Things I chose not to invite into my life
There are things and whole categories of objects that I chose to forego for ecological, aesthetic, and spiritual reasons, most of the time all of these reasons at once. Oftentimes my friends, colleagues, and students ask me "but do you have x, y, z?" And often my answer is no. These objects are rather normal, i.e., it's not unusual to own them in this society. Of course this list could be very long, since there are so many objects, but the one below captures something about this mode of being nevertheless.
car
bicycle
tv
washing machine/dryer
vacuum cleaner (and many other common items such as a toaster, an iron, a kettle, a hairdryer etc.)
makeup, nail polish, hair styling products
handbags. I live with a backpack and several cotton bags that I use as handbags and for grocery shopping.
dresses and skirts (or any occasion clothes or very formal clothes and shoes). I dislike wearing tailored items, and since I walk everywhere and it's often windy where I live (by the sea), trousers and shorts are more suitable. I refuse to wear any formal clothes, to normalise comfortable ones in more formal spaces such as classrooms, various events, and conferences.
furniture
decorations, seasonal decorations, artworks
photographs, pictures
sentimental items (apart from one Finnish markka and a stone from Sweden). All my sentimental "items" are in my mind as stories.
inherited items
jewellery and watches. All of them were gifts, and I gave them all away a long time ago.
colourful items. Almost everything I live with is beige or grey. My friends joke about it, but for me these are the most calming colours. I've always liked them very much.
clothes with patterns or decorative elements. Somehow I've never liked patterns or elements that don't serve a purpose (such as fringes or frills).
clothes made from wool. I also avoid synthetic fabrics as much as possible.
sports clothes. Most of them are made from synthetic materials which I avoid due to my skin condition. When I go jogging, I simply wear my casual cotton clothes.
seasonal clothes and shoes. Most of my clothes I can wear throughout the year. In winters I wear my sandals at home or in the office. Despite living in a Nordic country, I don't own warm jackets, I just wear layers, e.g., a thin jacket, a vest and a big scarf. This worked for me even in northern Sweden where it is colder than here in southern Finland.
bras. I believe that not wearing a bra should be normalised.
hat. In winter I wear a scarf over my head.
perfumes and scents for my home
candles (or any other light fittings apart from the ones that came with the kitchen in the rented apartment. They provide more than enough light for the whole studio apartment).
curtains
specialised skincare
books
essential oils. I used to have several to use instead of human-made scents but then I couldn't justify owning something that requires so much raw material just for a few drops of the finished product.
"just in case" items, medicines, etc. This includes multiple kitchen items, devices and equipment. For instance, if a few friends want to have wine at my place, some would use coffee cups, and it's ok.
personal tech apart from my phone and laptop. I don't have a camera, e-book reader etc.
phone accessories. I dropped my phone in Denmark, and the screen is damaged, but this happened only once in many years of my life with a phone.
umbrella (or any other clothes, shoes and equipment to protect me from the rain). I used to have an umbrella when I lived in England. The umbrella was useless there, since most of the time when it rained, it was also very windy. I gave my umbrella away. In northern Sweden it didn't rain as much, and here in southern Finland it does. Owning an umbrella was something I considered normal or a given in a rainy climate. However, later on in my life I realised that it's not a necessity. I also realised that I actually enjoy rain a lot. Since I don't wear makeup and don't style my hair, I embrace rain. The only thing I actually needed was a sleeve for my laptop as it's the only item that would not appreciate the rain.
hobby items. I came to terms with the fact that my hobbies simply don't require any additional equipment or objects.