A Journey To A Simpler Life

I was first introduced to minimalism last year when I watched the Netflix documentary, "Minimalism, A Documentary About The Important Things." Unfortunately, I did as most people do and did not immediately put into practice the techniques that I learned. In this first article, I will tell you a little about myself. After that, I will explain my journey to becoming a minimalist.

Quick Background Story

I was born and raised in a small agricultural town in Arkansas. My family owned a small construction company that struggled not to go bankrupt for most of my life. I left that town in 2001 to attend a community college in “the big city.” That big city had about 9,000 people living in it when I lived there, and as you can tell, it was not a big city at all. Then September 11th happened, and I did as men other men of my generation and joined the military. Luckily for me, I had a good recruiter, and he put me into a program called Green to Gold. Thanks to this program and my almost 4.0 GPA, I moved from the small community college to the University of Arkansas. At the university, I met my wife, a Brazilian woman who had come to the U of A to get a Master’s Degree in Agricultural Law (LLM).

In 2008, my infantry company went to Iraq, and I went as the company’s executive officer. I left the Army in 2009 and moved to Sao Paulo, Brazil, to get an MBA in International Business and Finance. After I graduated, I worked in various jobs that dealt with the Brazilian stock market.

Today, I live in a beach town north of Rio de Janeiro, and I have two kids. I recently (April) decided to divorce my wife after thirteen years of marriage. Though I make it seem easy, it was not. Taking this decision was necessary for me to keep what little sanity I had left. This decision also allowed me to go back to my roots of a simpler life, with fewer distractions and fewer things.

Everything Has A Silver Lining

During the first week of my separation, I watched the Netflix movie, “Minimalism” several times in hopes it would guide me in reclaiming my life. My first action was to get rid of the clothes that I had accumulated over the years. I call this phase, decluttering your wardrobe.

Decluttering You Wardrobe

How many pairs of underwear do I need? I had about fifteen to twenty, and I only enjoyed wearing the ones made by Under Armour. In the film, a lady explained that minimalists are more materialistic than the average person. Every item that a minimalist keeps is something that adds value to their lives. The underwear that was used, I threw in the recycling bin. I donated the relatively new underwear to the local church, and there they give these types of things to the homeless. I repeated this process with my socks, but the ones I kept were for another reason. What socks aggravate you when you wear them? I hate the ones that are no longer tight around the ankles, so I gave all of those away. Do you have socks that you seldom wear, but keep them just in case you might need them one day? Is it possible that you have them is because you do not want to do laundry so often? Chunk’em in the trash or give’em away and do your laundry more often. By the way, if you do not think that you are not bothered by that growing pile of laundry, you are mistaken. That increasing pile of laundry is continuously passing through your mind, taunting you every time you put it off. It is using your energy, distracting you from the more essential things in life. By having fewer clothes, you are forced to do your laundry more often, and you have fewer wardrobe decisions to make.

I have a thousand T-shirts! Ok, maybe not a thousand. I found T-shirts that I had gotten when I graduated from the U of A. The sheer number of T-shirts overwhelmed me. So I went to Google!

How Many Clothes Do I Need? A Practical Guide to Owning Fewer Clothes

1. Decide you want to own fewer clothes

I had to decide that I did not want that many t-shirts. I knew that I needed to get rid of the t-shirts from my sports competitions and those I bought to work outside. I never used them, and they just sat around gathering dust.

2. Chose quality over quantity

Most of the t-shirts I had were, no doubt, the most inferior quality of t-shirts on the market.

3. Embrace the idea of keeping your favorite

I have a t-shirt that I might have worn two times, but it is one of my favorite T-shirts. That t-shirt, in reality, is an item that represents a memory of my time in the Army. I removed this t-shirt from my closet and stuck it in a box where I put the things that bring me good memories.

4. Wear fewer colors

I like black and gray t-shirts, and I dislike bright colors like yellow, red, purple, etc. The bright color t-shirts were the first I put in the bag that I would take to the church.

5. Happy and content, embrace your style

I do not know what my style is, or even if I have a style. I like to feel comfortable, and I do not want my t-shirts to be too loose. I do not use my wardrobe to express any opinion or belief nor to be funny. Any t-shirt that disagreed with these two statements also went to the church.

This article is the first of a series of articles describing my journey to becoming a minimalist. I hope you enjoyed this article and found its contents helpful. I look forward to our future conversations and remember, “Less Is More.”