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The year before I stumbled into minimalism, my mother developed Stage 4 cancer. Although we called it “lung cancer,” it had metastasized to other vital organs, including her brain, before she passed.
If there was a silver lining in my mother’s painful death, it’s that losing her forced me to take an inventory of my own life. And so, seventeen years ago, I started simplifying.
Within a few months, I jettisoned 90% of my material possessions. Soon, my first marriage ended, I crawled out of a crater of debt, and I quit my corporate job. It was shocking to experience so much change at once.
Indeed, my excess had started with the stuff. New purchases became new bills. New bills required more work. More work crowded my calendar. A packed schedule strained my relationships. And digital distractions filled whatever space remained.
For years, I stood by as my clutter metastasized beyond my personal effects.
Fortunately, simplicity spreads, too. For me, one small act of subtraction revealed the next. Which revealed the next…
This is why minimalists start with stuff. Not because possessions matter most, but because the stuff is the most obvious place to begin. Once we address the physical clutter, we can clearly see the other excesses—the digital, financial, relational, and calendar clutter—that get in the way.
—JFM
P.S. Those are the five areas Ryan, T.K., and I tackle in Simplify Everything, the decluttering course I wish I’d had all those years ago. I’d love for you to join us—it’s $100 off this month while we test the new format.
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