Exploring Minimalism with “Goodbye, Things” by Fumio Sasaki
My life is all about minimalism currently
My most recent read “goodbye, things” resonates perfectly with what is going on in my life:
My husband and I preparing for the move from Germany to another country.
We are planning to go from a bigger rental place with our own garden to a smaller rented apartment. We both share the sentiment that we want to have less things and to be more flexible. To try new things.
I am generally not a hoarder and love throwing things away.
When I started going through stuff for our move, I felt so much joy. It was like an instant relief. Sorting things out, donating, selling, throwing away — I am loving every second of it.
This is precisely what “goodbye, things” is about. One of Sasaki’s main ideas is that decluttering and minimalism can help your mental health and ultimately change your life.
The book has around 50 tips on where to start and how not to give up when decluttering and downsizing. Most ideas in the book weren’t new to me, but it was a good, easy read overall.
To continue with the minimalism topic, I watched Marie Kondo series on Netflix (where she goes to American families’ homes and helps them declutter). I can’t say how satisfying that “before” and “after” footage is.
I also watched “Minimalists: Less is Now” on Netflix. This show was on a cornier side, but I did like one quote from it:
“Our memories are not in things”.
I also liked the concept of a “packing party”. The point of it is having a party where you pack all your belongings as if you were to move. Except you don’t move, but live with those boxes for the next three months and only take out things that you really need. Apparently, the results of this experiment can be pretty revelatory.
Anyways, I hope to maintain minimalist approach to things after our upcoming move ✈️ I will keep you updated in my moving (and reading) journey.
I do not post book reviews without beers. Beer of the day is Japanese, as is today’s book: light Kirin on tap that I’ve had in Düsseldorf “Little Tokyo” district this past weekend.
