Owning 15 things: 7 months in

It is almost 7 months into my minimalism kick. I own just about 15 things (real number is about 20 now) after selling everything in August to travel and figure some things out.

What is it like?

Beautiful and simple.

I own two shirts. It is shirt 1 or shirt 2. I’ll wash them at night about once a week. I have one pair of shoes. One pair of pants. Life is just simple. I get to focus on other things, quite a blessing.

What have I learned?

1) It is not that hard. Lack of choice helps, not hurts. I still have not had someone point out that yes, indeed, I did wear that shirt yesterday.
2) Stuff controls my life. The TED gift bag double the stuff I own. Giving it away was pretty dang fun.
3) When you have nothing your language turns from ‘I want’ to ‘we should do ___.’ The joy in life is from not the thing, but they actions and community.

I’m sitting in a coffeeshop in Austin with everything I own under the table. What I do in an hour, a day or month is totally undecided. There is an excitement to that. One day I will give it up. For now, not a chance.

Too many things like this to see.