I am often asked for photographs depicting my minimalist journey. Whether it be before and after photos of room transformations, piles of stuff that was removed/donated or just general images to show how far I’ve come Well, I actually don’t have any photos, but there is a reason for this. I can’t bear to take any. The de-cluttering process for me is a very personal journey and it took a lot for me to be able to write about it initially, after all this is my life I’m sharing with complete strangers. I don’t think I have the capacity, on top of that to let people I don’t know, or even friends for that matter see into very personal aspects of my life and how I live.
People tell me they could just me for me and my own personal use, but then if they are for myself only I have no need for them. I know what I have accomplished and I remember how much stuff I used to have, I don’t need digital clutter to prove that to myself. Consequently, I simply don’t want to take photos of things I don’t need to take photos of. I don’t want to store them on my phone taking up valuable space, nor do I want to have more to scroll through when I am looking for a photo I actually want to look at because this is a waste of my valuable time and energy.
To an extent I also find this slightly ironic, why would I get rid of stuff to de-clutter my life only to keep photos of all the things that have been weighing unnecessarily on my life for years? I understand taking a photo here and there of something that may hold some sentimental value but I do not want to hold onto photos and create digital clutter and keep the cycle of stuff going. I want to end the cycle.
To date I have taken no photos, nor do I currently intend to because I feel don’t need them. Plain and simple!
Have you taken photographs of your journey? Have you documented your journey in other ways?
This is Minimalism 