Santa Monica Beach 6.3.17
Daniel and I have been on the journey of “minimalizing” our life for about seven months. During this time we have taken several truckloads (yes I said truckloads) of items such as clothing, books, kitchenware, decorations, (you name it) to various charity locations. The rest we have tried to recycle and as a last resort, we would toss in the trash everything we couldn’t find a home. I purchased a paper shredder, it has become an essential tool, in clearing the paper clutter mountain in our home. Those who may know me may be wondering “Why has Donna become a neat freak?” or “Oh, just another trend!” Both of these responses put a smile on my face because, I hate housework and I set trends, not follow them. The beginning of this journey began last fall when I read two very enlightening books by Matteau Ricard Altruism and Happiness. The books by Ricard emphasized that true happiness and joy comes from having a sense of meaning and purpose that goes beyond ourselves and our self-centered needs but focuses on the service of others. As I meditated on the “how” of reaching my goal of finding the freedom to have the time and resources to serve others the tool of Minimalism fell into my lap. In my faith, we call an unexpected provision an “I spy”. Minimalism has been a God-given tool to free time and finances to enable our family to serve others as well as spend more time to spend amazing time together like we did today, a “Minimalist” Day at the beach. Instead of having to spend our Saturday cleaning the house, yard our garage, we had a relaxing lunch at the beach. Less is definitely more in my book!
