The Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide: How to Declutter, Organize, and Simplify Your Life

What’s enough for one is too little for the next guy and too much for another

If we recognize the abundance in our lives, and appreciate what we have, we will not want for more. We simply need to focus on what we have, rather than what we don’t have

Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.”

et’s take a breather, and reminisce about how carefree and happy we were in college. Not coincidentally, that period was likely when we had the least amount of stuff. Life was so much simpler then: no mortgage, no car payments, no motorboat to insure. Learning, living, and having fun were far more important than the things we owned. The world was our oyster, and anything was possible! Now that’s the joy we can recapture as minimalists. We simply need to put our stuff in its place, so it doesn’t command the lion’s share of our attention.

Life is the space between our things.”

The master explained that like the cup, the visitor was already full of his own ideas and opinions—and that he couldn’t learn anything until his cup was emptied.

However, when we set aside time to just “be”, we’re not wasting it—we’re cherishing it.

Just “be”—it’s a foreign concept to many of us. How often are you able to kick back with a cup of tea, and simply let your thoughts wander? How long has it been since you stared out the window and daydreamed? When was the last time you sat on your porch and listened to the birds, or soaked for an hour in a bubble bath?

Reducing what we expect from ourselves and others takes a tremendous amount of pressure off our minds, our schedules, and our bank accounts. When we’re content with “enough,” life becomes infinitely easier, more pleasant, and less harried. It’s very liberating!

Most importantly, don’t use Deep Storage to hide things you don’t want to deal with: like your grandmother’s tea service, or the comic books you collected many moons ago.