So I am re-starting a new iteration of this blog.  I have gone from Lifelong Procrastinator (which I still am), to Skinny Couch Potato (which applies some of the time and occasionally most of the time), and now Hot Mess Minimalist.

I have been curious about minimalism, and have never been much of a collector for most of my life, but only in the last few years, and even more in the last couple months I been reading and learning about the philosophies of minimalism.  I stared with a couple shows on the radio, eventually  borrowed the Marie Kondo book, and recently have started with The Minimalists, which has lead to lots of other resources.

Today my husband sent me a link to one of Jenny Mustard's videos.  I watched it, a 30 day or 4 week plan to become a minimalist.  She talked a bit about aesthetics.  How she is attracted to spaces that are clean and white and bright.  If what you like is spaces filled with color and fluffy pillows you should do that.

As I was sitting in the stairwell, avoiding my kids looking at my yellow door, and newly purchased winter welcome mat, I started wondering about this.  My esthetics... I have no flippin clue.  I currently do not work, I live in a house, modest, worth around 100K (and no it is not a cardboard box because I live in Charlotte), with a wonderful husband who works his tail off with a PhD to earn 60K a year.  We kinda just try to live within our means in a place that hasn't fallen down yet.  I haven't given a lot of thought to aesthetics.

After a while of thinking about this, it occurs to me that I am probably not the only one.  Listening to The Minimalists podcasts there are people from across the economic and lifestyle spectrum.  I am sure I am not the only one staring at my messy house, who still considers myself a minimalist.  Sometimes the things that bring us joy take up space.  Like cooking or camping, or creating art (especially upcycling), or bicycling.  And not everyone has a garage.  So sometimes minimalists look a little different.

Then there are kids.  They are complex, they add a lot to a house.  After a few years, often that ends up being a lot of stuff too.  And if you are taking cues from your kids, and working with them to reduce you have to have some degree of flexibility on what your common space looks like.

So I figured I would start this blog up again.  Because my house, my yard, my car, and my life look quite messy, but I have strong minimalist leanings.  I am sharing my experience for those who might feel similarly, or others who are curious about what exactly minimalism can look like.

Uh... for reference in case anyone every reads this and wants or needs it:
Marie Kondo- http://tidyingup.com/
The Minimalists- http://www.theminimalists.com/
Jenny Mustard-http://jennymustard.com/minimalism-how-to-become-a-minimalist-the-30-day-challenge/

#minimalist #messy