5 Lessons from 16 Years of Minimalism

[@catw6803]

Appreciate the humor and honesty..what a joy to start my day. Thank you

[@MostlyMindful]

Oh, happy days - what an awesome comment to read on a Friday morning. Any day would have been great, but there's something about Fridays, right!? 😍

[@lynnoorman2144]

At one point in my life, with 2 teenage boys to feed, I had very little money. I got money in on a Thursday so on Wednesdays we had BOF pasta. All of the veg scraps ( 2 mushrooms, half a courgette etc) sautéed with a clove of garlic - tossed over pasta and topped with the remains of the cheese. The boys loved it - never the same twice! In summer fresh tomatoes and herbs from the garden went in. Very creative! Now i make it through choice! And being eco friendly and having been poor I hate waste. I am on a minimalist journey because I appreciate having a little thinking space rather than personal and emotional clutter.

[@kfitz192]

@@lynnoorman2144 What is BOF?

[@MostlyMindful]

Absolutely love this: "Y appreciate having a little thinking space rather than personal and emotional clutter." That's exactly how we feel. Also want to know what BOF stands for...I know I'm going to kick myself when you tell us. 😍

[@booksnphilosophy]

This is my new favourite channel. I appreciate that you're talking at a normal, calm pace and not over-editing - a lot of the current youtubers are so exhausting to listen to! But your videos feel like a conversation. One of my favorite gifts to receive was a donation that was towards a specific Sea Shepherd campaign in a season when they were on the news a great deal, saving whales in the Antarctic. It gave me a great sense of contribution.

[@MostlyMindful]

Your new favorite channel!? Wow, that's a huge compliment - thank you! ❤💚 Thank you for sharing your gift donation story. We love hearing things like this! I especially loved what you said about it giving you a sense of contribution. These are the things we remember and hold dear to our hearts, not the new iPhone or the latest whatever. 😍

[@CindyEisele-bm9ug]

Love the bloopers. I’ll need to contemplate 🤔 your ideas in this one. I embrace minimalism for sure

[@MostlyMindful]

Let us know where your contemplation leaves you! 🤩 And happy to hear you enjoyed our bloopers. Can't let them go to waste, right!? 😂

[@CindyEisele-bm9ug]

@@MostlyMindful Enhanced creativity resonates in my life with less resources, but I also feel I'm living with the consequences of previous decisions. Since you brought it up, I agree that the idea of success has changed.

[@MostlyMindful]

@@CindyEisele-bm9ug If you're talking about previous financial decisions, you're not alone! 😅 It would be great if we could change the past sometimes, but then again, we'd never have the lessons and learnings we have now. 😁

[@RayTator]

I so enjoy the two of you. Thank you Lynn 🌻🍁(Rays wife)

[@MostlyMindful]

Lynn, does Ray know you're using his account to comment on a hippie KZbin channel? 🤣

[@RayTator]

@@MostlyMindful YUP🌻🍁 he has the I pad for zoom and I use it for my favorite people❤️😉

[@MostlyMindful]

@@RayTator 😍

[@Tor-n3k]

Hello from Australia 🤗. I'm recently new to your channel, and am loving the content and your great humour. My minimalism journey is only just starting. Fate has spoken, and introduced me to Ange and Sporty!! Thank you, and lots of hugs ❤

[@MostlyMindful]

Hello Down Under, so lovely to have you here! 😁 We shall endeavour to inspire and motivate you on your journey to live with less. Hugs back! ❤🧡💛💚

[@cristimignano216]

Hello from Michigan USA😊. Great idea on “use up everything game”. I’m going to really give it a try. Thanks for all your great videos😃

[@MostlyMindful]

You're welcome! 😁 The use up everything game is super satisfying. 💯

[@kfitz192]

