Why we decided to go Tiny Vol. 1: Material Possessions
Usually when a couple makes the bold decision to live together, doubling their living space is common discourse, as now you will move twice the amount of stuff under one roof. That makes perfect sense for many reasons, and it is hard to argue with. However, when the idea came around of living together, we saw an opportunity to radically change our lifestyles and actually reverse traditional customs and begin the adventure of our bonded lives in a Tiny Home. In our first post, we will tell you exactly what went on in our crazy little minds to convince us that this was the right decision for us.
A couple of years ago, shortly after Lauren and I started dating, I learned about Tiny Homes. I did not know much about the humble abodes, other than that they were small, often mobile, and not very expensive when compared to a traditional house. I do not remember the particular moment I pitched the ludicrous idea of living in a Tiny Home to Lauren, probably because she shut down the idea with irrevocable resolve. At that time, we were living in Atlanta, where I rented what I thought was a minuscule 514 sq. foot studio, while Lauren was in a 700 sq. foot one-bedroom apartment. I hardly attempted to even sell the idea, because I was not quite sure if I even wanted to combine all of our possessions into a 200-something sq. foot Tiny House.
Over the course of the next couple of years, Lauren and I undertook a slow, yet purposeful transformation in our views about what we found important in our lives. After watching the documentary "Minimalism" on Netflix, we began doubting our seemingly flawed attachment to our material possessions. We certainly did not become minimalists overnight (I still do not think we could be considered minimalists), but we were just beginning to understand the intrinsic value of time, relationships, and experiences, which the value of material possessions simply cannot compare.
With time, we began to prioritize what "things" we needed and which "things" we simply wanted. There is nothing wrong with just wanting something, but we quickly found that the cleansing feeling which comes from shedding the burden of superfluous "things" easily trumps the debatable satisfaction of having something tucked away in a closet for potential future use. You can only climb a mountain one step at a time, so although we did not trim our possessions in a flash, box by box (and after many trips to Goodwill) we began to see a verifiable difference in the space we had, which was previously being used just to store "things" that we hardly ever used!
Even today, while folding and putting away clothes, I noticed several shirts in my closet that I have not touched in ages. Without hesitation, I put them in the next box to go to Goodwill. Admittedly, it does take a bit of ruthlessness to adopt a mentality of zero attachment to "things". At first, sentimental value and the thought of "What if I need it again in some very specific scenario down the road?" will play a strong role in your decision making of what to keep and what to ditch. However, over time we saw that even as we kept getting rid of stuff left and right, we were only getting happier, with less stuff to keep track of, and less clutter to look at. To be 100% honest, I do not even remember the vast majority of what I gave away. It is hard to miss something that was never used anyway.
One key thing to note here is that we haven't gotten rid of anything that genuinely makes us happy. Adopting some minimalist lifestyle techniques does not necessarily mean owning two t-shirts, one pair of shoes, one pair of jeans, etc. Of course you could go that route, but we are just normal people with normal needs and desires.
For example, we both really love great beer. Instead of having a beer glass collection of 25+ cups, we have trimmed that down to about 6 beer glasses that are associated with some great memories and that are different enough to complement a variety of beer styles. Also, we plan on using our beer glasses as everyday drinking glasses, because water tastes the same in just about any glass, but the taste of beer changes significantly depending on the glassware (we are total snobs).
So here we are, almost two years after deciding to trim down our possessions, and I have to say it feels good. Although both of us still live in quite large spaces, it seems more and more attainable than ever to be able to squeeze ourselves into a Tiny Home. We still have quite a ways to go in paring down our possessions to fit in our 31ft Tiny Home, and I am anticipating a steep learning curve once we actually move in, yet I could not be more excited to see what kind of lifestyle we will have once we complete our downsized transformation.
A couple of years ago, shortly after Lauren and I started dating, I learned about Tiny Homes. I did not know much about the humble abodes, other than that they were small, often mobile, and not very expensive when compared to a traditional house. I do not remember the particular moment I pitched the ludicrous idea of living in a Tiny Home to Lauren, probably because she shut down the idea with irrevocable resolve. At that time, we were living in Atlanta, where I rented what I thought was a minuscule 514 sq. foot studio, while Lauren was in a 700 sq. foot one-bedroom apartment. I hardly attempted to even sell the idea, because I was not quite sure if I even wanted to combine all of our possessions into a 200-something sq. foot Tiny House.
Over the course of the next couple of years, Lauren and I undertook a slow, yet purposeful transformation in our views about what we found important in our lives. After watching the documentary "Minimalism" on Netflix, we began doubting our seemingly flawed attachment to our material possessions. We certainly did not become minimalists overnight (I still do not think we could be considered minimalists), but we were just beginning to understand the intrinsic value of time, relationships, and experiences, which the value of material possessions simply cannot compare.
 |
| Experiences like camping and spending more time outdoors became much more valuable |
With time, we began to prioritize what "things" we needed and which "things" we simply wanted. There is nothing wrong with just wanting something, but we quickly found that the cleansing feeling which comes from shedding the burden of superfluous "things" easily trumps the debatable satisfaction of having something tucked away in a closet for potential future use. You can only climb a mountain one step at a time, so although we did not trim our possessions in a flash, box by box (and after many trips to Goodwill) we began to see a verifiable difference in the space we had, which was previously being used just to store "things" that we hardly ever used!
Even today, while folding and putting away clothes, I noticed several shirts in my closet that I have not touched in ages. Without hesitation, I put them in the next box to go to Goodwill. Admittedly, it does take a bit of ruthlessness to adopt a mentality of zero attachment to "things". At first, sentimental value and the thought of "What if I need it again in some very specific scenario down the road?" will play a strong role in your decision making of what to keep and what to ditch. However, over time we saw that even as we kept getting rid of stuff left and right, we were only getting happier, with less stuff to keep track of, and less clutter to look at. To be 100% honest, I do not even remember the vast majority of what I gave away. It is hard to miss something that was never used anyway.
One key thing to note here is that we haven't gotten rid of anything that genuinely makes us happy. Adopting some minimalist lifestyle techniques does not necessarily mean owning two t-shirts, one pair of shoes, one pair of jeans, etc. Of course you could go that route, but we are just normal people with normal needs and desires.
For example, we both really love great beer. Instead of having a beer glass collection of 25+ cups, we have trimmed that down to about 6 beer glasses that are associated with some great memories and that are different enough to complement a variety of beer styles. Also, we plan on using our beer glasses as everyday drinking glasses, because water tastes the same in just about any glass, but the taste of beer changes significantly depending on the glassware (we are total snobs).
So here we are, almost two years after deciding to trim down our possessions, and I have to say it feels good. Although both of us still live in quite large spaces, it seems more and more attainable than ever to be able to squeeze ourselves into a Tiny Home. We still have quite a ways to go in paring down our possessions to fit in our 31ft Tiny Home, and I am anticipating a steep learning curve once we actually move in, yet I could not be more excited to see what kind of lifestyle we will have once we complete our downsized transformation.
 |
| Spending time camping was a great way for us to realize that it does not take much to make us happy. Shelter, food, and water immediately come to mind, but companionship, my favorite hat and a killer view will definitely do the trick |
Comments
Post a Comment