the minimalists' tour lands in milwaukee!



  

Thankful that I had the chance to meet The Minimalists this week in Milwaukee! I'd been apprehensive on my way to the coffeeshop but all nervousness fled when I stepped foot into the room where the friendliest people were hanging out!  And the rumors are true....Joshua and Ryan are handing out hugs.  Who can feel nervous around that?!   I love their writing and am in awe of how their lives changed so much in the past year.   We were introduced to Joel Runyon of the Blog of Impossible Things who has a fascinating story about doing the impossible!  His blog is a whole community in itself! 

 

the official meetup

The M’s (as I’ll shorten this to call them because typing out The Minimalists requires too much thinking and spelling out in my head and shhhh about the fact I could instead merely copy and paste their blog name) spoke about how they got rid of extra stuff in their life in order to focus on priorities: health, relationships, following your passion, and helping others.  
 

Josh, Ryan and Joel were all quite personable, open about their lives and genuinely interested in each person in attendance.  A lively discussion was had about a myriad of topics - including how families react to someone becoming a minimalist (the good and the bad), is getting rid of "stuff" all there is to being a minimalist, and digging into the purpose of The Minimalists...and so much more.  What a great evening!   Some of us did try to keep all three of them there with us forever, but we had to settle for agreeing to have another Milwaukee meetup without Joshua, Ryan and Joel. 

personal application  I’ve spent 2011 reacting to most things in my life.  The only areas where I actively participate are in ministry/volunteering with teens and the media team at church.  There I’m happy, engaged, and have a purpose.  At home with finances, health and relationships, I’ve been pretty laid back and have chosen to merely react to those around me and to my life circumstances.  I’d like to be more intentional about everything in my life.

health  While I do work out a few times a week, I'd like it to be more consistent and would like to make it automatic, something that doesn't need to be dwelt upon. If a stranger were to ask me if I worked out today, I'd like it to be less like a trophy ("Why yes, sir, thank you for asking. I did work out today. I ran two miles and lifted one weight and here's my blog entry all about it!") and more of something I simply do as part of my daily routine then forget about it until the next day.

household   I love FlyLady’s way of managing a household and taking care of yourself so that you can take care of others. Spending too much time thinking about cleaning and planning for it takes too much emotional energy.  But when I follow the simple routines FlyLady lays out in daily emails (morning routine! before bed routine!), it should become automatic.  I want to remove any thinking about tidying up and cleaning my apartment needs and just do it. (Fun Fact: Leo Babuta of Zen Habits is also a fan of FlyLady.)

I am a deep thinker - which is good and not-so-good.  My mind buzzes with thoughts while analyzing everything under the sun... so naturally, I can come up with stunning plans to work out, keep my apartment clean and  strengthen relationships with family and friends..but without follow through, all that planning is for naught.

So my non-goal, non-resolution is to make workouts and cleaning automatic - just like the bank takes my automatic payment each month and pays my utility bill. I know it happens and it needs to happen, I just don’t have to think about it.  (Yes, aren’t you super happy that I explained the basic concept of automatic payments?!)

Will keep you updated as more thoughts pop up as a result of all that thinking. Thank you, Josh, Ryan and Joel, for organizing the meetup in Milwaukee! 


Have a great weekend!! (Happy New Year!)

~ Sunny