I always get excited when you show up in my KZbin feed! I know it's going to be good! I love that you're going to be selling your car! I was car free for a little over a year and absolutely loved the freedom of it! If I ever move back to a community with good public transport I would do it again in a heartbeat. From my view, I would say the two of you are extremely successful and inspiring! Wearing sixteen year old clothing is as impressive as it is sustainable!! Very badass! I've never been interested in status, things or making tons of money. My dream has always been to be content living a simple life. Thirty-one years ago, at the age of forty, I divorced my husband of 17 years and began the journey back to myself. I've also changed how I give gifts. Each grandchild gets a book to open on Christmas Eve. I like to make nature-inspired gifts for my three adult children. My children prefer this over store-bought gifts and it makes me happy to forage for supplies. Most of the gifts can be eaten and/or composted! I finally got a chance to make coffee with a mason jar! It was really good!

[@MostlyMindful]

And we always get excited when we see a comment from you! We know it's going to be juicy and thought-provoking. Thank you! You never fail to inspire us with your life stories. e.g., Divorcing your husband at age 40 so long ago when societal pressure for a woman to be married was so much higher. Kudos. It definitely sounds like you've found your way back to yourself. ❤

[@ros8986]

living with less makes me feel more secure because my physical life depends on less stuff.

[@MostlyMindful]

Exactly!!! 🤩

[@shlf2615]

"Redefining Success" is my favorite. My priorities have changed so much that I no longer value the modern view of success. Success is personal to me and no one else will ever see my successes because I find them in the simplest moments, like taking time to color with my grand-niece or make a healthy meal. I hope that makes sense - it's sometimes hard to describe.

[@MostlyMindful]

You're so right; it is hard to describe by conventional standards where success is all too often measured in luxury cars, corner offices, etc. However, it's coloring with you that your grand-niece will remember and cherish. The car you drive? That won't warrant a first thought with her, never mind a second. 😍

[@RosalieWhite-i5x]

Yes. Yes. Yes. Love! Sorry to fan girl out but this may be my favorite video so far. Thank you for going deep and inspiring us in this journey! Getting rid of physical things somehow opened me up to letting go of so much more. Transitioning into the next phase of my life in my 40’s, I somehow feel younger and freer than in my 20’s. Loved the little home video clip and would love to see and hear more about how you came upon minimalism and daily activities in this lifestyle if you feel comfortable sharing. For example what do you do for entertainment and managing those items. Do you read or play games or listen to music? Health & Happiness!

[@MostlyMindful]

Please fan girl all you want - it makes our day/week/month to hear such positive feedback. 😁 We'll definitely be sharing more of our personal journey in upcoming videos! ❤

[@vicke200]

Did you ever do a video on HOW to declutter? Sell vs Donate vs give away for example. I'm curious about your philosophy on how to actually get rid of stuff. Sometimes it takes months to sell stuff.

[@MostlyMindful]

Hmmm how to declutter? We've offered different tips and hacks, which you'll find if you search "declutter" on our channel. But we could look into doing one specifically on how we've approached it in the past: selling vs donating etc. 🤔

[@jayathome2898]

Great video as per usual. Here is some feedback about your visual presentation. As a knitter I notice these things, I think. Sporty wears brighter colors and physically sits a little higher than Ang. Ang wears dark colours so recedes more. Because you are sitting against a white background with a solid line (counter top) right at the top of Ang’s head she seems much smaller. Maybe Sporty could sit slightly behind or change to a location without the solid line as a background? Anyway. Just my two cents. Love your content! Being happy with what I have has allowed me to put time and care into helping to raise my granddaughter. Win-Win-with cuddles!

[@MostlyMindful]

Wow, that's such valuable feedback. Thank you for taking the time to share your two cents. I'll make sure the message reaches our DOP, Sporty. 😁 PS Just love "win-win-with cuddles!" ❤

[@kfitz192]

@@jayathome2898 Good eye!

[@deedouglas636]

Greetings from the Jersey shore, USA!😊

[@MostlyMindful]

Just Googled it, it looks so pretty there! Is it a tourist hotspot? 😎

[@dianeyoung8068]

Very good list. I feel that being minimalist has increased my enjoyment of the things that I do have. I have also become good at saying "no thanks" to many things that I might have gone along with in the past.

