What It’s Really Like to Be a Minimalist

As I stood in front of my trashed closet, clothes, and unopened boxes of tea spilling out the door, I decided this was it. I was finally going to start living like the minimalist blogs I had been religiously reading. I was tired of putting my closet back together after it collapsed under the weight of all of my stuff, I was tired of moving it all in and out of dorm rooms, and I was tired of feeling like there was no room for me.

Since that moment I have aggressively reduced the amount of stuff in my life by more than 75% and heavily downsized my living space. Five years later, my boyfriend and I now happily live in a 275-square-foot one-bedroom rental with a tiny closet and a shared four-drawer dresser.

But it took me years to slowly get rid of everything and feel comfortable calling myself a minimalist. I never felt like I fit the description. My stuff still gets messy. I have a whole drawer of workout clothes and many jars of tea. Doesn’t that disqualify me?

I finally realized the numbers don’t matter. I don’t know how many things I own. I am not obsessed with reaching an arbitrary figure or living with as close to nothing as possible. My life doesn’t look like a perfect clutter-free utopia as seen on Instagram, but I’m happier than I have ever been. I have gotten so much more than I’ve given up, even if minimalism isn’t really all perfectly organized closets and Scandinavian furniture.

Here are eight things you can expect to happen if you decide to take the plunge into minimalism. As with any lifestyle, it has its downsides. Getting rid of stuff won’t magically solve all your problems, but I've found it gives me breathing room to truly be myself.