Time to do stuff

This whole week we have not had to do any chores except laundry and washing the glasses and plates we us when eating. The whole house is about 90% clean and tidy, and so easy to keep that way because NO STUFF. Well, not a lot of stuff is in the house.
We are not completely done with minimizing but I would confidently say that we are most of the way there at this point. It feels great! It feels more than great. I find myself wandering around the house thinking I need to clean something or pick up stuff ect ect, but everything is in its place and I can sit down and enjoy my off time in the evenings, mornings and the weekends.

My next project is the front and back yards. I haven't done anything with them other then plant some trees. Next I aim to put down a couple of grow boxes and make a seating area. This one is going to be a challenge for me as I am not a Gardner nor a landscaper. Only the hardcore survivors of the plant kingdom survive my green thumb. Currently my African Violet is trying to climb out of her pot. She did so successfully once, I plugged her back into the dirt but she is now teetering on the edge of her planter and refusing to go back. At this point I fear I have no other choice then to offer a larger, prettier planter for her enjoyment and hope she decides to stay.

Getting the yard in shape is going to need a lot of weeding and will probably result in many tears and sunburns, but I am determined to get them in some sort of shape by mid summer. Armed with bug repellant, spray-on sunblock and lots of alcohol I will conquer the wilderness that is my back yard and bend it to my will. It's sad how domestic I have become. Happiness is to never have to face your younger self and see the disappointment on their face when they realize what you have become.

In my quest for a relaxing and growthy (I invented a word, in my world this word means 'lots of plants and flowers which have NOT been landscaped to an inch of their life) backyard, I look at a lot of Better Homes Magazine, Home and Garden, and of course IKEA. I am Scandinavian so IKEA always makes my nipples hard. Since I am minimizing I am trying to buy only the essentials: plants, materials for a seating area and some simple lighting. It's a little frightening as I have no idea what I am doing and am concerned that I will waste money, but right now we cannot use the yard and this endeavor will at least teach me something form the mistakes that I am bound to make.

Plan is to start this weekend.

Becoming a minimalist

What is it with people becoming minimalists and then starting blogs? 'Cause here I am blogging while tossing and giving my belongings away. Maybe it's that once you get rid of the distractions and you're not enslaved by your chores you find that you have so much time on your hands and you have fill it with something. In my case I am going to try this writing thing once more.

I am not a writer nor a storyteller but I enjoy typing up my thoughts now and then to share with others. Sometimes it is easier to share your thoughts with strangers then with your own circle of friends and family. When you want real feedback about what you are ruminating on and not someone with preconceived ideas about you to tell you how you should or shouldn't feel or think. I have mentioned to others that I am working on becoming a minimalist but haven't really 'come out' to my family. Seems silly that there should be an issue about a decision to get rid of your belongings, but there is and there isn't. There is in that I don't want the input and guilt trips from friends and family about getting rid of some 'inherited' guilt (stuff they felt bad about getting rid of so they gave it to me), and there isn't in that I don't care what they think. It all just comes down to wanting the time and space to figure out what this entails for me.

Minimalism entails a lot of navel gazing in the beginning and may comes across as selfish at times, but thats part of the process. I know that eventually I will get to the point in the process where it isn't just about me anymore but about everyone and everything else that exists outside my own little world.

I hope that I will stick with this writing. One of the reasons I found time and inclination to write today is that for once in a long time I didn't feel overwhelmed by chores that I have to do. There was no guilt in sitting down and writing for pleasure rather then have to do laundry or clean, or do some sort of work.

It feels very good.