[@MostlyMindful]

I absolutely agree-the lifestyle definitely helps you appreciate what you have. And how awesome is the "saying no" skill!? 🤩

[@kfitz192]

@@MostlyMindful It's perfect, short and sweet. Especially since "no" is a complete sentence.

[@extrememinimalism]

Listened to this and I just went thru my 'small' pile of papers, photos and kids art. Somehow found 10 dupe photos and 35 pieces of paper. 😅

[@MostlyMindful]

Okay, our work here is officially done. We've inspired an extreme minimalist to declutter more! 😁🤩💯💢 Seriously though, how crazy is it that there is ALWAYS more to declutter!? 😅

[@extrememinimalism]

@MostlyMindful I blame the kiddo haha. 😄 🤣

[@MostlyMindful]

@@extrememinimalism 😂

[@abigaillarion9365]

What a profoundly insightful video, maybe your best one to date! I'd love to hear more about your journey to minimalism itself. It sounds like you haven't always lived in South Africa, and I wonder what influence those international moves had on your perspective. My husband and I didn't truly realize how much we'd accumulated and how much it weighed us down until we started planning our move from the States to Germany. We're on the other side of it now and never want to own that much again!

[@MostlyMindful]

Wow, thank you so much for the compliment! There's so much to say here, so we're going to save your comment/question for our upcoming Coffee Chat series, where we chat more informally about our lives 😎.

[@joanne8126]

❤

[@darkangelkate3950]

Hello you two! Thank you for this video. I was wondering because you both talked about how different you are now compared to your younger years...were you both minimalist when you first met? If not what precipitated such a huge change? I apologize if that is too personal a question. Hugs❤

[@MostlyMindful]

You're welcome. It's not personal at all. We were very different when we were younger. We both led a pretty hedonistic lifestyle, both prior to getting together and also in the early years of our relationship. We often joke that our younger selves would be crying into their tequila shots if they knew what the future held. 🤣

[@kfitz192]

@@MostlyMindful Hahaha! That's awesome!

[@jed86515]

Great video. I really need to work on reducing my stuff more !! x

[@MostlyMindful]

Make it a daily goal to get rid of something you no longer use! I've seen many five-minute declutter hack videos on KZbin that might motivate you to take action. Just make sure you come back here when you're done watching them. 🤣

[@tinakoyama8258]

I have a grand-niece who recently turned 2. She already has a gazillion toys and clothes, and her parents both have great careers with good incomes, so she needs absolutely nothing that I could buy her at the store. On her birthday, I sent a card saying I didn't want to send her more "stuff," but I that I hadn't yet figured out what to give her instead (as I truly would like to give her something meaningful). I am still thinking, and I was hoping you might have ideas. I think your idea of donations to good causes would be in the right direction, but I'm not sure of the right organization. If she lived nearby, I would try to find a way to share experiences, but alas, she does not.

[@MostlyMindful]

What about adopting a donkey, turkey, or any other animal from an organization close to you? They usually send the recipient a photo and an update of their animal's personality, likes and dislikes, etc. It's super sweet. That said, she may be a bit young to appreciate that. One of our viewers bought their granddaughter a season pass to a kids' museum. Alternatively, why not just take her for a special outing to a place she'd like? 😄

[@deatraparks4739]

Hi how are you, doing.take care

[@MostlyMindful]

Hey Deatra...doing good thanks. Hope you are too! xx

[@Pondapple]

Don't sell your car; park it for 6 months and see how it feels.

[@MostlyMindful]

We get your point, but a) we've lived for many years without a car before, and b) she's at an age where things can need replacing and fixing, and we definitely want to avoid that. Also, as long as we have the car, we'll keep finding excuses to use it. Plus, we have plans for the garage! 🤩

[@virginiavilas]

🤪🤪😂😂🤣😂👍👍 -V

[@MostlyMindful]

Guessing you enjoyed it? 🤣🤣