Over the month of October, I will be playing the “Minimalism Game” or “Mins Game,” coined by Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus (but you might know them better as “The Minimalists”). They discovered the benefits of minimalism around 2010, and since then have built a minimalist empire (ooohh what an oxymoron) with a successful blog, podcast, documentary, and several books. These guys are awesome, and their documentary “Minimalism: A Documentary About The Important Things” is so inspiring that I may or may not have seen it multiple times and shown it to many of my friends (check it out on Netflix!).
Scott and I had the opportunity to meet Josh and Ryan when they stopped in Calgary a couple weeks ago for their “Less is Now” tour. Here’s a pic of us with them at their meet and greet after their show/speech/presentation/whatever you wanna call it. Please note Scott’s awkward arm holding a copy of their book and feel free to laugh along with me… he gave me permission, and even encouraged me, to post this pic by the way – despite the awkward arm!
While Josh and Ryan are awesome and all, what I really want to talk about is their “Mins Game”. What is this “Mins Game” you ask? Well, let me tell you! It is a 30 day challenge; on the first day, you get rid of one thing. On day two, you get rid of two things. Day three, three things… you get the picture. By the end of the 30 days, you will have removed a total of 465 items from your home and life! Isn’t that insane amount of stuff?! Well yes, but compared to the average amount of things people in our society actually own, not really.
Since I started this challenge yesterday, I’ve had quite a few people ask me how I’m even going to do it. Do I even own 465 things? Haven’t I already gotten rid of the majority of the things I own? While I have gotten rid of over 50% of the things I once owned, I don’t yet consider myself a minimalist. I’m on the path to minimalism. It’s a journey, and I haven’t quite reached my destination. In my opinion, I still have wayyy too much stuff. My house frequently feels (and looks) cluttered and messy. There are so many things that I own that I had good intentions to start using after I did my initial minimalistic purge, but that I still don’t use. I have sentimental items that I’m holding onto but never even look at because they are tucked away in a box in my basement. Moral of the story: Yes. I DO own 465 things that I shouldn’t.
Want to hear some disturbing statistics about how much crap we actually own? Prepare to be shocked. You ready?
The AVERAGE American household has 300,000 items in it. THREE-HUNDRED THOUSAND. Here’s another one: the average house size has nearly tripled in the past 50 years, just to hold all our stuff. Except that’s not enough room for over 10% of people who rent offsite storage units to hold the stuff that they can’t fit in their homes. In fact, storage facilities have been (and continue to be) the fastest growing segment of the commercial real estate industry over the past four decades. We consume more than twice as many material goods today as we did 50 years ago.
We are addicted to stuff. Objects. Possessions. Items. Gadgets. Belongings. Whatever you want to call them, they are all just things.
As I do this challenge, I must remember why I am doing it in the first place. On some days, it may be tough for me to part with certain things, but I believe that this challenge will help me to evaluate what I truly value and love. Above all, I must remember what I am discarding: THINGS. Not my family or friends. Not the amazing experiences that I’ve gotten to check off my bucket list. Not my memories.
In a society and culture that always tells us that we must consume more in order to be happy, it is important to remind ourselves that happiness does not reside in our things. Happiness lives within us.
As I “play” the Mins Game, feel free to follow along on my Instagram page, where I will be posting what I am saying bye to each day.
