Back in 2019 I watch a film called Minimalism. It really got me thinking and also triggered my anxiety about everyone's trash including mine. I started looking around my house for things to donate and I became conscious of any future purchases, asking myself whether I really needed that item or not. I was doing pretty good and then 2020 hit.
I don't know exactly what it was about the pandemic, but it became harder to get rid of things. It was as if I wanted to hold on to as much as possible. I also began to panic buy things, mainly educational materials for our kids, but it was much more than we needed. At least I can say we survived 2020 without hoarding toilet paper.
This past January, I saw that there was another film on Netflix called The Minimalist made by the same gentlemen. I threw it on curious to see what was different from the first film. Essentially they are the same film except the second one featured other people on their journey to minimalism. Once again I was inspired. In the film, they talk about a 30-day challenge in which you get rid of 1 material item a day for 30 days. I looked around I immediately saw 5 things I could donate. So my challenge began.
I started in the Kitchen and it took about 5 days to go through. There was a bunch of stuff I forgot I had or never really used. I moved on to our living and dining room where there were entertainment centers and hutches with knick-knacks and random things in them. Slowly, I worked my way upstairs, going from room to room. My kids watched what I was doing and before I knew it, they were going through their rooms and bringing things down to donate. I took a picture of everything I was donating each day, posted them in my stories, and let all my friends know they could have anything they wanted. A few friends reached out and it was nice to see my stuff find a new home.
It was hard to pick just one item a day, so I did multiple items. There was only one day where I got rid of 1 thing and that was the day I went through my Halloween decor. It was a fun challenge and felt totally liberating. The best part was creating a habit of decluttering and getting rid of things that no longer bring value to my life.
At the end of the 30 days, the total number of items I donated was 335. Most of these things were out of sight and out of mind. I wouldn't be able to tell you what all was donated had I not taken pictures. If you are interested in doing this challenge I suggest you watch Minimalism and The Minimalist and see how transformative letting go of material possessions truly is.
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