An Ode to Minimalism (Or I Wish I Could Pack Less)

One of our first steps in the process to relocate to Montana was to purge our current possessions of things we no longer wanted or needed. Even though we have an entire garage of things to sell, donate, and recycle, I know I'm still clinging to belongings that I could live without. Even though I take pride on being able to deprogram myself of all the banality of decades of exposure to commercial messaging and misguided cultural mores (which transmogrify the masses from common imbeciles to compliant sheeple), I feel like I cannot shake the need to surround myself with material possessions.

No, my accumulation is not this bad...

Motivations for Material Wealth

After a little reflection, I think the cause behind material possession accumulation can mostly be boiled down to four motives:

• Identity - Things that reflect your interests, values, passions, and self.
• Prestige - Things that influence others' impression of your self worth.
• Sentiment - Things that trigger fond memories of loved ones or personal experience.
• Utility - Things we use to accomplish some task.

Certainly there is overlap between these motivations, maybe that antique La Cornue range you inherited from your great-grandmother is a source of identity because you aspire to be a culinary master, while it is also a famous marque worth tens of thousands of dollars making your kitchen very prestigious, not mention all the memories of preparing dinner for the family with four generations of women from your family... and hey, it works perfect for everyday meals too!

I think I have a good handle on half of the motivations, but I admit that I have an issue with collecting (identity) and then everything people have given me for those collections also makes them sentimental. It doesn't help to think that maybe my daughter might also get some use out of these collections as she gets older (mostly books and games).

Still, I believe I have made progress. I have finally let go of reams of magazines whose pages I've barely touched since picking them off the newsstand, yet manage to carry around with me for the last fifteen years. Mountains of books that are no longer relevant are gone. I still have a sizable library, but at least it is not overflowing any longer. I've shed about half of wardrobe. I've also managed to expunge enough electronics that they could repurpose the silicon to build a dozen Deep Blues.

Tiny Home Inspirations

Tiny Home  Mountain Cottage

I'm inspired by the Tiny Home Movement, though I'm not under any allusions about achieving such a thing until our daughter goes to college. Still, it is something to aspire to. Reducing our footprint and banishing all the things that keep us shackled inside so we can live outside more is definitely an ethos that compliments our destination in Big Sky Country. Still, I guess we'll need a few things to keep us occupied during the long winters.

Additional Reading

The Minimalists - It's not about having less, it's about making room for more [life].

The Tiny Life - Simple living, tiny homes, & environmentally responsible lifestyles