LIFESTYLE: Bozz, the Minimalist

I know what a lot of y'all are thinking.. Me, a minimalist? Yes it is true! As I stated in my previous post I'm not going to be sharing any "tips" necessarily, because I am not a minimalist expert (nor do I ever intend to be), all I can do is share my story and what works for me.

Why I Started

January through March 2017 were very rough months for me. I was experiencing a lot of uncertainty about school, my career, and relationships. Instead of going on the traditional Miami Spring Break trip, I went home to California to see my family, smell some salt water and recenter. That was the best decision I made to date. Something about the water always helps me clear my mind.. the way the water washes up to shore then washes back into infinity. But everything that is too heavy to be carried back, stays. Similar to my thoughts. Everything that is minute gets washed away and is never thought of again. But everything that weighs on my heart, has to be sorted out.

I began to think of everything that brought me anxiety at the time and the ways I could minimize them. I was done feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, suffocated, ignored, drained, and uncertain. I wanted to wake up every day feeling empowered, inspired, encouraged, motivated, fulfilled! I wanted my life to feel intentional. Every movement, every decision, every tweet, every word. I went to lunch with one of my sisters and mentioned to her that I was interested in minimalism and of course, in true Jessica fashion, she provided me with more information on it. She is the same person who bought me the passion planner I mentioned on my Instagram, so I trusted her advice.

What Minimalism Means to Me

For me, minimalism gives each day purpose. Every morning I focus on how I can get the most out of my day by doing less: consuming less, owning less, talking less, creating less clutter, wasting less time, being around less negative energy, spending less time on social media. Doing this has caused my day to day happiness to reach an all time high. Focusing on less has allowed me more space to appreciate what is truly important. I am experiencing more peace, clarity, confidence, and strangely, enough I am able to articulate my thoughts better. I am assuming that is a result of me having a clear mind.

I noticed that spending a lot of time on social media began to frustrate me. Always watching other people pretend to be happy and comparing my life to an illusion. Always seeing people tweet opinions on topics or people they had no idea about. Watching people find joy in tearing other people down. I also noticed how the internet was destroying my relationships! Every time I was with people whom I claimed I love, we are all looking at our cell phones. Does liking pictures of other people add value to my life, or do I enjoy learning the souls of people I love? Upon this realization, I was determined to find a way that I could get the most out of being around the people I love. So, I turned off all notifications from all social media. As a result, the time I now spend with my loved ones now feels more authentic and full. I minimized my distractions in order to maximize my interactions. That's when I realized that minimalism may not be entirely for the birds.

I also noticed that a lot of the things I own in my apartment give me anxiety. Boxes of unpacked clothes, books, and papers from when I moved in last summer. If you've ever been in my room, then you know it's essentially clutter: an organized mess. I don't think about 80% of the things in those boxes, so why do I still own them? What if every day I was only looking at things that I absolutely loved? What if I was only surrounded by my favorite things? Only did things that add value to my life? These thoughts excited me, but how could I actually make them happen? Minimalism.

Minimalism to me, means adding value. I have promised myself that I am only going to consume things, say things, do things, that add value to my life. Minimize distractions so the true value in things can be highlighted.

How I Got Started

Rachel Aust
After having lunch with Jessica, I watched one of the YouTubers that she suggested, Rachel Aust. She has a series on her channel called The Minimalism Series where she shows her viewers how to live with less, materialistically. A few of my favorite videos are From Clothes Hoarder to Minimalist, How to Create Your Personal Style, and Ditching Social Media. When watching these videos I took note, mentally and physically, of how I apply the things I was watching. If you are interesting in minimalism I strongly encourage you to check out The Minimalism Series and find videos that resonate with you. Of course there are more videos from Rachel that I enjoy but these three created the framework for my personal minimalist journey.

The Minimalists
When I tell you that Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus have changed my life! Together, these men call themselves The Minimalists . To briefly describe the work they do, "they help over twenty million people live meaningful lives with less through their website, books, podcast and documentary." When I began following their podcast, I had no idea what to expect. I barely knew what minimalism truly was, I just knew that I was interested. After listening to their podcast (Values, Happiness, Stress, Media are a FEW of my favorites) I came to the understanding that the point of minimalism is not to own the least amount things as possible, but it is to eliminate anything that is distracting you from adding value to your life. In my life that meant eliminating relationships, clothes, books, papers, bad habits, commitments, and so on. In order to learn HOW to eliminate some of these things I began reading their essays (again, Minimalism: An Elevator Pitch, Getting Rid of Just-in-Case Items, Not Busy, Focused to name a FEW favorites). I find their podcast and essays equally useful. I enjoy listening to the podcast on my way to school or while I'm cleaning up because it provides me with the extra motivation I need to push through tasks that annoy me. I love their essays because each time I read I'm like "That makes perfect sense, I wish I would have thought of that." Both sources of information are constant reminders of why minimalism is perfect for me.

The videos, podcasts, and essays combined have provided me with a great path to follow on my journey to minimalism. What I love about minimalism is that each person's path has different scenery.  My path doesn't look like Rachel's, Josh's, or Ryan's but we all have one thing in common: doing less so we can achieve more. In my next post I will share how I apply the things I've learned from these awesome people and how I believe minimalism is benefitting me.

Stay tuned!