Sunday, March 20, 2016

Living Lightly

The process of moving to London has forced me to deal with a part of my life I was always uncomfortable with, but never actually took the time to engage. I have always wished I could be more objective and less sentimental when it came to holding on to things; silly trinkets, old jars that may come in useful and other clutter that I didn't ever take the time to fully decide why I was holding on to. Well, packing all my possessions into boxes to be stored for years or, alternatively, fitting them into a limited 30kg of luggage to take with me, has really made that process happen through necessity. 

We had decided that we weren't going to ship anything over to England and we would just survive with the combined 60kg of luggage that we could take with us on the flight. So, I had known that we would have to get rid of a lot of useless junk when we moved; it doesn't make sense to hoard items for a long period of time when they don't have a particular use. It started when I considered my wardrobe. I have managed to cart a lot of clothes along with me throughout my life and I often only throw something out when I haven't worn it for an unnecessarily long amount of time. I knew I was going to have to donate a lot of clothes, many of which I still wore and loved, because I could only pack a limited amount. I didn't think it would be practical to store clothes for 2 - 5 years in boxes with mothballs! As hard as it was to admit, I was certain I wouldn't want to wear them after that. 

So in preparation for this traumatic throwing out session, I began to seek solace from people who had done something similar before. I looked up people online who had purged their stuff for various reasons. At first, I was doing this as a way of fulfilling my desire to ponder on the future task at hand, rather than a deliberate act of learning how to do it. But, I soon began to become excited at the prospect of whittling my wardrobe down to those essentials which I love and need, and not have the clutter of items which I thought I may someday use, but never actually would! I came across some inspiring bloggers who give advice on simplifying a wardrobe as well as living a more simple and deliberate life when it comes to possessions. 

Caroline Rector, of Unfancy, is a proponent of what has become known as the Capsule Wardrobe. This approach requires that you pare down your clothes into 36 items per season. You pack the non-current-season clothes away and only have your 36 items in your available wardrobe. The process of selecting your 36 items is very deliberate and they are ones which you love and wear often. That way you are likely to get the most use out of those items and not have any extras cluttering up your wardrobe and mind. Obviously, this approach couldn't work exactly for me as I needed all my clothes, not only those which were seasonal. And I needed a lot of pieces which would work both in summer and in winter. However, I did find Caroline's "wardrobe planner" to be surprisingly helpful in identifying the kinds of clothes that I like and tend to be most comfortable wearing. I was quite sceptical at first but I would honestly suggest to anyone to take the time (an hour or so) to set to working through the steps to identifying your own unique style and preferences. Although I haven't done much shopping since following the process, I have walked through a clothing shop here and there and have felt much more confident knowing exactly what I am looking for, rather than overwhelmed by the masses of pretty things. 

Since arriving in London, I have discovered a video blogger called Aileen Xu of Lavendaire, who has set about recording videos cataloging her life while she attempts to live more simply, happily and deliberately. She posts videos about everything; from how she organises her desk, to her morning routine, in such beautifully edited videos that they have inspired me to create a life which is more conscious of what makes me relaxed and happy. 

Another interesting, albeit more extreme, online website I have come across, is called The Minimalists. These are two friends, Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus, who write about their journey towards living a truly minimalist lifestyle. They also produce podcasts, which resemble radio talk shows, in which they discuss the reasons for decluttering their physical and mental space of all the stuff that we are conned into desiring. Their approach is a little too severe for my taste, but I really found a lot of good advice on intentional living while perusing their site. A favourite article was this (very short) comment on the prospect of having a President who was a minimalist. There are some lovely quotes from Calvin Coolidge, the 30th President of the United states. My favourite is “Prosperity is only an instrument to be used, not a deity to be worshipped.”    

And so, although Frans and I do have a lot fewer items than we did when living in South Africa, the deliberate choice of it all has been surprisingly freeing. I am so grateful that we were "forced" to consider every possession we own and decide its usefulness. It has already made life so much easier and less cluttered. 

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