Less sh*t, less cleaning

There is but one reason to become a minimalist.  To get rid of extra stuff.  Cleaning.

I have a wonderful balcony and quite a lot of free time.  One of these days I got my spring cleaning of the balcony started.  I picked up bunch of dead leaves and wiped all the horizontal surfaces.  Sounds like a sweet thing to do, doesn't it?  To care for your beloved balcony and making it all the more possible to spend those lovely summer days there.

Oh no.  I was whining in my mind the whole time, my mantra being "I HATE cleaning, I SO HATE cleaning...  I just want to get this over with."

I once visited a guy with a studio apartment.  He had hired a cleaning lady who came once a week.  That is quite rare here in Finland but I really envied him.  Since that moment (and it was about 9 years ago) I have dreamed of having one.  Still haven't afforded one.  Still hate cleaning.

But back to the balcony cleaning: I did grasp a beauty about it, if even for a moment. I realized that I have a bad habit of thinking that cleaning is something just to get over with.  Right there I miss a chance of meditation, since in reality cleaning is such a great way to meditate and enjoy a practical work. It's not even dull or repetitive, like an industry work might be.  You have different surfaces and parts of the job, and when you get them done part by part, you can really see, how first the surface is cleared of extra things and then wiped clean - and it is you who gets it all done.  With the right attitude it can be a wonderful way of being in the moment the moment and being thankful even when doing things you don't exactly love.

So I should train my mind and really take the gift of cleaning.  Like so.  Cleaning at the best can be a very good exercise.

And then, about stuff, or sh*t as we say in french...  if there was less, there would be so much less to clean, and it would be that much more enjoyable too.  Not having to move everything around when you wipe the surfaces.

There's so much to clear for so many reasons.

Beginning

I'm a Finnish Helsinkian in my thirties.  I live in a fairly well-sized two-room-apartment with a live-in-boyfriend.  I move around by (my beloved) bicycle and public transportation.

I have done the "ecological thing" for quite some time, several years, actually.  At first I started off probably, because I had lots of friends buying into the sort of philosophy.  I also always have had a personal interest in saving the world ;)

Ecological and less-consuming way of thinking has taken over my brain little by little and has become a norm.

I am very worried about all the garbage I'm leaving behind, as well as that of others living in the western countries.  An average Finn produces from 400 up to 500 kilos of waste every year.

A while ago I found this book.  It is about American philosophy and policies concerning garbage; study of garbage, flow and handling of garbage, and several radical individuals who work for the aim of cutting down the production of the great amounts of waste.

This is the book: 

Garbology - Our Dirty Love Affair with Trash was written by an Edward Humes.  I have to admit I am not familiar with his other books, but just reading this one had me convinced of him knowing, what he's talking about.  Sincerely and with so many living examples he makes it clear and inevitable: we can't keep doing, what we are doing.  We need to change the way we live.  

The world is inevitably about to sink into trash, and the greatest reason for that is this the western idea of living, where consuming is the center of existence.

In this blog I'm trying to describe my ways of achieving a less waste-producing way of living.  And that is not all - besides not bringing so much trash to this world I would like to own less things.  I have always been very bad at cleaning up.  The less I own, the easier it gets.  I also believe that having less stuff keeps might also help me to keep a clearer mind.