Confession: I am a recovering collector. Every day in my spare time, I am gifting, donating, recycling, or discarding. The path to become a minimalist is not easy for a collector by nature. In the beginning was my copy of Walden by Henry David Thoreau with “simplify, simplify” underlined. Years later, I’m still working on it, hoping to leave little to burden our children when I pass. I can’t take it with me.
Recently a Treasure Trove store opened nearby to test my resolve, especially on one-dollar Wednesdays, for hunting valuable gifts. My limit of $4 is easily reached in two minutes of scanning piles of cool merchandise … with restraint.
Gift hunting (shopping) shows my weakness or strength. For example, I learned years ago to not wait until Christmas Eve, and to buy additional gifts during clearance sales afterwards … to save for Three Kings Day (Epiphany) on January 6th. (Party on!) So, gift hunting all year gets me in the holiday mood early. On the other hand, finding gifts in my home is a challenge … and a nice surprise a year later. Nevertheless, KIS is my goal: keep it simple.
