That being said, I’m not trying to say that my home was dirty, but more like messy. I was always searching for something for an hour, or doing an arm sweep across the counter to clear off a space to do homework or some other project.

I read things like Adam’s page where he posts a photographic inventory of everything he and his wife own, and it amazes me. Leo has trimmed down his personal possessions to just 50 things that are his own, not including family items or things that belong to others in his home. I’m floored.

Maybe it’s a guy thing? Maybe it’s easier for men than it is women?

Nope. Lynnae has a deep-seated desire to be more of a minimalist. Jules minimizes her cooking, by doing it with only 5 ingredients per meal, and gets in and out of the kitchen in 10 minutes. I’m sure there are plenty more.

Okay, so maybe I’m just totally not cut out for this.

I currently live with my boyfriend who owns a computer repair business, so we’ve got computer parts everywhere. While you might think that I could easily work from anywhere with just my laptop and a wi-fi connection, I’ve got an entire room filled to the brim with my art and jewelry supplies. Yes, “stuff” that’s actually intended to serve two purposes: To give me that physical, creative outlet I crave, and to make some extra money.

And I don’t even have all of my “stuff” here. I left about 90% of it back at my father’s house when I moved. Seriously, 90% of my possessions aren’t even anything I’ve looked at in over a year, much less actually needed to keep.

Some of the thoughts and feelings behind the minimalist lifestyle that are appealing to me:

• Less stuff means less cleaning. Less laundry to do when you have fewer clothes, less dishes to do, less dusting, less cleaning in general.
• Maintaining means constantly paring down. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying something for a while and then selling it to make back some of your money.
• Money! Less buying of “stuff” you don’t need means you have more money to buy things you do. Selling off gently used clothing, older appliances, books… all of that money adds up in your coffee can labeled “Vacation Fund” or in our case, “House Fund”.
• Money #2, you can pay off your debt faster and stop creating more debt. How many times have YOU bought groceries or gasoline on a credit card because you didn’t have the cash?
• Less clutter means feeling less cluttered. It’s easier to find things you need, when you need them, because you know right where they are. Living in a chaotic environment forces your brain to feel chaos.
• More time. If you add up all the minutes in a day you spend looking for something, cleaning or doing laundry, or moving things around to create a space for a task, I’m willing to bet you could reclaim at least an hour a day, more like two or three, if you lived more like a minimalist.

I also think that applying the core beliefs above can be helpful in regards to work just as much as it applies to day-to-day living and home life.

I’m not sure I can do it and give it my all, but looking around the apartment I definitely see things that we don’t need, that we could find major purpose for with the money that could be made by selling it. I’m thinking that lots of craigslist, eBay, and garage sales are in our near future.

Recommended Reading:

Those of you who know me well, know that I didn’t grow up imagining I’d be doing what I’m doing today. In fact, I firmly believed from the time I could speak that I was the reincarnation of Dian Fossey. You might remember her name from the movie Gorillas in the Mist? Yeah, that Dian Fossey.

After graduating high school in the mid-90s, I went to college to become a certified zookeeper. My plan was to work for years as a zookeeper, working my way “up the ranks” while I continued on to get a PhD in Animal Behavior. Of course, what I didn’t realize at the time was that as a single (unmarried) zookeeper who grew up an only child and never did well with having a roommate, I’d need a second job. No time for more school, bills needed to be paid.

My First Experience Working Online

So I went to work for Neopets.com – it’s a cute community site, mainly geared toward kids nowadays, but started out for college kids. (In fact, I’d been working for them while I was still in college, but continued on afterward out of necessity and admiration.) I was senior community manager there, so my main job was to keep the baddies out. No pervs stalking little kids, no “adult language”, that kind of stuff. I got to do other cool stuff like design items in the game, beta testing, all that. It was great. And got me into web design. I had a blog before they ever called them blogs back then, and I loved it!

After September 11, 2001 my world as I knew it really crumbled. Tourism shot down so the zoo thing was on thin ice, and Neopets wanted some security for their company (because no one in the country knew just what was going to happen next) so they had asked me to move to California (I was in Florida at the time). I just wasn’t able to do it on the pay they offered me, so I had to decline. So without a good second job, and with the risk of walking in to work one day and not having a main job anymore, I moved home to New York. I was terribly sad, confused, and really had no clue what the heck I was going to do with my life. Go back to school? Take some time off and go back once the economy settled?

