I got rid of almost everything I own. From hoarding to minimalist living - here's what I've learnt.

I remember how toting this bag around used to make  me feel so cool and Powerful Sarah Jessica Parker   once wore this very same bag on an episode of Sex  and the City oh well time for this to be sold too   I've been getting rid of almost everything I  accumulated up till I was about 34. I'm now 39.   so that means getting rid of about 95 of my  former life has taken me more than five years   so far I had so many boxes of emotional hoarding  charcoal mementos books and toys I loved things   to remember old friends and family by closets  full of clothes and shoes and bags that were   uncomfortable reminders of how I'd spent over a  decade of my life building a False Image to show   Society a decade ago I finally got up the courage  to change my life and quit a corporate career that   didn't fulfill me and left my country to pursue  my dreams elsewhere up until the pandemic I was   moving countries every few months so I lived  out of one luggage and one backpack basically   what I can carry traveling by myself I got by  with only maybe five percent of stuff that I   had from my previous life and I never lived  better or happier getting rid of 95 of my life   selling giving away or disposing of almost all of  my possessions just made me realize so many things   that were kind of painful yet liberating so I just  wanted to share them with you today in case I can   help you too so hit that like button and say hello  down below if you're on your own decluttering and   minimalist living journey and remember that a lot  of stuff is really just emotional baggage so let's   let it all go so we can all move forward and be  a step closer to living the life we truly want   I grew up with parents who experienced hardship  and struggle in their growing up years all my life   my parents will always say things like just in  case or don't waste and everything we had at home   will usually end up in a box waiting for a far  off day in the future where we might need it again   like most Asian parents my mom and dad don't say  emotional stuff like I love you which I've always   hungered for but how my parents have always shown  me love was through making sure I never liked for   anything they bought me all the books and toys I  wanted especially books they were so proud that I   loved reading all those boxes and boxes of stuff  that I had from my growing up years was also to   me my parents love and hard-earned money for over  30 years we kept almost everything until sadly we   realized that the cost of all the stuff was not  just the money that my mom and Dad paid for them   that's also the cost of the storage space  they took up in our house all these years   more and more space space that we could have lived  in that my niece and nephew can play in and create   new happy memories it was also the thousands of  dollars of getting the Exterminator to come to the   house to get rid of the termites that had started  living off some of these 20 and 30 year old books   plus the heartache of realizing that it's really  the memories of happy times I was trying to hold   on to which will probably be forever in my brain  mementos or not but all this stuff was just stuff   taking up space needlessly then there were the  things I bought myself in my 20s after I started   working closets full of clothes and bags and  shoes for Jean the corporate lawyer never mind   that really I was a surfer trapped in the body  of a lawyer and all I really wanted to do was   to travel and serve and experience life out there  outside of Singapore in the room I didn't have the   courage to say no to others and to live life being  genuine to myself though so instead I buried my   head in denial and I dragged myself to work every  day to make more money so I can buy more of these   expensive costumes to continue playing this role  that felt completely wrong and made me so unhappy   plus look at all those advertisements by these  Brands and companies the models In Those ads   look so happy wearing these clothes and bags and  shoes are going to work I completely bought into   the idea idea that buying those stuff and going  to work looking like them would make me happy too   sadly I realized years later that stuff doesn't  change anything in your life at most they just   distract you from focusing on the real problems  things do not Define us our actions and successes   and failures in life defines us and ironically  The Continuous Chase of these external objects   and their promised dreams often holds us  back from the actualization of those very   same dreams simply by being a waste of time money  and energy as opposed to buying and holding stuff   a much better use of time and resources may be  to learn new stuff and expose ourselves to new   experiences so you may be interested in today's  video sponsor skillshare skillshare is an online   learning community with thousands of classes on  a huge range of topics from filmmaking art and   creativity to freelancing self-care and more so  one of the new skills I've picked up in the last   few years is creating online content to share  what's meaningful to me and I do this through   making videos and posting them on YouTube it was  a completely foreign thing to me but luckily my   Harps Vitali loves cameras and making videos  and I enjoy writing and telling stories so   together we've created a bunch of videos that  have actually made some impact on other people   doing this is a combination of a lot of different  skills and here's where skillshare really came in   it's so handy for us to learn a bunch of different  things of one platform offering quality classes   like Ali abdal's video editing with Final Cut  Pro X from beginner to YouTube and Nathaniel   Drew's creativity Unleashed discover hone and  share your voice online because skillshare is   sponsoring this video the first 1000 viewers  to use this link in the description below will   get a one month free trial of skillshare so you  can check out that class by Ali and Nathaniel   that I mentioned or just look around skillshare's  entire class library for one month absolutely free   for the last 10 years leaving almost all my  stuff behind I've been out there conquering   my own mountains I learned new livelihoods from  scratch and created a new life I got better at   the hobbies that I loved creativity art surfing I  started my own businesses and made money off them   after traveling around so many places I finally  met a man who's truly right for me and we got   married and started new adventures together we had  this dream of living permanently in Bali Indonesia   Once Upon a Time this place was too expensive  for us and we couldn't afford to live here and   together after about five years of striving we  managed to make our Dream Come True doing all   of these big important life moments I didn't care  what shoes I was wearing or if my childhood teddy   bear was there none of that stuff matters these  days my clothes are mainly functional I don't   use my outfits to who I am my status and wealth  in society anymore I finally know himself and   I don't really need to broadcast it to people  I sold most of all my expensive stuff and the   money I got back represents months of travel and  happy life and Adventure overseas it really made   me wonder at what I was thinking in the first  place to exchange all that for a few pieces of   lettuce stitched prettily together my books went  to the community library for others to enjoy   them the nice clothes and bags to the cousins and  friends who are still pursuing the corporate dream   I felt so liberating to find welcoming new homes  for the stuff and to reclaim the space in my   parents home back for my fox and the kids the  hardest is still to let go of the momentos from   the past I keep having to remind myself that the  good memories will forever be inside my heart the   stuff doesn't matter and what's more important  is to truly be present around the people I love   now and to cherish them however I can every  day I'm still slowly getting through the last   of my stuff and I think it's okay possibly  I may never get rid of everything entirely   I think there isn't a right or wrong answer when  it comes to looking at your life and possessions   and deciding what memories and emotions to let  go of or what you no longer will buy again I just   think taking the time to ask ourselves the right  questions about all stuff can save us a lot of   time and effort and money from holding on to stuff  that's basically emotional package or consuming   stuff that we don't really need or letting  consumerism hold us back from our true dreams   I hope that what I shared in this video was  helpful to you in some way and perhaps inspire   you to take another moment before you buy your  next new thing or perhaps do some decluttering   and checking with your emotional closet thank you  so much for watching my video every week for your   support I really appreciate you being around  so I have someone to share these thoughts with   have a wonderful weekend and  let's chat again next Saturday foreign [Music]

Channel: Jean Voronkova

Views: 721,895

Keywords: minimalist lifestyle, minimalist living, extreme minimalism, extreme decluttering, change your life, malama life, a to z zen life

Id: p-fGZOa7Nsw

Length: 10min 45sec (645 seconds)

Published: Sat Nov 12 2022