How Minimalism Will Change Your Life: A Guest Post From Sarah Jones of Diamonds N Denim - TAMBERDI

How Minimalism Will Change Your Life: A Guest Post From Sarah Jones of Diamonds N Denim

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My Life before Minimalism
Minimalism is something I've only recently started to appreciate. Growing up, my bedroom alone was about 450 square feet. I lived very comfortably, thanks to my parents' hard work. I was surrounded by things, and that overexposure is what pushed me to lead a life of minimalism. This is my journey. 

To make a long story short, my paternal grandfather, a farmer, died when I was eight. Nine months later, my paternal grandmother died. Since my parents had a good sized basement, the majority of their things were boxed up and put in storage there. No one knew what to do with anything. My dad could sort through their things at his own leisure at home this way. My grandmother had been a very organised person, but she labeled and kept everything. Just as an example- she had boxes upon boxes of 'baby stuff'. She kept all the cloth diapers, diaper pins, toys, and even my dad's retainer. She held onto every single worksheet my dad completed in school (K-12) and neatly filed them away, it filled seven totes. All this stuff literally filled our basement, top to bottom. It was so overwhelming to even look at. My dad certainly had his work cut out for him. Before he really dug into it, he tragically, and unexpectedly died, nine months after my grandma's death. 

Initially the shock of losing practically half my family at once, kept my mom and I out of the basement. After some time though, we decided to do something about it. We literally ruined the majority of our holidays, just stressing over how much work the basement was. We would clean, and work for an entire day, only to take out about a dozen boxes or so. Even after a full day of work, it seemed as though nothing changed. Sometimes we would aimlessly walk around in the basement for an hour or two, before deciding to not work on it at all. We had no idea what anything was worth, if we should keep it, or if we should drive it into town for the local Goodwill. When I moved out, the basement was nearly back it's original state. It took ten years for that to happen. 

My mother has been burdened for ten years over junk. For a decade, she dreamed of a clean basement, so that she could have back her reading nook, and craft center for her gift wrapping, sewing, and crafts. She wanted to put in a home gym and a few beds for sleep overs. All that time, she worried about keeping the basement door shut so that guests wouldn't see all the clutter. Looking back, we should have rented a dumpster and thrown it all away, valuable or not. That was not worth the time, the effort, or the stress. 

My Life after Minimalism:
Today, I'm living in a 70 square foot semi with my husband, and my medium sized dog. I'm working on seeing the 48 continental states, building my blog, and looking for land in Montana to homestead on. Truly, I've never been happier. Minimalism has been my saving grace. Almost everything I carry is something I need. I still have a lot I need to part with (I know one man who only carries two jeans, five shirts, socks, shoes, wallet, an iPhone, and a charger!), but I am improving myself. 

These are my husband and I's beds:
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This is our pantry. For the most part, it's pasta, canned vegetables, soups, and spices and herbs. I do have some processed sweets for those pesky PMS days though! 
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This is our closet. Our half totes each contain all the clothes we need, sans our snow suits, and two pairs of shoes. 
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This is our refrigerator. We keep drinks, lunch meat, a speciality item (this week it was a chicken salad), milk, eggs, butter, and meats. Hamburger, sausage, bacon and pork roasts are some favorites. 
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I cook using a single-burner range, a Teflon pan, and a slow cooker. 
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And finally this is my 'office'. The plants are completely unnecessary but they make me so happy. 
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I don't even miss the things I left behind, and really, I can't even remember half of it. I'm not going to push you to do the same, because if you're here reading this, chances are you've probably already started your journey. 

Best wishes to you all, thank you for stopping in, and thank you to Tiffany Amber for welcoming me here today! 







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1 comments

  1. This is really interesting! Your blog is really amazing by the way, you seem really lovely.. hopefully we can keep in touch, I love making new blog friends! x

    adelelydia.blogspot.com

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