On January 7, 2015 I realized that I'd become a Minimalist.  The sensation at the time, and continuing forward, was one of great freedom and a tremendous boost of additional energy.  To be free from the desire to want things, houses, cars, new clothes, other stuff, and to concurrently find even more joy in relationships, is an incredible experience.  I'm so much more comfortable in the present moment and happy with what I have rather than always seeking something new or more.  This didn't happen overnight, like the other aspects of my Way of Living, Minimalism is a journey.

The journey started in late November of 2011 when I separated from my wife of over 20 years.  I took about half of my clothes and left everything else behind.  Over the following weeks I returned home to pick up a few things and I bought about five pieces of furniture and a few kitchen items for my small apartment.  I found, much to my surprise, that I didn't miss anything I'd left behind!  But, I still had the usual desires for new clothing or sporting goods or gadgets.  I was clear at the time that I didn't want to accumulate stuff, as I had been doing for decades, so when I would buy something new I would donate something similar out to charity.  This continued for almost two years until I decided to move across country.

Prior to the move I sold all of the furniture and donated all the other stuff that I wouldn't need at my new location.  I was happy that everything I owned fit into my 2005 Acura MDX SUV!  Following decades of constantly striving for more, houses, cars, boats, clothes, this was a big milestone.  I felt very at peace about not needing more.

But from August of 2013 when I moved to January 7, 2015, I still had desires for new and different stuff pretty much all the time.  I continued my practice of only "replacing" things so I would donate existing stuff when I purchased new stuff.  I was running in place.

Then in the fall of 2014 something changed.  I'd been studying Buddhism and really starting to understand the suffering associated with attachment to stuff and the suffering associated with the desire for more stuff.  So I started to give more of my stuff to charity.  I would go through my closet periodically and donate items that I wasn't using, or hadn't used in the past few months.  Gradually, my total accumulation of stuff dwindled.  And, I found, for the first time, that my desire for new stuff or different stuff was going away.

The epiphany on January 7 was simply that I was free from wanting and fully ready to give up anything else in my possession that I no longer really needed.  I was at a point where daily decisions, about what to do and where to spend my energy and money, was really based upon what I needed, not what I thought I wanted!

I'm unclear where this new addition to my Way of Living will lead me in the future.  But, I feel very free and energized with the fact that everything I own will fit very comfortably in my SUV and I know more stuff will be going away in the coming weeks.  I feel like, for the first time in my adult life, I can truly concentrate on the things that really matter, specifically my relationships and helping people in need.  For me, it is no longer about the relentless pursuit of more stuff.  I am free.