365

I admire minimalists, but I am far from one. There is something appealing to live with less. Less stuff, less mess. On the surface, this means having less materials cluttering the home. It can also translate into getting rid of drama and embracing simplicity in our lives. The more we allow into our lives, the harder it is to filter through it all and see what is important. I believe a simple life is a fuller life.

This page will track my progress to minimalism. I don't expect to live bare bones. However, I hope to come to a reasonable conclusion for a mom living in a family of five. I call this page 365 because my goal is to get rid of one item every day.

While I hope to have my entire family embracing the minimalist movement (or at least declutter a bit), I don't think it is fair to push them off the cliff and say they are jumping with me. For that reason, I am only tracking my progress. Who knows, maybe by the end of the year they will have joined me.

Knowing me, I have to come up with some rules. I don't want to end up cheating myself! Or quitting. I have done that before when it came to my own minimalist movement. So here are my rules:

1. I can only count items that I own or that I am the predominant user. That means I cannot get rid of kids' toys as part of my 365. I can count cooking ware and storage items because I am the one who mainly uses those. Anything communal, like toilet paper rolls, are fair game.

2. If I bring a new item into the home, I must be willing to get rid of an item. It just isn't logical to get rid of 365 items in a year, but take in that many items or more. That would defeat the purpose of minimizing.

3. I also must count gifts as new items brought into the home. If I like it enough to keep it, I must make room for it by saying goodbye to something else.

4. I can get rid of more items on any given day. However, I cannot count those item toward future days unless I'm away. Since I won't be home to get rid of the stuff, I can earmark things in advance or make up for it when I get back.

5. I will post at least weekly, but hopefully daily. That way I can keep track of what I am doing and stay motivated to keep it up for the next 365.