There's a misnomer that to be a minimalist, you have to constantly be giving things away or minimalizing your life. That this - owning as little as possible - is all you think about.
Come on. There comes a point when you've downsized every part of your life to perfection. And when that happens, all you have to do is maintain it.
I can hear you say, "But what if that consumeristic lifestyle creeps back in? What if I start buying and not purging? What if I stop becoming a minimalist?"
Okay, for that to happen - especially if you've strategically and knowingly changed your habits at work and home - you'd have to become someone else. As in, your old self.
And in case you haven't noticed, we're constantly evolving. We humans adapt and change, but we also know what's important and remember what we like, or want to keep in our lives.
We may fall victim to a shopping whim occasionally, but when we've discovered it's as pleasurable not to buy as it is to buy, it's going to be very tough falling back into old routines.
If minimalism is important to you, you can still love to shop. But buying everything you want isn't a part of the shopping plan anymore. Instead, you pick and choose - and you choose with great care - an item, whether it's clothing or a dish, that you're bringing back into your home.
If you're like me and have slowly transformed your life to one of minimalistic joy, where things have become less important than the people around you, it's going to be difficult to fall off the consumeristic wagon.
Once you see how much happier and freer you are as a minimalist, going out to buy an outfit, or a pair of shoes (or in my case, one more mug to my vintage mug collection) isn't going to revert me back to my old ways of consumerism.
I'm not suddenly going to forget about how much I love having less in my home! No way. It just won't happen.
So put your mind to rest.
Here's how you can maintain minimalism - and not stress about reverting back to consumerism - even when you're not paying attention.
One-in-One-Out Rule: By far and away, this is the best rule I've picked up through my minimalism journey. If I have something that wears out, like a pair of shoes, then there's zero guilt in replacing it. I've not increased the number of items in my closet but merely replaced it. And that way my love for shoes (because yes, I do have a serious love for shoes) stays at a level that is manageable for me.
Here's another example. I have a huge love for vintage mugs as well, so when I find them (thrifting is how I find all of them or at a lucky garage sale) I make sure that if I buy a mug, it needs to replace one I have, or it's replacing one that broke (which happens).
Rarely, I will add one to my collection without giving one away. It's unusual though. I don't have any more room to add to my collection, and I know I can't possibly use all the mugs I already have. I want to use all the mugs, but realistically, it's not possible. So, that keeps me in line as well. If I use the one-in-one-out rule, there's really no way to go back to my old ways of living.
Less is More Aesthetic: Once I've become accustomed to owning less and loving the way it looks, I get a huge boost of serotonin when I see what I've created. I am so happy to walk into my closet and see everything tidy, lined up, and all used on the regular. None of my clothing isn't worn. None of my shoes aren't worn. Every belt, every sweater, and every tank top in my closet is loved and appreciated.
The bonus of owning less is a clean and neat home. When my home is clean, I'm happy. When I'm happy, my family is happy. Owning less, once I know what I truly love and want to be around, is a pleasurable experience. Why would I walk away from that?
Now that I live in calm, beautiful, and intentional spaces, I don't want to go back to any other way of living. (There may be moments of temporary chaos, things may pile up, and stress and circumstances may change, but it's not hard to get back to the routine of a clean aesthetic when the stress is gone, and my circumstances are back to normal.)
I've come to love the minimalistic aesthetic and that's the only way I want it.
Read about Minimalism: One way to keep minimalism in my life, even now that I'm done getting rid of everything in my home that doesn't belong there, is to read about it. (And in my case, write about it.) There are many websites devoted to minimalism. All you have to do is a quick Google search and see that there is far more data out there than we can possibly read on the subject.
I read books, signed up for a couple newsletters, read other articles and blog posts, and make it a part of my daily reading. Reading about what I want - by seeing and studying what other people do - helps me in my daily quest to maintain minimalism.
It's not boring, or taxing, either. It's like drinking eight glasses of water or exercising. I've made it a part of my life because I know it's good for me and because of that, my life is simple, gratifying, and at the level of minimalism that works for me.
I just read Joshua Becker's short Kindle book called Simplify. I've read all of his books and I highly recommend them, but this one is short and sweet, and a great one to have on hand if you struggle to stay on track.
When you make minimalism a part of your everyday life, and you do this for months and eventually years, even if you have to make purchases - even if you want to make purchases - this won't upend your work of living with less.
You can get right back in the saddle, dig your minimalism spurs in, and keep moving forward.
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