Whether you are still living with family or if you live on your own, your space is pretty clearly marked. Your space is filled with pieces of you. Not in a literal, bloody, finger in the corner kind of way, but more in a symbolic way.
I’m sure if I walked into your living room I would see a lot of what I see in my own living room. I might see a TV and a collection of movies. I would probably see some books. I might see pictures and art. I would see your furniture and how it is situated. I would see the room itself and notice how messy or how tidy it is.
What can someone tell from all of this? Well, for example, the books you read speak about your interests and passions. The movies might speak to your sense of humor or your personality. Based on the size of your TV and the accessories with it, I may be able to determine something about your income or the amount of importance you give your TV. Your furniture can speak to income as well but it also says something about priorities. The pictures on the wall might be of family, or yourself (weird), or animals, or places you travelled to. If your room is a mess I might assume you’re a busy person or you just don’t care.
Now all of this could be said about any room in your home. This brings me to an interesting little thing I recently saw on my Facebook news feed. A friend, Jay Brock, has a piece on his blog about minimalist and minimalism and his efforts to fit into this category of person.
His post led me to think of my own stuff and my own home. I started considering what I could get rid of and I had a little freak out. What if I missed some stuff? What if I got rid of my TV but then had regrets? What if I need one of my 245 books in the not so near future?
But then another side of the coin was revealed and I started to think of my life without these things. I started to feel as if I was losing a part of myself by removing objects that are pieces of who I am.
Then a little verse came to mind a la the Holy Spirit. The verse is in The Gospel of John, Chapter 3, Verse 30. Or John 3:30 (I type it out fully so I look more contemplative).
The verse reads “He must increase, I must decrease.” The verse is in reference to Christ
becoming a greater priority than self. Now I don’t think it means this in a physical way as in by me losing weight and becoming smaller, or decreasing, Jesus will get bigger. I think it means more the unnecessary pieces of me need to decrease (Pride, lust, greed, hate, etc).
But as I said earlier, these things that literally fill my home, are
pieces of me. Now just like physical pieces of me these things require care and attention and energy and time. These pieces of me must decrease. I must decrease; In order that Christ would increase.
These things distract from the relationship with God that I am hungry for. These things take away from time with my wife that we need. These things allow us to get caught up with things.
So, am I becoming a minimalist today? Maybe in my heart. I think I could resolve to not buy more stuff. I think I’m going to come back from a weekend away and take a trip to the Beat Goes On with a lot of my electronics. I’ll probably drive to the thrift store with a bunch of clothes and some old sports equipment (dust included). But remember, talk is cheap. Until it happens, I’ll be the same stuff loving dude.
Check these out
http://dreamerofyourdreams.com/things-2/
http://mnmlist.com/50-things/
http://guynameddave.com/100-thing-challenge/
I’m sure if I walked into your living room I would see a lot of what I see in my own living room. I might see a TV and a collection of movies. I would probably see some books. I might see pictures and art. I would see your furniture and how it is situated. I would see the room itself and notice how messy or how tidy it is.
What can someone tell from all of this? Well, for example, the books you read speak about your interests and passions. The movies might speak to your sense of humor or your personality. Based on the size of your TV and the accessories with it, I may be able to determine something about your income or the amount of importance you give your TV. Your furniture can speak to income as well but it also says something about priorities. The pictures on the wall might be of family, or yourself (weird), or animals, or places you travelled to. If your room is a mess I might assume you’re a busy person or you just don’t care.
Now all of this could be said about any room in your home. This brings me to an interesting little thing I recently saw on my Facebook news feed. A friend, Jay Brock, has a piece on his blog about minimalist and minimalism and his efforts to fit into this category of person.
His post led me to think of my own stuff and my own home. I started considering what I could get rid of and I had a little freak out. What if I missed some stuff? What if I got rid of my TV but then had regrets? What if I need one of my 245 books in the not so near future?
But then another side of the coin was revealed and I started to think of my life without these things. I started to feel as if I was losing a part of myself by removing objects that are pieces of who I am.
Then a little verse came to mind a la the Holy Spirit. The verse is in The Gospel of John, Chapter 3, Verse 30. Or John 3:30 (I type it out fully so I look more contemplative).
The verse reads “He must increase, I must decrease.” The verse is in reference to Christ
becoming a greater priority than self. Now I don’t think it means this in a physical way as in by me losing weight and becoming smaller, or decreasing, Jesus will get bigger. I think it means more the unnecessary pieces of me need to decrease (Pride, lust, greed, hate, etc).
But as I said earlier, these things that literally fill my home, are
pieces of me. Now just like physical pieces of me these things require care and attention and energy and time. These pieces of me must decrease. I must decrease; In order that Christ would increase.These things distract from the relationship with God that I am hungry for. These things take away from time with my wife that we need. These things allow us to get caught up with things.
So, am I becoming a minimalist today? Maybe in my heart. I think I could resolve to not buy more stuff. I think I’m going to come back from a weekend away and take a trip to the Beat Goes On with a lot of my electronics. I’ll probably drive to the thrift store with a bunch of clothes and some old sports equipment (dust included). But remember, talk is cheap. Until it happens, I’ll be the same stuff loving dude.
Check these out
http://dreamerofyourdreams.com/things-2/
http://mnmlist.com/50-things/
http://guynameddave.com/100-thing-challenge/
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