Minimalism | Letting Go | Mental Health

Letting Go of Things Leads to Letting Go of a Lot More

We aren’t attached to very much these days

All that was left in our living room after spending nine months selling and donating all of our possessions in 2017. Photo Credit: Jillian Amatt - Artistic Voyages

In January of 2017, I watched the documentary Minimalism on Netflix. I had an ‘aha moment’ as I realized that the things I had accumulated over my life were the exact things that were holding me back from living my dreams. This began nine months of selling, donating and getting rid of a house full of stuff, plus closing down two home-based businesses and selling our house and vehicles so we could attempt to travel full-time.

The author and her partner at the Equator in Uganda, 2021. Photo from the authors collection.

We spent six years being full-time nomadic travelers and learned a lot about ourselves and the world throughout the process. But one thing that stands out above the rest is that we are excellent at letting things go these days.

But letting ‘things’ go is just the tip of the iceberg. Throughout the process of this lifestyle, I have realized that we let a lot more than just things go, and this story is just one more example of that.

A few weeks ago, as the pea flowers in our garden were starting to come into bloom, the owner of…