Minimalist Living: Can She Do It?

     In my never-ending quest to locate the pea beneath the mattress of my holiday funk, I am doing some serious soul searching as to where that dang pea came from in the first place, and where one turns for relief (of a healthy nature) toward its extraction.
     As to the relief part, the following has worked temporarily: There are prayers. There are friends. There are dogs to hug and goats that make me laugh (and babies on the way--double plus there!) There are creations I long to create and writing I can't get enough of...There are meaningful moments and people I love. There's music. And then there is the internet.
     The internet gets a category all its own, as it can also be part of the problem, but like money or TV or anything else we exchange for temporary relief, it can be used for evil or good. (The internet itself doesn't care. It's what we do with it that matters.)
     Today, the internet is my starting point, why? Because today I have chosen to use it as my roadmap to relief.
     In addition to the obvious benefits the internet brings me (the therapy of blogging, the thumb's up from friends, the smiles from responses to silly goat pictures), today I put it to a more serious use -- that being an all out search for answers as to how one even begins to slow the overwhelm train down.
     I hear from those who've been here, that "stuff" has a whole lot to do with it (and by stuff, I mean "clutter"...If my pea had a name, I'd name her "clutter.") While physical clutter is the obvious part, it's the mental clutter that launched the ship, for everything in the manifest world begins with a thought (misguided or mistaken as that thought may be). THAT was the aha I was looking for.
     I'm intrigued by those who've adapted a minimalist lifestyle, as every story I've read reveals they were once where I am and said "Enough is enough." Only difference in them and me is THEY knew where to start. I did not...until today.
     While boxes to Goodwill and cashing in old jewelry are nice steps, steps without a plan lead to nowhere. So what did these people do to make it stick? Their newfound, simpler lives speak to the very peace I want...So teach me folks. Walk me through your program. I need a sponsor and a support group. Put me in coach!
      There are many blogs out there devoted to this; I decided simply to pick one and follow. Biggest challenge I face is I'm too dang sentimental about EVERYTHING, meaning while I know intellectually I don't need it, use it, even want it...emotionally, come time to part with it, it's an entirely different ballgame. I've jump started this mission a dozen ways to Sunday and wind up "stuck" at the exact same point every single time. So this time as a matter of accountability I am committing publicly to doing something different. I may not make it to the end. But the second I punch send, you, dear reader, will know I made a decision.
       Thanks to a website called "The Minimalists" (I do not know these people; this was pure google search, but I resonated with their writing) I found a 21-day plan of action that I may or may not be able to keep, but show me a formula broken down into increments, and I'm good to try. On the one hand, I'm not sure I can part with certain things; on the other, I'm open for the lessons that will surface if I can't. Twenty of the 21 days involve physical action steps toward the goal. The first day (today) is about one thing and one thing only: making a decision.
     According to my new mentors (Josh & Ryan) their Day 1 involved making a list of the things they knew they should be doing but weren't ...."I should clean out that closet...I should ditch things I don't use, wear, need...I should watch less television...I should get healthier about my eating habits...I should, I should, I should..." (Been there; done that; got that T-shirt that I should add to my Goodwill box!)
      Once we're done shoulding all over ourselves, you take the list and change should to must. "I must clean out that closet...I must ditch things I don't use, wear, need...I must watch less television, etc."
     From this point on (and I didn't read ahead--I pray I don't live to regret this) the next 20 days are a hold-my-hand tutorial on how to actually do it while instilling a new habitual thought pattern. Today is the only day I am not to do, but to be still and know... thoroughly...in my gut...that I want to change. To do this, I must go turn emotional decisions into intellectual ones, so as reinforcement on the latter, I commit to doing it here for folks to read.
     For those interested in this sort of thing, here's the website: http://www.theminimalists.com Clearly these dudes are the pros; they've even done a TED talk. I'll be the first to admit this scares the daylights out of me. But I'll also confess that having written it here, punching the word "post" makes me far less tempted to back out. I welcome your support. I welcome your prayers. And if it doesn't work out, may I've at least provided you some entertainment this holiday season.