Tough question about going "extreme" with minimalism/simple living

freshstart:

When my marriage ended and I was free to minimize as I pleased my first count of my possessions was 500-something. Now I am down to about 186, I think (I'll have to check my spreadsheet. haha). But there have been very few things that I sold, threw away, or donated that I needed again. One thing was a box fan, it cost me $25. Mistakes happen when simplifying and I try not to let them freeze me into a state of inaction because over all the vast, vast majority of the time I never need what I minimized. Which means I probably did not need it in the first place.

As for the bed... well, it is old and I had it during college and grad school. How can I put this delicately? It has been highly trafficked. haha Is that TMI? The bed needs replaced I think. Its best days are long gone.

Your point about keeping what I have rather than buying something new is well-taken though. I need to be especially watchful about the "You can buy minimalism" trap. The people who make that trap are crafty and want my money! haha
So I will think carefully. :)

Tammy:

Good point! And I bet that was a great adventure for your son.

Chicken lady:

I appreciate the words of caution. I will deliberate on them.

Mobility, a smaller living space, and a lighter footprint are all parts of the composite of reasons for my living simply and for this urge to take it to the edge.

If minimalism stopped facilitating my happiness and joy then I would ease off and reassess. But I still feel like there is more juice to be squeezed from the orange just as long as I am willing to squeeze with both hands.

But I will say what intrigues me most -- and profoundly -- is how you went into recovery from your hoarding. I'd really like to hear more about that.

Kestra:

I'd like to hear from Fawn. Too bad she is not around much anymore. :/

If the car goes, then the canoe goes. There is no other safe or reasonable way to haul it. Though from most places in the city I could ride a bicycle to one of my favorite fishing lakes. But if I sold the canoe and kept the car (for now) I could still fish from the shore in many lakes around. The canoe takes up a lot of space and there are paddles, an anchor, a soft rack to put it on the roof, etc.

I enjoy the simplicity of throwing on my waterproof boots and just putting my pole and tackle box in the hatchback and going to the lake. The canoe has to be loaded, unloaded, and reloaded on the roof each trip.

I am familiar with ERE -- very interesting site!

I cry a lot. Seriously.

I'm not so much " in recovery" as actively recovering. Like the bear who went over the mountain.


15 years ago We had a basement flood. I lost of lot of possessions. I cried, cleaned up/ out some, and then filled the dining room (which had no windows, could be closed off from the house, and wouldn't flood!)


We moved - for a variety of reasons, i cried and I purged a lot of stuff in the service of that - no one could tell but me. I still filled the new basement and half a semi-finished pole barn.


My best friend went through a bad divorce and needed a place to live. We both cried and I cleared a lot of the pole barn. (it has a full bathroom) I'm sure it was still like living in a storage unit and I feel badly about that - it could have been much nicer.


My oldest child left for college, my husband was running out of patience - after 20 years!, and I found a book about stuff that actually helped me understand what was going on in my head and my life and I told everybody. And I cried a lot. And dh went on vacation alone for a week and my cousin came and I cleaned out half the basement.


My grandmother died. And my father - fearing the avalanche of stuff to end all episodes of hoarders - told my mother one in, one out. Dh thought that was a good plan. And I thinned out the things in my house to make room for the things of my grandmother's that I wanted and tried really hard to be as selective as possible. And I cried constantly.


And now, one kid has her own home, one has an apartment 9 months of the year, and one is in a dorm for the same time. We are embarking on an addition that will give us LIVING space over storage space, and the construction process involves removing the wall from the side of the basement where the last of the hoard is crouching.


I struggle, I get tired, I cry, and I try very hard to be honest with myself. It's two steps forward and one step back. But for the first time, I think the people around me believe I might make it.

Wow, Chicken Lady, what an amazingly honest analysis of your situation. I wish you all the best in your struggle.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by UltraliteAngler

freshstart:



I need to be especially watchful about the "You can buy minimalism" trap. The people who make that trap are crafty and want my money! haha
So I will think carefully. :)

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That is so true in the tiny house movement. The costs for a tiny house are huge...when an RV can be a lot less expensive, less hassle (less weight), and more room. $60,000+ for an 6x10 space? Really?

Course I'd love to give up my 1500 SF house/ 1/2 acre and live on a little houseboat. I still kayak around a lot of my favorite docks (with lower bay rents) and keep an eye on craigslist to see what's for sell. Can't convince the DH that that is the way we should go....yet.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by UltraliteAngler

Kestra:

The canoe has to be loaded, unloaded, and reloaded on the roof each trip.
!

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Oh, if I had to load the kayaks to a car roof carrier....I'd probably give up and sell them. Love my little truck - toss in, strap, and go.

[QUOTE=UltraliteAngler;207778]
If the car goes, then the canoe goes. There is no other safe or reasonable way to haul it. Though from most places in the city I could ride a bicycle to one of my favorite fishing lakes. But if I sold the canoe and kept the car (for now) I could still fish from the shore in many lakes around. The canoe takes up a lot of space and there are paddles, an anchor, a soft rack to put it on the roof, etc.

I enjoy the simplicity of throwing on my waterproof boots and just putting my pole and tackle box in the hatchback and going to the lake. The canoe has to be loaded, unloaded, and reloaded on the roof each trip. /QUOTE]

I've seen quite a few people using a canoe/kayak trailer with their bicycle:
http://www.wicycle.com/index.php/pro...icycle-trailer

You could then use your canoe as an essential tool to move your stuff vs. thinking of it as a burden that must be carried somehow from point A to point B.

Chicken lady:

Thank you for sharing that. I am certain it takes courage to share that. I am also certain it takes more courage to power into this recovery. More power to you!

As I mentioned, my parents are both compulsive hoarders. Neither of them will admit it. During the summer of 2013 my sister and I went back home (about 2.5 hours away from Columbus, OH where we both live). Our intention was to clean out a room or two in my parents' house. My dad had reached a tipping point where he could not keep up with the clutter or the maintenance. His health had gone downhill bad.

My dad was largely cooperative; he just went out into the yard with my brother-in-law so my BIL could chainsaw some fallen trees. This way he would not see what was taken out for trash or donation. But my mom was like a watchful hawk guarding the stacks of possessions, knick-knacks, mountains of old mail, etc.

This was the day I realized hoarding was a real mental illness. Before that I thought my parents were just lazy or something like that. As soon as my sister and I started putting things that were clearly trash into a trash bag my mom just went BERSERK! She started crying hysterically, yelling, and rooting through the trash bag we had started filling. Keep in mind that we also had bags for Goodwill and for stuff my sister and I were supposed to keep (though she and I decided ahead of time we'd donate any good stuff mom gave us to the needy).

My mom spent all day crying, yelling, saying the most mean and spiteful things to us I ever heard her say to anyone.

At the end of the day we got one carload of donation stuff and a few bags of trash. But the damage was done. My mom would not ever agree to let us help with cleaning again. My sister basically put the blinders on and was like: "I guess we'll deal with this when they die." And for me, I have just been trying to emotionally divest from the situation.

I am an "extreme" minimalist in many people's eyes. This is obviously in part due to my parents. My sister is an obsessive cleaner. When I catch fish with my BIL I'll filet the fish in their kitchen sometimes. And I know how to clean up! The health department and OSHA would probably give me an award! haha. But my poor sis, she'll maniacally go back and re-clean it all. She has even said to me: "I know it is already clean. But I have to do it again...because of mom."