From my previous update, I said I want to try to update my website weekly, so here I am trying. I even set a reminder for it. Probably have to think of things to write about if I want to continue updating weekly.
I did finish reading a book the past week. I read it while waiting for E to fall asleep and I also read it on my phone. I’ve been trying to not be so set on reading only physical books because then the time I get to read is also limited. so yes I did read a few books here and there over the past years and I started this year with an e-book. I started following an account on Instagram about minimising your house. and I saw that the person was reading a book, Goodbye, things by Fumio Sasaki. So I thought I would try to read it too. I am not such a minimal person. I like the idea. I find it calming to look at an uncluttered space but at the same time I’m quite a sentimental person and I also like to collect things. So I am in between I guess. I don’t own so many things, and I can probably live very minimally, in terms of clothes, I have my set of clothes that I always wear and I only change them out yearly if anything. Our current house now, I try to keep things in control. I like at the end of the day, for things to be nice and put away. Sometimes I do let things mount over but only for a few days. I try to buy only necessary things. And I believe in buying things that can last. Something that will also make you feel good using them. If it doesn’t feel good or I am constantly thinking about oh there’s a better one, then I shouldn’t buy that thing. So far, our kitchen has remained quite minimal because of this thinking. And I do get easily overwhelmed when things are out of place so keeping in the idea of minimalism does help.
We have a kid so it’s a bit hard to be minimal? but I guess that is kind of an excuse. When we moved, we minimised E’s toys and only kept what we think can grow with him. Even his clothes, we try to have a few sets, that is always in rotation. And from early on, we have been keeping to that mindset. And we have so far keep at it, like just having one or two pair of shoes for him. even for us now too, O just have one. And I have at least four or five, and I definitely want to minimise more because I know I can do with less. So far, with less things, it really makes things far easier to put away, to clean. For a while when we just moved, I keep thinking am I not cleaning enough? because I would be done so quickly, even with putting away E’s toys from early on, I did my best to sort his toys by type or categories, and I guess it does help now because when E does help to put toys away, he will know to put things where they should go. or even when we are putting toys away, it’s not frustrating or will take a lot of time, everything has it own place.
The only thing that makes it seem that we’re not minimal is probably our collection of books(mostly me) and games(mostly O). We like books and games and we always just want to have these things with us, some I’m hoping E will read and some O is hoping E will play. So in a way, we’re not just keeping things for no reason. well at least we’re trying our best to not hoard things. Reading the book it does help to make it clear that being a minimalist is not all about getting rid of your things but it’s a way of life. Being minimal is every aspect of your life will really help you appreciate life more. All the small moments. with less things, with less to think about, it opens up your world. Well I am working towards that. We are always trying to slow down, appreciate things more, see things through E’s eyes. trying is always the key word here.
oh there you go, topic for this week, minimalism for our family :)