Everyday life
When I lived in Finland, I decided not to welcome a washing machine into my life. I wanted to live with as few possessions as possible, to use as small amount of energy as possible. Living without a washing machine was a wonderful experience. I'm a researcher, and most of my work manifests in my mind and in words rather than in actions (perhaps apart from my practice of extreme minimalism and zero-waste). So doing something manual, washing my textiles by hand, washing the floor by hand were grounding and humbling activities that I loved doing. When I moved in with my partner, we started living in a small studio apartment. It was part of the terms and conditions of our rent that we cannot dry anything inside the apartment. We started using shared washing machines and dryers. I also could not find the time to wash many items by hand. When we moved in together, suddenly there was a lot more, despite us practising minimalism. Bedding, our clothing, bedding from my partner's child's bed, home textiles, grocery bags.
Today is particularly challenging. I am examining a fellow human's thesis, working on my own article, visiting a doctor and doing many household chores. When I typed "chores", I caught myself thinking that this is not how I used to see these activities. I used to love them when I lived on my own. Extreme minimalism helps me manage the amount of objects I need to care for. For example, since I wear a very limited range of colours and fabrics, I wash all my clothes together, in one go.
For my birthday, I received some items of clothing that I gave away recently. I brought them to a byttestation (swap shop) so some fellow human can benefit from them. One of these items was white and the other one light pink. I felt that I wanted to continue wearing the same outfit every day, so I didn't need or want more or different items of clothing.
