Minimalism

I have been a minimalist for many years now.  During the early months of my major downsizing of possessions there were two things that became very clear to me.


1) When you think of buying something new, before you make that purchase it is a good idea to think of how you can someday get rid of it.


2) Valuable things are much harder to get rid of than ordinary things.  If it is truly valuable you tend to feel obligated to sell it for money rather than just giving it away or tossing it.  And selling something depends on finding someone who is willing to buy it.  


There were times when I had so many things that I wanted gone that I consciously gave things, that I knew were worth a lot more than they would ever give me,  to a consignment business because my need to be rid of things was more powerful than my need to get every penny I could for them.
Once there were a few pieces of sterling silver that I simply put in a plastic bag and handed to Goodwill because I simply could not face trying to sell them and I just wanted them out of my life.