My Minimalist Journey – Part 1

Everything changed in January 2023 – my husband was diagnosed with Grave’s disease the day before Christmas Eve, and I was having to pick up slack around the house to keep everything running. Living with a chronic illness is no picnic, and there was a lot of adjusting to accommodate his constant fatigue, diet changes, and figuring out a “new normal.” I went through a severe period of grieving after his diagnosis that left me overwhelmed and depressed.

I was expecting our second child, wrangling a toddler, maintaining a part-time job, and trying to keep the household running, and I felt like I was drowning. I was depressed, anxious, and grieving because I felt like my life would now forever be consumed by everything around me. I’d have no time to myself, the household chores would all fall to me, and I would be barely keeping my head above water. I was trying to clean out my office to convert it to a nursery, and I was collecting all the extra “stuff” to put into the big family garage sale. I was still barely holding on – I felt isolated. One Saturday, at my husband’s request, my friends stepped in, they helped me clean my house. It was a grand gesture of kindness that I will not soon forget. I felt a little better about it for a couple days. Then I started drowning again.

My mom casually mentioned The Minimal Mom in one of our conversations about clearing out clutter, and I started taking my coffee into the office/nursery every morning and watching her videos out of curiosity. From the start, I was inspired to eliminate the stuff from my house – I had already started. I was clearing out the nursery, I was getting rid of clothes because I didn’t feel like holding onto them anymore. I was already grieving all of my unfinished, probably-never-gonna-happen projects. Dawn, The Minimal Mom, gave me hope that if I got rid of all the clutter that was consuming my mental energy, I might get my life back. 

My office BEFORE

Here I am, two weeks later. I have 10+ boxes of stuff to be removed to the family garage sale, and I feel SO MUCH BETTER! I cannot tell you the relief I have experienced from releasing stuff! I am so far from done, but I’ve started, and that counts for so much. 

I will probably never be truly minimalist. I married a collector, and I have decided that I’m not going to try to convince him to get rid of his stuff. If he wants to, he will, and I can work with that. The biggest relief to me is getting rid of all the mental inventory I didn’t realize I was carrying. I have released so much of my mental load simply by getting rid of things I don’t use anyway. I started small, but I’ve quickly realized the freedom it gives me to do more, be myself, and enjoy life again. I feel so much freer, and I’m excited to continue my journey toward minimalism. I may or may not ever get there, but I’ve started reclaiming my life! I can breathe in my own home again, and I’m not drowning anymore!

The same room? Here is the nursery AFTER.