The Changing of Tides or, Riding The Rough Waves

I held several jobs for a few years, ranging from 911 dispatcher to lab tech in a biotechnology company. (I was also a fitness trainer at Curves for Women, a retail store assistant manager for Bombay Company, and a few other short lived things I can’t remember.) In my spare time, I took what I’d learned by working with Neopets, my own blog, and tinkering with web design, and started building actual, professional websites for myself, family and friends. It was kind of cool, because as much as I was into animals, I’d also always been a creative geek, and loved computers and programming.

Soon, I found a guy who had an internet marketing and SEO company whose job ad said he was looking for “someone with web design experience, but could be trained on SEO”. It was a neat gig, but after 6 months he “restructured” and laid off all but two of his employees.

I then found another SEO company who took pity on me and created a special position just for me, also doing SEO, but working from home. After about a year, she came to me and told me she felt I’d be better suited to go into business for myself, and with her blessing, off I went.

On My Own

I had my first paying client only two weeks into it, and they remained such for nearly 6 years. For a while, I had been blogging with b5media, a company co-founded by Darren Rowse. Darren and I quickly became friends and he’s by far one of my most favorite people on earth. Over the past 5 years, we’ve grown our friendship and working relationship to the point where I’m now involved in several of his projects. I know I’m gushing here, but I love working with Darren, and being a part of what he’s doing in helping people learn how to create an income online. Doing so has truly opened up doors for me. I’ve spoken at several blogging and social media conferences, am currently in talks with some colleagues about doing a series of ebooks, and planning to continue working as a consultant and speaker.

Going out on my own was the best thing that ever happened to me, both as a career and on an emotional level. As much as I miss working with my animals, and yes, even get sad sometimes because my childhood dream was “so close and yet so far”, I absolutely love what I do today. I’m in a place where I’ve got amazing clients, great friends in business and my personal life, and am eager to see what the next decade of my life will amount to. It’s not Gorillas in the Mist, but it’s my life, and I love it.

Have you ever been forced to take a major detour in your life plan? I’d love to hear about it!

I’ve had a crazy couple of weeks. I spoke to a room of 80+ people (may of whom were sitting on the floor! I love you guys!), unfollowed a few hundred people on Twitter, canceled 7 hosting accounts, removed 250 people from my Facebook friends (though I have a “fan” page, if you’re so inclined), ended a 20-year long friendship, and posted over 60 domains for sale.

I’ve hunted for houses with my boyfriend, had drinks with friends in Manhattan, written a few blog posts, helped my boyfriend’s sister move, and listened as at least two friends told me of their broken hearts and dreams. I spent some time with my nephew watching “Young Frankenstein” for his first time. I sat with a neighbor as she ran a yard sale, and took photos of a Memorial Day parade, both while soaking up the sun (just a little too much).

I’m letting go of so many things, which has enabled me to truly enjoy so many more. I’m learning something, and it’s that what matters most in life are the things that make you feel good.

• Letting go of the domains and hosting accounts makes me feel good because I’m no longer spending money on something I’m not using. It gives me room, financially, to focus on the things that will help me grow in many areas, online and off.
• Letting go of the toxic relationships, the “acquaintances”, the “we used to know each other but now we don’t” people – it has helped me to breathe deeper. I’m no longer feeling like I have to perform or be a certain way for anyone else’s benefit. I no longer spend my time worrying about who’s saying what behind my back, or why. I can’t even begin to tell you how free I feel right now. Words can’t possibly do it justice.
• Spending time with friends and family – This is the biggest. I’m so glad I could both laugh and cry with my friends so much recently. I’m so grateful that the sun was shining so much that it bronzed my skin and warmed my soul. I’m happy to have spent time away from this box of metal and glass, to really interact with people I care so deeply about.

Don’t get me wrong – I love what I do, I love the internet. I just can’t keep spreading myself so thin. I want important relationships with people, I don’t need connections to people I only hear from on my birthday because Facebook alerts them. I don’t need to hoard domains because I once felt I had a great idea. What I need in my life is more of the stuff that lights fires in my heart.

There are a great many people who have completely inadvertently helped me to discover this “rebirth” I’m going through. I’m sure many of you know who you are, and if you don’t, I’m sure I’ll let you know somehow, in some special way, how much you mean to me. It’s something I look forward to.