Minimalism.

I wish I knew about this word way before. Minimalism currently takes over the world. It is something that I really admire. It’s conscious, sustainable and simple way of life.
8 years ago I moved to UAE with only 1 suitcase with clothes. UAE compared to my country at that time, had an amazing choice of clothing stores which for a young 21 year old girl it’s a dream come true.
At the beginning I bought every single thing that I liked. There was no questioning whether I need another pair of jeans or another t-shirt. If I liked it, I had to get it.But, little that i knew that  soon enough I will have to move to a different apartment. The move was around 1 year from my initial arrival in Abu Dhabi. This time I needed a car to move my stuff, and on the next move I needed a van…etc. Every relocation I needed a bigger car, van or a truck for me to be able to move all my personal stuff.
When the time has come for me to leave Abu Dhabi for good, me and my husband could not believe the amount of things we had. We had to donate 80% of our belongings. And these were things that we either didn’t wear for long period of time, or we actually didn’t like it that much.
I was very overwhelmed. I could not believe that I wasted so much money on things that I would not use, and eventually I would need to get rid off.
At that time I promised myself that I will be more conscious of how I spend my money.

Process
Before I gave birth to my daughter, I decided to make a plan of how much clothes approximately a newborn will need. I didn’t wanted too many onesies or set of clothes, so I bought exactly how much I will need. But, what I didn’t count is all the gifted clothes I would get for my baby girl. And here I found myself going back to step 1, where I had to deal with suitcases of clothes. Yes, I had 1 full suitcase of 25kg of clothes and baby essentials for a 3 month old girl. Half of these clothes she didn’t even get to wear or try, because babies don’t need lot of clothes. They grow so fast.
One year fast forward, when we arrived in Japan I fell in love with the simplicity of life here. People wear clothes with simple colors, there is nothing extreme colorful, people use trains as a main transportation, people live in super small tiny houses but they are much more happier than most of us are.
That changed my mind completely. Next thing I know I watched “Minimalism” on Netflix. That was the last step before I dived into minimalism. I still feel like I am not yet where I would like to be, but it is a long process.

Every time I declutter a room I feel lighter and relived. My way of diving into minimalism it is not throwing a large amount of things at once. My first step was to stop buying unnecessary things. Until something has to be replaced – I don’t buy a replacement for the sake of just buying it and having it ready in the closet for when the time comes.

Result
This September me and my husband sat down and created a capsule wardrobe for our daughter and made a list of what clothes will be necessary for her for the autumn/winter season, since all my daughter’s clothes from last year do not fit her anymore. I ordered everything online, as I feel like when ordering things online I have a bit more control over what we really need. When I go to the mall for a seasonal shopping I tend to buy things that we didn’t had in the list and end up buying way more things than what we planned. And only after we bought whatever was required for her, then I went and decluttered and donated all her clothes from last winter that did not fit her anymore.
Now when I look at her wardrobe I know that whatever is hanged, she will get to wear it and use it very often. We also have a discussion with our close family and friends on a regular basis, that when they want to gift our daughter piece of clothing. We either tell them what she really needs and what needs to be replaced at that particular moment. Or if there is nothing required to be replaced, we always tend to hint them that a ticket for an experience will be an amazing thoughtful gift that us and her will appreciate greatly.
I am planning to write another post of what she has in her capsule wardrobe for autumn/winter season, so stay tuned and subscribe for my weekly newsletter.
Going into minimalism helped us save a lot more money. For me the transition was easy, as my husband is someone that thinks 10 times before buying something. He is already a minimalist. It was only me, who had to change the habit of just buying things.
Minimalism helps you to look at life more simpler. Minimalism helps you fill your daily life with experiences much rather than with clutter and chaos at home. Minimalism helps you to have clear mind and that is one big thing in today’s society. Our brains are 24/7 occupied with things that we don’t really have to worry.
Before, I tend to think all the time: “oh, I hope no one will come to my house today, other wise I have to clean all this mess”. Now, there is no mess, because there is no clutter.
When I visit houses filled up with clutter I always wonder how these people find peace in their mind. Because I can’t, I hate looking at messy rooms filled with clutter. It is amazing how much peace of mind I have when I come home and there is rarely things on the floor, on the sofas or on the table.
I really recommend the documentary on Netflix “Minimalism”. It will truly change the way you are looking at life.