What Is Extreme Minimalism?
I used to think minimalism was a person that I aspire to be. ‘A minimalist’. It has a nice ring to it & what I saw online was a feeling I wanted to embody. I wanted to feel the light that would shine through in the places & spaces where bigger & bulkier things (like furniture, dog beds or toy toys) once littered square footage. More house meant more to clean + the inconsistency of my idiosyncrasies led me to needing — nicer cars or rather ‘more house’.
Unfortunately, the removing the litter didn’t lengthen my years of life, nor did underlying issues of grief + trauma that needed to be addressed. I wanted less, but also wanted more babies. I needed less, but also needed this or that, ‘cause babies. The truth — I’ll never be fully cured from consumption.
So minimalism didn’t perfect my imperfectness, but it led me to bread + worm farming + simpler, more mindful ways of life that actually might be healing my nervous system.
Extreme minimalism is moving past a desire for aesthetic, perfectionism or the perfect decluttering method & moving towards healing, intentional living, relationships & Momento mori or ‘remembering that we will die ‘.
I’ll share some, below ||
Mindfulness practices for mothers and/or anyone who wants to spend less time on spending and more time healing their nervous system.
Using the same cup over + over || Having to wash a cup to change drinks or having to look for it, helps me care for what I have and forces me to put energy into finding the cup and washing it and challenges me. This, giving me less energy to buy stuff, or scroll on my phone — where I’m being marketed to to buy more stuff. Using one cup allows me to see that we have too many cups. So, it leaves me with less dirty dishes at the end of the day and opens up an opportunity to mindfully declutter.
Nursing my baby, albeit phone scrolling. Having to tune into my feelings is hard. But, offers me an opportunity to see why I’m wanting this or that that’s in my Amazon cart. It also allows me to see a book box that’s bursting with books that can be read & re-read, offers me a reminder of a looming bill that needs paid or a dinner idea that could use up some produce that’s about to spoil. This practice offers me an opportunity to declutter my mind & then, I can make a list. The internet is gonna leave me with new & improved ideas, but also — maybe I’ll forget to pay the bill because my brain was bombarded with other ideas. Also, I might now need new ingredients and disregard the old, spoiling ones. So, that save for later Amazon cart, how will they help me & why do I really want these things? Practice #2 leads me to practice #
Make a list of the things I have to do and the things I want to buy. Let the wants list linger. I like to think of my wants list like the way I think about having cell phones — How did we survive without cell phones for so long, but might die now without them?
I imperfectly purchase and try and consider the ‘end use’ of my item. Where will this go when I no longer desire it or it’s no longer useful?
Things that slow me down, aren’t bad things. I even wonder if typing this blog post on my phone is doing me an injustice compared to writing, which might actually be a bit more helpful to my nervous system. Hang around as I share some more, simple ways I’m learning that might actually mindfully healing my nervous system.
With grace + coffee,
Waynna
