I strive for minimalism, but I don't go for stark. It's important to me to let go of things I don't need/aren't useful anymore-- when I was in my early twenties I had a hard time letting things go, I think because of having times in my childhood when we were really poor and I felt deprived-- the result of not letting things go was total chaos. But in my later 20's I really started working on getting control over my life which included my stuff and things got better.
I moved overseas two years ago and got rid of everything except what could fit in 2 suitcases, plus a box of books, and I shipped a box of photographs to my mother's house for safekeeping. Now I work hard to try to keep things minimal, it helps that I live in a 400 sq foot apartment together with my husband so we don't have much storage space.
My thing is I don't want to get stuck in the past, I want to keep things fresh, and I think letting things go to make way for the new is a good way to contribute to that.
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