Minimalism

A new documentary, a renewed idea.  I've written and thought and done a lot on the subject of minimalism over the years.  The past five months have ramped it up a little, when we combined households with my mother-in-law.  There is just not that much space and so, by necessity, we are scaling back.

I'm at the point where all the clothes in my closet I actually wear on a regular basis. I continuously cull the toy room (although I believe there is always more there - how sentimental I can be with the kids toys!)

Where I find myself now, however, is not that I don't use everything around me, but could I use less?  I wear all 8 pairs of pants, but could I do with only 3? Everything is useful organized, but is it necessary?  I still feel the clutter, I still long for those spaces where surfaces are clear and boxes don't pile up.

I don't buy things for the thrill, but why do new things become old and lose the lovely feeling they once evoked? That new sweater with which I was so careful eventually becomes something I throw on to clean.  Why don't those beloved things remain beloved?  With less, would they retain some of their wonder?

The only clutter I yearn for are bookshelves.  Every time I see a picture of an airy room with shelves from floor to ceiling stuffed with all shapes and colour and sizes of books, my heart leaps a little.  There is something about being surrounded by all those lovely thoughts poured out on paper that inspires me just by the presence of it all.