Minimalism

Simplify to enrich

I have admired simple zen living for all of my life, but always from a distance. This secret longing was ignored every time it surfaced as I was busily in search of fulfillment and trying, as most people I knew, to get it from things and relationships.  Things and people did make me happy, but only temporarily, to then be left with the same frustration and feeling that I’m missing the secret to real contentment.

One day, I looked at all of my things and instead of feeling rich or fulfilled, I felt suffocated. I listened deeply and heard the things themselves whispering, ”We too feel suffocated, unloved and trapped”. Clothes I never wore, earrings I disliked, high-heeled shoes that hurt my feet, books collecting dust on the shelves, diaries of pain and broken hearts from high-school. All of these things – prisoners in my house. And I – their prisoners in return.

I realized there were children out there who would enjoy reading the books if I donated them to a library, women who would rejoice in wearing the dresses I’d long forgotten in a corner of my wardrobe, and countless beings who would be more than happy to be forgiven and  released from my diaries of pain.

All of my belongings were screaming at me, ”RELEASE US!”

And I did.

This simple gesture of decluttering and ordering my house was the flutter of the butterfly that brought on a storm. A storm of richness, spaciousness and creative freedom. I’ve learn that the simplest choices can have the most powerful effects.

Adopting a minimalist lifestyle has freed space not only in my home, but in my mind and my relationships. Surprisingly, by letting go of most of my belongings, I’ve learned a new respect for objects, for the effort it takes human beings to create them and to process them when we throw them away in our hungry search for the next best thing to buy.  It made me care for things, share them if possible, and shop much less, in order to create less trash on this beautiful planet of ours.

I saw that there is nothing wrong with any thing in itself but the relationship we have with them may be unhealthy. This applies to our emotions as well. There is no wrong emotion. My interpretation, my pushing away or clinging to an emotion is creating trouble.

I also understood that all things are energy, and energy likes to flow.

My home slowly emptied and I was surrounded by this abundant space. It held me, it allowed me to think clearly, focus on what was truly important and reignite creative expression. My meditations deepened. More fix ideas about who I was or what I needed to feel content fell away. Free from mental clutter and cultural conditioning, the real WANTS of my heart could be voiced and heard.

I felt free to dance my own dance.

Since that day of awakening to simplicity, I met and explored many facets of Minimalism.

Minimalism as Freedom. As art of living. Design. Poetry. Breathing space. Environmental care. Holding womb. Verb. Flow…

I call it SOOTHING MINIMALISM.

If free space and simple aesthetics speak to you, email respirliber@gmail.com to book a 20 min free consultation and I will take you and your home into this realm called Soothing Minimalism.