🧰 Things

Minimalism doesn't necessarily mean owning as few things as possible. People are not any better (morally or whatever) even if we own less stuffs. For me, the core idea is to own the suitable amount of things according to our own needs and priorities.

I disagree with the concept of detaching ourselves from our possessions. I believe if we are deliberate about the things we own, we will take good care of them, making sure we can use them for a long time.

I treasure the memories I have with my things. I will absolutely cry if my 20 years old bicycle broke down. I will be pretty bummed out if I lost the first laptop I bought with my salary. They do not define me, but until some point they exist to make my life easier and accompanied my journey—and for all that I am thankful.

My focus:

• document all the stuffs I have in my place

• own things that makes me happy

• own things that are useful, essential, and/or for emergency purposes

• own things that have trusted build quality and as sustainable as possible—sturdy, can be fixed if broken (long-term usage)

• not keeping things out of guilt

• not buying things out of impulsiveness

• make sure every single thing here is used regularly

Mechanism

• Only counting the physical objects I own, however I also declutter digital stuffs (backup files, e-books, website, etc). 

• Not counting consummable goods that can be used up quickly like food, soap, toothbrush, medicines, etc.

• The number of stuffs can grow and shrink as life goes by; my goal is to constantly remember being mindful and deliberate on buying and using things. To make each of them are not wasted, not forgotten, serve a purpose, and not just taking up space.

Relevant sources:

• Goodbye, Things

• All 72 Things I Own - Colin Wright

• My 97 Things - Joel Runyon

• Everything I Own: My 288 Things