual ones have done a better job most every time.

    I can imagine living on a small sailboat would really cause you to think twice about everything you bring with. That sounds like quite a fun adventure, too!

  7. I can relate to the “aspirational acquisition”. I’ve finally realized that simplicity is not just about changing oneself but realizing and accepting who we really are. I recently signed up for deliveries from a company on Maui called Kula Fields. They are a wonderful concept, they deliver a box of locally grown fruits and veggies to your home. I signed up for bi-weekly deliveries imagining it would prompt me to learn how to prepare new veggies and be healthier.

    About two months later, I finally dropped out after realizing I was overwhelmed with the fridge full of veggies that was often wasted. I missed my herb salad mix that I used to buy and faithfully eat the whole thing but no longer was buying because I had these other veggies in my fridge. I finally accepted I get home very late at night, I don’t cook much and I preferred to eat what I was eating before, my herb salad with my homemade salad dressing, eggplants from my mother”s garden and local strawberries. That’s it, I didn’t need the entire slew of stuff being sent to me, I missed my usual favorites and having a select few items in my fridge and trying a new item every so often. The service is a great one, just not for me at this time, with my away from home a lot schedule.

    • Hi Tania – Ah, Kula greens – there was a cute little deli/cafe that we went to in Kula a few times and it was one of my favorite places on Maui. Good memories and so deliciously fresh.

      I’m sure you had the best intentions when you signed up (as I did when I bought all that kitchen stuff thinking I would magically get into cooking, which never happened) and then found out that it wasn’t for you. I’ve learned that at least for now, I don’t enjoy cooking and having fancy equipment isn’t gonna make me like cooking any more. So yeah, definitely good to know yourself and what you like.

    • Thanks, Aly! We’re definitely excited and are enjoying every step along the way as we purge excess stuff and plan the trip.

  9. Kim, you inspire me!!! I think reducing clutter DOES increase mental peace and you found a way to share that with us all. Thanks and we will be excited to follow your Alaskan journey.

    • Aww, thanks, Lori!! I’m just grateful that I’m slowly learning these things about myself. In the future, I know I’ll be far more mindful about everything I acquire.

  10. I too bought a food processor thinking I would cook some fabulous things…… it’s sitting in my spare shower. Wish I’d have read your post first.

    PS a stick blender will work in the place of a food processor for making blended soups and it takes up much less space. Does anyone really use their food processor to chop stuff. Doesn’t a knife work just as well or better for that.

    One more comment, I remember when I graduated from college and all my belongings fit in my car. There was an amazing feeling knowing that everything I owned fit in my car. Fast forward 6 months, I bought a couch and with it came a weight, everything I owned didn’t fit in my car anymore. Fast forward many years I would need a decent size moving truck for my belongings and I am nostalgic for the time when all I had fit in my car.

  11. Hey Stacy – Thanks for the stick blender recommendation and I agree that a knife definitely works better for chopping. I think initially I was just lazy and thought it’d be better to have the food processor do it for me. I’m glad I decided to change it up and use the knife for most things, instead.

    As far as going from fitting it all into your car to needing a truck, I’ve had the same experience. One of our most recent moves “required” a 17′ truck that towed our car. But this time, it’ll just be the car. What a difference it’ll be!

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