Some people say “minimal-ish” others coined the term “cozy minimalist” I like to think of myself as a motherhood minimalist. Let me break that down a bit!
Let's start with how I found "minimalism"- a hashtag on Instagram (not kidding)!
At the time, my husband was deployed and I was struggling bad with anxiety. I’ve always been a “worrier” but at this point it was the first time I didn’t feel like I could control it or push it to the back of my mind. What I didn’t know is that much of the anxiety I’ve struggled with most of my adult life was stemming from overwhelm, and the overwhelm was stemming from the space around me. What happened in my case was I moved out of my parents’ place into my dorm and took most of my belongings, then I moved in with my husband, it was all my things and all his things and! So many things under the same roof was taking a toll on me that I hadn't realized, yet. By simply getting rid of THINGS and being conscious of the amount of stuff cluttering my space, we've created such a more joyful life for our family.
From the podcast, Minimalish, here is a quote I love about being minimalist “Excess stuff, excess space, always wanting bigger and better…it’s a part of our American culture. But it doesn’t have to be that way. I have found a realistic version of minimalism over the past two years that works for me and is sustainable...moving towards a more intentional, lighter life and motherhood”
You know the saying "keeping up with the Jones'"? As a newcomer in this adult world, I didn't realize how easy consumerism is, and how we can all become trapped in the viscous cycle of keeping up. At this crossroad or turning point, I realized it wasn't just about stuff either, it was about keeping up in all the life things.
It was about graduating then getting married then buying a house then having a baby and doing it all at the same speed as my "friends". Minimalist means letting go of not only having all the things but also doing all the things. It is creating space for saying "no, this doesn't add value to my life".
Next, for my life it has to be practical— for me practical means I did not raid my house and trash things. I talked to my husband and we started by eliminating duplicates. For example, I had dishes from college, he had dishes from his apartment, we had a dining set as a gift from our wedding... we can eliminate some duplicates here!
The other thing was just starting to be more intentional about where our money was going and not spending out of greed or selfish desires, oof... totally brought Jesus into it. Finally, when we moved we took what we needed. What we loved. And what we were going to need. The rest? Sold or donated. But we live cozy, we didn’t go white walls and a sterile environment into minimalism because quite frankly that just isn’t practical or welcoming in my opinion, or optional with 2 tiny humans. They are constantly growing, changing, and needing new things or having new interests.
The third part of being a "motherhood minimalist" as a mom, here’s my #momtruth you ready, it means gifts are always allowed and appreciated but I will reward/love in other ways. We are super into love languages around here and if gifts was a love language in our house it would look more like notes and handmade options. However, so far Elizabeth (2.5) is more into words of affirmation. And Nolan (11 months) enjoys quality time above all. I’m not saying I don’t buy my kids stuff, I totally do- however I have a set of rules I keep in mind when purchasing for them. (That’s another post for another day)
Keep Unapologetically Momming,
Kenzie Byrd
Kenzie Byrd
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