As far back as I can remember, I’ve aspired to be a minimalist…
Or, maybe more accurately, my husband has aspired for me to become a minimalist! 😐
But, alas, it never really happened…
No matter how long I poured over the works of Marie Kondo…
Not even dedicating a whole blog post to the art of decluttering – The Clutter Clinic – Top Tips to Halve your Hoard – had any real impact on my maximalist ways of old.
But the dream was there…
Flickering away just beneath the surface…
To have just the right amount of possessions in my life…
No more stuffed drawers, overflowing wardrobes, heaving shelves! 🤔
And then…
2020 happened!
As that annus horribilis draws to a close, many of my hopes, dreams and aspirations have gone out the window!
And top of that list is my unfulfilled dream of a miniamalist lifestyle!!
Why?
Ooh, multiple reasons, really!
1. It’s Christmas
Christmas has always been a big deal in our house.
I even dedicated an entire blog post to it last year (4 of the Cutest Ever Christmas Decorating Trends!).
Ooh, and the year before (5 Must-Have Christmas Decor Updates).
However, at the end of a year filled with fright, lockdowns and restrictions, never, in all my years on this planet, has Christmas been such a welcome relief!
A release valve of sorts from the madness that has engulfed our precious world for the last nine months, or so.
In other words, as a kickback against all the restrictions of this year, I fully intend to make this Christmas one of excess.
Luckily, big and bold is in right now when it comes to Christmas decor…
Because to convince three over-enthusiastic kids to not put every Christmas decoration we possess on the tree might have been an impossible feat at the present time!
A star as well as a fairy on top of the Christmas tree, minimalist chic categorically does not reside chez nous this year.
Where Christmas decorating is concerned , we’re taking maximalist to the max!
And that means a Christmas tree for everyone…
Just about…
(Even the hubby’s grumbles have been stifled… for now. 😉)
And, contrary to all expectation, basking in the warm glow of Christmas-inspired maximalism is lifting my spirits for the first time in, what seems like, forever! ☺️
2. It’s been a tough year
Oh, yes!
2020 has been the year that just keeps on giving…
Misery and yet more misery, all neatly packaged, coming at us off the conveyor belt of life!
It’s been relentless and never-ending….
And, still, nine months on, there is no real end in sight to our “new normal” of socially acceptable OCD.
On a deadly diet of constantly changing rules and regulations, the mere suggestion of adhering to yet more rules in my private life, even if to attain some utopian dream of a minimalist lifestyle, is tantamount to torture! 😨
No, just no! 🙅♀️
3. Minimalism is overrated
For the last few years, I’ve been under the spell of Japanese organising consultant Marie Kondo and her famous book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.
If only I could be more like Marie, I told myself, my life would be better…
I would somehow be more fulfilled, happier!
I just needed to adopt her system…
And then, boom!
2020 arrived and I realised that I don’t really like life-restricting systems…
At all!
Oh, dear!
Back to the drawing board, I’m afraid… 🤦🏼♀️
4. This guy
Bizarrely, a few weeks ago, my YouTube algorithm decided to offer me up some content from an Asian- American tech guy (aka TechLead), who I had never heard of before.
Apparently, as per his YouTube video titles, he is an ex-Google, ex-Facebook, recently divorced millionaire.
And, despite the fact that my husband’s post-grad Computer Science course is the closest I’ve ever got to being able to code, I was enthralled!
After all, this guy knew the inner workings of those mysterious tech giants better known as Google (The Intern, anyone?!) and Facebook, and was, by all accounts (well, mostly his own admission), a millionaire.
Who wouldn’t be intrigued?!
And, clearly, many were, as his channel boasts almost 1 million subscribers and numerous press write-ups.
One of the very first videos that I watched by this YouTuber happened to concern his love of minimalism.
He’s into tech and a Millenial, so hardly surprising, really!
But, what was shocking was my reaction to his treatment of a subject that I thought I loved…
I don’t know whether it was his robotic, monotone and potentially sarcastic delivery, or the fact that he truly thought he could happily survive surrounded by so few possessions , or that his attitude to “stuff’” generally mirrored my husband’s, but I was aghast, flabbergasted, astounded that such an individual (who wasn’t my husband 😉) could actually exist.
At first, I guessed he might have created a parody channel, a character along the lines of Sacha Baron Cohen’s Borat.
But, no, a quick internet search proved that this ex-Google, ex-Facebook character did actually exist under the real-life name of Patrick Shyu.
Astounding!
And even more astounding was the minimalist, tech-led future he predicted for all of us, where “old-fashioned” house ownership would become a thing of the past…
Instead, we would all be happy in tiny minimalist apartments with virtual reality glasses stuck to our heads.
“Who needs furniture, or designer handbags, when you can have it all virtually, through a screen?!” he earnestly suggests.
Er, no, not for me, thank you!
Whatever about his status as an ex-Google, ex-Facebook employee, I now fully understand his status as an ex-husband… 🤦🏼♀️
And my status as an ex-minimalist! 😉
5. YOLO
If 2020 has taught me anything it is to appreciate every precious moment with family and friends and live life as if every day were your last.
Life is simply too short for fear, worry, regret, regulations and “what-ifs”.
To live life in a suffocatingly restrictive, minimalist bubble is not to live at all.
So, while there is still breath left in this mortal body of mine, I am going to shun minimalism is all its potential glory for a real life of living large!
(Here’s hoping the hubby can cope with my new/old normal! 😉)
As ever, my dear readers, I’ll keep you all posted on my progress!
Until next time,
💋 Mostly Mum
*All gifs are via GIPHY