A few days ago, I listened to the audiobook Goodbye,Things by Fumio Sasaki. It was a four and a half hour listen and came across my radar because it’s one of the books included in my Audible membership (as of right now). It’s also available in paperback but these distance learning days, I get most of my reading down with audiobooks.

Sasaki shares his journey from maximalist to minimalist and describes the benefits he has reaped from this lifestyle change. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and listened to the entire thing between Friday evening and Saturday afternoon. Translation: I could not stop listening!

I even did some decluttering while listening to the book. I doubt I will ever declutter enough to be considered a minimalist, but I would definitely like to reduce our possessions to only the things we need. Which would mean I was actually a minimalist, according to Sasaki’s definition, but I doubt anyone would accuse me of being minimalist with all the kids’ paraphanelia.

Chapter Three, 55 Tips to Say Goodbye to Your Things, was my personal favorite. Here are a few tips that I found extra inspiring:

• Think of the city as your floor plan. I do not need to own every book I love if I remember libraries are part of my floor plan. I do not need to amass huge collections of trinkets when I can visit museum with much better collections. (Except now, during the flipping pandemic. Pasadena libraries and museums have been closed for nearly a year.)
• Think of stores as your personal warehouses. I do not need to stockpile things like batteries, pens and laundry detergent. Sure, it might be cheaper to buy some things in bulk – but did I factor in the cost of dedicating space to bulk purchases? After the 2020 toilet paper shortages, it is tempting to buy All the Toilet Paper and create a massive stockpile. It feels like a security blanket against Armageddon. But if Armageddon strikes, am I really going to be worried about toilet paper?
• If you lost it, would you buy it again? If not, why are you holding on to it?

I am sick of being owned by my things. It feels like there is always another mess to tidy, another drawer to empty, another cabinet to organize. I do not want to waste my precious time with the constant nagging sense that I am being buried by an avalanche of stuff.

Fumio Sasaki advances a convincing argument that when it comes to things, less stuff means more living. That ideas really resonates with me right now. While I do not see my family moving into a one room cabin any time soon, I would like to approach my 2021 decluttering efforts with a minimalist mindset.