I have been teaching the book Walden to my juniors the past few weeks. If you have never read it, I will sum it up for you. Henry David Thoreau wanted to conduct an experiment see what life was all about. He built a cabin in the woods and lived there for two years. His main themes were that we should slow down, appreciate nature, and not have so many “things.” “Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity. One is enough.”
Every year I teach this book, I am reminded that maybe we (more specifically I) don’t need so much stuff. It has coincided nicely with spring cleaning this year and so I thought I would do a bit of an experiment of my own.
I am calling it “Minimal May.” I am determined to not buy anything for the month of May-no clothes, shoes, beauty products, books, house wares, etc… Instead I am using up what I already have and decluttering things that no longer serve me. Here is a small example
Two nights ago I didn’t have my normal food to pack for my school lunch. I DID have eggs, tortillas, cheese, a banana and a granola bar. So instead of running out to the store to purchase my normal salad, I scrambled the eggs and took them the next day to make Egg tacos for lunch. It worked fine. I saved money and used up food I already had in the house. Last night I ate a frozen pizza that we bought about 4 months ago instead of ordering take out.
Why am I doing this? A few reasons-to save money, to get rid of junk, to use up items I have already spent money on, and to declutter forgotten areas of the house (fridge, cupboards, freezer).
After 13 days of this, I feel great. I have been decluttering my classroom as well and using up things or giving them away to people that will benefit from them.
I will continue to update but right now I am off to use up 3 old bananas, flour and sugar to make some banana bread instead of going out to breakfast.
Happy Minimal May to all of you! To my 111 subscribers and 338 followers-simplify, simplify, simplify!
tallgirltinysteps 