“Minimalism? Isn’t that when you own only one of everything?” “Well . . . that’s extreme minimalism. I’m more of a moderate minimalist.” I had mentioned my lean towards minimalism while chatting with my hairdresser. Her definition is not unusual for people who know minimalism only through a few headlines or articles. I tried to broaden the definition by explaining that some may use the terms “simple living” or “conscious consumption.” Others define it by what it is not: hoarding, overconsumption, materialism. My take-away from our conversation: I realized my spontaneous response to label mysel ..read more

“You call yourself a minimalist?” my brother joked as he helped move my household possessions into my new place. I knew he was kidding me, but it struck home. No matter how much you declutter before moving, when it comes to packing (and unpacking) your stuff, it still feels like you have too much. I was starting to feel like a minimalist imposter. My two adult children and I first moved into an apartment when I returned to the Austin area as my house in Florida had not yet sold. I had donated or sold off some of my furniture before moving, so I’d need to replace a couch and other household ite ..read more

When I moved into my small house in Florida, I thought it could be my forever home. The house was easy to maintain, the yard had great gardening potential, and the neighborhood was walking distance from grocery stores, restaurants, medical providers, and parks. But the pull of family was stronger. About a year ago, I decided that I wanted to live closer to family. I didn’t have an epiphany or a life crisis. It was a decision made gradually over a period of months. Then one day I just knew. After five years in Florida, it was time to move back to Texas. My son still lived in Austin, and my daug ..read more

We are living in difficult times. As I write, we are in the middle of a global crisis. It began with a health crisis and then turned into an economic crisis as well. It will also influence emotional and mental health the longer it goes on. We are facing many challenges in health, jobs, education, and more. How are we going to manage? What can we learn from it? It has certainly pushed me to examine my own lifestyle, which led to the following question. Does living simply help or hinder us in coping with these difficult times? Let’s start with the downside. Like many people deliberately choosing ..read more

You’re moving again?! I get this response from a lot of people. I’m almost as surprised as they are. When I first moved to central Florida almost five years ago, my motivation was primarily financial. I wanted to live in a more affordable area to catch up and get ahead financially. As an empty nester, I was no longer responsible for the many expenses of raising children. I was more than ready to get rid of debt as well as the stress I felt when looking at my bank account. I had the freedom of flexibility in my life to make a move. Two years after moving to Florida, I moved again—across town. I ..read more

As we enter the roaring 20s of the 21st century, many are looking back not only at the past year, but the past decade. I’m not one to dwell too much on the past, but I think looking back can help broaden our perspective. Too often we get bogged down in the busyness of our lives, focusing on everything we want to accomplish but have not yet managed. We forget to look at the big picture. Instead of obsessing about everything I still want to do and become, I thought it would help to go back to 2010 to see just how far I’ve come in simplifying my life. 2010 – My younger child went off to college o ..read more

You may have already read about people deciding to wear a self-imposed uniform. It may be jeans and a turtleneck shirt, black pants and a white blouse, or rotating between blue and black suits. Articles love to use highly successful people who dress like this as examples. It’s as if you, too, could be just as successful if you did the same. If only it were that simple! The idea behind the uniform strategy is that by minimizing even small decisions, we prevent decision fatigue. When I first heard about this concept, I was skeptical. After all, it doesn’t take long for most of us to decide what ..read more

This summer has been a challenge. Looking back to last summer, I remember walking and gardening more, writing for hours at a time, and reading to my bookworm heart’s delight. Nowadays I find it a challenge to get in a short daily walk or time in the garden, if at all, and sometimes I don’t write at all for days. How did I manage to spend so much more time on my hobbies and interests last summer? Retired, you might guess? No, I was unemployed. No wonder I had so much time! Generally speaking, I enjoyed my personal life though I worried about my work situation. Since January, I have once again b ..read more

A friend of mine is moving soon. Her last child has graduated from high school, so she decided to move a few hours away to live closer to her siblings. Sounds like a great plan, right? But like many plans, this is easier said than done. She is in the throes of packing up a household and trying to declutter as she goes. When I asked how it was going, she told me woefully that it wasn’t going very well. She felt almost paralyzed with the overwhelming task ahead of her, and the deadline was looming was ever closer. Been there. I did my best to reassure her that she could do it and reminded her th ..read more

When I lived in Germany, friends would explain in great detail how their families (mostly mothers and daughters) practiced the tradition of spring cleaning. In addition to the usual dusting, vacuuming, and mopping, there was the deep cleaning, especially of cabinets. I’m not talking about kitchen cabinets with all assortment of food and kitchen supplies, though of course they would get a thorough cleaning as well. I’m talking about massive cabinets outside of the kitchen. Many German homes had huge china cabinets displaying the “good dishes” as well as many ornamental items. There were also ex ..read more