I have a personal question for you. Only you can answer: How much is enough? In a world of hoarders and minimalists, where do you fall on the continuum, and where would you like to fall?
I’ll tell you, if a hoarder is a 10 and a minimalist is a 1, I’m a 3.5. I’d like to be a 3. I don’t like clutter. I battle it daily. But I do like my stuff: my collections, my clothes, my books, my jewelry, my artwork, my travel memorabilia, my dishes, much of which, some could argue, is unnecessary.
Giving up much more feels like giving up coffee. Why? I don’t want to live an austere life. I do, however, want to live a well-edited life. And purging our excesses, my friends, like eating right and exercising, which are also good for you, takes discipline.
While I don’t strive to be a vegan ultra-triathlete monk, I do aim for self-improvement, so I welcome tips and insights that lead toward better living.
Accumulating information
Stuff — mine and yours — has been on my mind since I spoke last week with former “Hoarders” host Matt Paxton. He and I talked about what makes hoarders hoard, why they have such a deep need to accumulate and cling, and about the other extreme, minimalism, which he’s learned to embrace since merging households with minimalist Zoë Kim.
Curious about what drives minimalists to whittle their belongings to the essentials, I got Kim on the phone. An active Instagramer (@RaisingSimple) and author of “Minimalism for Families” (Althea Press), Kim kicked off our conversation with a disclaimer: “First,” she said with a laugh, “I am not an organized person. Organizing is torture for me. I don’t want to make lists or fold clothes. I learned that the easiest way to organize your stuff is to get rid of it.”
Leave a Reply