In today's post; I bring to you a few words that'll hopefully fuel your desire, to read some posts that don't just talk about the 'IT' bag or another make up product that you do not need.

No. Instead, I just wanted to bring you some words of wisdom, that I myself have recently discovered and taken into consideration. (Ha, it's like a game of Chinese whispers).  I recently started reading an amazing book, titled "Everything that remains" by Minimalists, Ryan Nicodemus and Joshua Fields Millburn, that has me taking certain life choices into consideration and helps me to focus on the products, items and things that either do or do not add value in to my life.

Earlier on this week, I took the time out to stop after a hard day of finding housing for my second year at university, and I took this memoir out of my bag, (mainly because I already knew it was there, and recently, I've been carrying it around, similar to how celebrities during the early 2000s carried around small animals in their bags). And I continued to read from where I left off. The main author in the book, Joshua Fields Millburn quoted lines from the book' Fight Club'.


"Reject the basic assumptions of civilisation, especially the importance of material possessions"

and the other quote was,

"The things you own end up owning you."


These two quotes seriously had me stop for a moment, and close the book (and momentarily lose my page). They made me consider all of the possessions, objects and random trinkets that I have given value in my life. The little things that aren't needed, but certainly affect my mood either in or out of the house.

So, as you have probably gathered from the title of this post, below are 3 tips that I have created, that are intended to bring a certain type of comfort or new found peace into your life. Everything below was inspired by the amazing Ryan Nicodemus and Joshua Fields Millburn and their book "Everything That Remains".

1. Reconsider
OK. So by this first step/tip, I thought that it would be best to sit down and truly think about everything that you own, be it either in or out of sight. And just reconsider and think about whether these possessions and objects do actually bring value to your life. Now, when I say value, I mean does this certain possession make your day go by smoother/swifter. And no, I'm not talking about the nth number of black jeans that you have lurking around. I'm talking about owning one type of object that you actually need, for example; a bag (that's right, singular)

So instead, what you need to do is remove items that duplicates, and keep only one. And keep ones that offer your life something. And begin removing items like the 5 extra pairs of black jeans that all have holes in, but you're saving them just in case. Egro, leading me on to my next tip which is...




2. Remove
Probably one of the hardest steps along this minimalism path. Only because, at this moment we are saying goodbye to the things that make us, us. Be it, clothing, books, shoes, additional mugs, hats anything. We have given all of these products a shelf in our hearts and it is obviously hard to say goodbye to such things. However, taking away from the fact that these objects are just that. They're objects, it should make the removing (and mourning) process a lot faster. As these things aren't what make us, us. In fact they're what make us collectors.



"- Collecting material possessions is, in many ways, not unlike hoarding. The word collector just sounds prettier than its alternative."

"What are you talking about? Collecting isn't the same thing as hoarding. It's the exact opposite."
"Not really. Most of the time it is exactly like hoarding."

Ryan looks at me suspiciously, as if I've broken wind in front of him.

"Don't believe me? Let's look it up." I queue up the thesaurus app on my phone, which lists the following synonyms under the first definition of collection: pile, heap, stockpile, hoard. I hand the phone to Ryan with a raised eyebrow. He reads it and shakes his head with acceptance and hands back my phone."


So. Taking the time out to remove items that are no longer needed is one of the hardest, but most productive steps along this path. Once removing items, you will definitely feel more at ease and feel an invisible weight lifted off your chest.



3. Relax
The best step of them all. The step that makes you feel as though you have just finished running a marathon. The step that marks a clear minded and more optimistic you. Once you have taken everything you own into consideration, given them all a second thought and then deciphered through what you do and don't need to keep, you are able to take a step back and realise how freeing it is to own only the items that add value in your life.

And there we have it, everything that I have either learned so far, or actually taken into consideration. I hope that this post gave you an insight, and the knowledge needed, in order to 'Reconsider, Remove and Relax' (see what I did there?).

Millie xx

p.s If reading isn't your thing, Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus have a documentary on Netflix  explaining similar points mentioned in this post. The documentary is titled 'Minimalism'.

What I was listening to whilst making this post

Pink Martini - La Soledad

Jacket - H&M |  Jeans - MISS SELFRIDGE | Shoes - REEBOK |  T-shirt - PRIMARK 

Image, take by Millie Simon 
Quotes taken from 'Everything That Remains' by Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus