1. I started to look at everything in my house as time. Those 14 coffee mugs I have to choose from each morning equal time: Time spent working to make the money to buy them. Time spent planning to buy them and then actually buying them. Time spent taking care of them. Time spent deciding how to store, display, or use them. Then I asked myself: how do I want to spend my time? It became immediately clear that there was a disconnect between how I wanted to spend my time and how I was actually spending it. I realized that the more clothes I owned, the more laundry I had to do. The more dishes I owned, the more I had to wash (and why did I need 14 coffee mugs when I lived by myself anyway??). Having less material items began to mean that I had more time, and for me, time is the ultimate and priceless gift that truly brings harmony into my life. 

2. I made a list of what is truly important in my life. I sat down, got really quiet, and asked my highest self: what is important in this life? What do I value? I spent weeks contemplating this, journaling, meditating, talking to my friends and family. I decided then that I valued freedom, harmony, and connection. None of those equaled 14 coffee mugs or tiny glass figurines of mermaids (I do love mermaids, though!). Then I asked myself: would owning less stuff bring me closer to living a life that aligned with my values? The answer was a clear and resounding yes. Less stuff meant more freedom, more harmony, and more time for connection. 

3. I started with minimizing my clothing. It felt overwhelming at first to figure out where to begin with reducing my stuff, so here’s what worked for me. I didn’t own a dresser, so most of my clothes were hanging in the closet and as the volume increased, I had started folding clothes on the shelf in the closet and eventually bought tupperware drawers to store them in. My clothes were taking on a life of their own and they were ruling my life; I felt anxiety every time I opened my closet.  It took me forever each day to decide what to wear and then I would let laundry pile into amazing mountains because I had no need to wash much on the regular so when it was time for laundry, it was a big affair (and I lived in an apartment building with a shared laundry facility so it was really a thing to get laundry done). I decided to start only having clothes hanging in my closet so whatever was folded and stacked would either have to go or be hung on an available hanger (and I refused to buy any more hangers). If it couldn’t fit it in my closet on the hangers that I had, it had to go. Once I shifted to only hanging clothes, then I started each week choosing 5 pieces of clothing on the hangers that had to go. This process took months and I did it without pressuring myself (valuing my harmony). 

At some point during the process of pairing down my clothes, something deeply shifted inside of me and I was like a madwoman wanting to get rid of everything. What started out feeling overwhelming became this intense feeling of lightness and freedom as I watched my stuff gradually disappear from my apartment and I had more time in my life. I even started joking that I needed to join a nudist colony because I didn’t want any more clothes! With every item that left my life, I felt lighter and more free. 

I often return to the contemplation of what I truly value in life and if my choices of how to live are in alignment with what I value. At this time in my life, I have whittled my values down to one simple thing: harmony. I know deeply that keeping my material possessions to a minimum contributes greatly to the harmony in my life and allows me time and space to do more of what I love or even to just simply be and do nothing.