1st October: The Minimalist Experiment
Join us for a 30 day decluttering challenge in the Heart Leap Universe.
Happy 1st of the month. Here’s a chance to reset and start again at the beginning of the month.
It’s the last quarter of the year. (How is that even possible?)
Let’s make this last quarter really count.
This October, I’m inviting you to take part in a decluttering challenge.
Happy on a canal boat
Autumn, five years ago, I had just moved on to a canal boat. I had packed down my whole house and donated, recycled or binned my worldly possessions. Then with a handful of boxes, I went to live simply and happily on a 42 foot 100 year old canal boat for nearly 18 months (yes! through the pandemic) with my 16 year old son who had just got into a free film 6th form in Islington.
That boat taught us both so much. That it is possible to live with very little and you can live simply and yes, it does make you happy and invites you to focus and connect on what’s really important. (Chocolate buttons and a roaring fire in the morning! And to be fair, the global pandemic taught us a few important lessons too)
Although if I’m honest I’m not sure I miss having to empty my own loo, clear frost of the inside of the window and light a fire every morning in Winter.
But clearing your clutter, getting rid of the crap that seems to breed in cupboards and creating space allows you to think clearly and consciously about what you do want to create in your life.
My simple life on the canal boat inspired a huge leap and eventually I left London behind and I am now living in a tiny cottage in the walls of Alnwick, a fairytale town with a castle on the edge of Northumberland (to be clear, this is the castle, not my cottage 😂)
I am building a new creative, happy, simple life up here.
Well, that’s the theory.
In 5 years, I seem to have accumulated a truckload of stuff, paperwork, and things once again and it’s time for me to do some clearing.
This month I am dedicating October to the theme of letting go.
And also invite you all to take part in The 30 Day Minimalists’ Game.
I got to feature New York Times–bestselling authors Joshua Fields Millburn, Ryan Nicodemus, (and now T.K. Coleman,) known collectively as The Minimalists many times in my years at Psychologies magazine and go back to their philosophies again and again. (Check out their website and podcast - with 120 million downloads, their podcast is one of most popular in the world)
Best-selling authors of the bestselling Minimalism: Live A Meaningful Life (Asymmetrical Press, £7.99 (and now Neflix superstars), Joshua and Ryan had hit the age of 30 and achieved everything that was supposed to make them happy: careers with six-figure salaries, luxury cars, oversized houses and ‘all the stuff to clutter every corner of our consumer-driven lives’.
‘But we weren’t satisfied,’ they said.
‘There was a gaping void and working 80 hours a week just to buy more stuff didn’t fill it. In fact, it only brought more debt, stress, anxiety, fear, loneliness, guilt, overwhelm and depression.’
They went on a journey to get rid of all their stuff - and then created their own movement.
They are inspiring and interesting people and I can’t recommend their work highly enough.
Invitation to The Game
They also created a 30-Day Minimalist Game that I love, which I’ve played before and thought we could play together in the Heart Leap community this month.
The concept is simple and involves progressively getting rid of more items each day for 30 days.
Day 1: Get rid of 1 item.
Day 2: Get rid of 2 items.
Day 3: Get rid of 3 items.
...
Day 30: Get rid of 30 items.
By the end of the 30 days, you will have decluttered around 465 items. The idea is to make decluttering manageable by starting small and building momentum as you go. The items can be anything from clothes, books, and electronics to kitchenware, decorations, or even digital files.
The challenge can be made competitive by playing with a friends or family member or The Heart Leap community - but whoever you play with - the one lasts the longest (without missing a day) wins.
The purpose of the 30-Day Minimalism Game is not just to reduce clutter but also to examine your relationship with material possessions and learn to live with less, freeing up space physically and mentally.
The rules?
Whether you donate, sell, or trash your excess, every material possession must be out of your house—and out of your life—by midnight each day.
It’s an easy game at first. Anyone can purge a few items, right? But it grows considerably more challenging by week two, when you’re forced to jettison more than a dozen items per day. And it keeps getting more difficult as the month progresses.
Whoever keeps it going the longest wins.
Who would like to play?
All paid subscribers are invited to play [Watch out for the thread later today - we can post photos of the stuff we are getting rid of ]
Paid subscribers will also be invited to a free journalling ‘letting go’ session tonight at 7pm [Zoom link to follow]
If you’re a free subscriber, I will be posting free journal prompts every day for a month so you can examine your relationship with your stuff.
Whatever your commitment, let’s lighten up and create some space to focus on what really matters.
And if all else fails, at least you’ll have a tidier house!
I’m decluttering but on a bigger scale. I’m about to dispose of 30 years of teaching resources and 465 items wouldn’t even scratch the surface! However, the timescale will help- getting rid of it all by the end of the month seems like a reasonable goal.
I’m in!