Everything I own
In the picture above is everything that I own personally and generally don't co-use with my fellow humans such as my partner and my stepchild (though at times we use my laptop together, and my stepchild plays with my clothes and borrows my scarf). I didn't include a couple of items that are in the laundry and the two pairs of shoes. One pair of shoes is by the door, and the other one I was wearing when I took the picture. When I took the picture, I was also wearing my partner's t-shirt and shorts.
There are more items in our home. My partner and I have a few items of furniture, a yoga mat, a meditation cushion, kitchen items, home decorations (a jar of sand and stones from Bornholm), medicine, and personal care items that we share. And I borrow some things from my partner too, mainly his white t-shirts.
The items that I own and use are my clothes (2 pairs of sweatpants, 2 linen shirts, 3 basic tops, 1 jacket, 1 pair of shorts, 1 scarf), underwear and socks, a cotton pouch with random things (my passport, a stone, spare hair ties, shells, a usb stick), a cotton pouch with my health card and my bank card, a toothbrush, a backpack, a reusable cotton bag, a cotton pouch with documents and some cables, a laptop, two notebooks, and a phone.
The backpack is a recent addition. It's a mini backpack but it works well for me. I used to have a similar one with a 16 l capacity, but it was too big for my needs. In my everyday life, that backpack was almost always empty, and when I travelled and put everything into the backpack (my laptop, clothing, food, water bottle), it was too heavy for my back. I gave away the 16 l backpack a while ago, as my partner didn't want it either. I much prefer carrying a smaller and lighter backpack and a cotton tote bag. The mini backpack cannot accommodate my laptop, and this is perhaps its main downside. Another downside I can think of is its material, I wish it was made from a different fabric. When I go somewhere to think and write (e.g., to a park or a cemetery), I only take my notebook with me, which fits easily inside the mini backpack. When I go to the office at the university and it's raining, I bring a tote bag. I will say more about the tote bag below. When it's not raining, I simply wrap my laptop in a cloth and put it inside a cotton bag. When my partner and I work together from somewhere (e.g., a café, though we do it extremely rarely these days - we prefer to work from home), he brings his laptop in his backpack, as he prefers large backpacks that can accommodate a laptop, groceries, his personal items, children's items and so on.
My partner and I were joking about me using a backpack designed for children (though the producer markets it as a mini backpack, suitable for adults, too). We believe that it will be my hospital bag, considering my extremely minimalist approach to pregnancy and giving birth. Perhaps the mini backpack will also be used by the children in our family.
The only personal care item that I included in the picture is my toothbrush, as it's the only personal care item that is truly mine. My partner and I share the soap, shampoo, toothpaste, sunscreen, and even our crystal deodorant.
I used to have my own water bottle and a reusable coffee cup that was a gift from my partner. These days, my partner and I share one water bottle. Here in Denmark (as well as in Sweden and Finland, in our experience) it's very easy to refill water bottles in cafes. At times, I even prefer to carry a simple jar with a lid (it used to be a honey jar). Reusable water bottles seem to have become fashion items, and having a food jar feels so simple. I gave away my coffee cup soon after I received it. I usually don't buy take-out coffee, and when we get coffee from a local café, we prefer to stay in the café for a while. My partner enjoys using his coffee cup though, and when we travel together, we share his coffee.
For some years, I lived without notebooks. I would always take notes in my phone or laptop. These days, I avoid using my phone as much as possible, so I use notebooks again. One was a gift from my partner, and the other one I bought for myself.
I keep various documents that are not digital in a cotton bag. The bag is not designed for documents specifically, it's a bread bag. At times, I go through the papers to see if anything is not needed anymore, or if it suffices to keep a picture of a document, or take a note in my notebook. I don't stress about having paper documents in my home, as long as the amount feels lagom to me.
There are also some items (in the picture above) that I own and don't use currently. Perhaps another human being who practises extreme minimalism would say goodbye to such things, but I prefer to keep them. At least for now.
There are two bags. One is a large cotton tote bag that I use mainly for travelling but also for groceries, or when my partner and I need to pick up a large parcel (though we often simply carry things in our hands). I've noticed that these days, smaller cotton bags work well for me. I usually carry two small cotton bags in my backpack. I'm still keeping the large bag, which fits all my personal possessions, just in case we travel somewhere for a long time, or if we need to carry more items when the baby arrives. I believe that this bag would accommodate my, the baby's and my partner's items.
The other bag is a tote bag that can be worn as a backpack. My partner and I used to use it very often. It works well as a tote bag, though it does feel heavy by itself, perhaps due to materials used. Apart from that, after carrying the bag as a backpack for many months, one of the straps stretched out, so they no longer match. One of the straps constantly falls off my shoulder as a result. As a backpack, the bag doesn't work as well, in my view, because it hangs too low on my back, and the strap cannot be fixed well in place. In pregnancy, I live with a back ache, so I decided not to use the bag for now. My favourite way to carry it, when I do (it's the only bag in which I can carry my laptop when it rains), is simply in my hands. My partner carries it both as a tote bag and a backpack. He is much taller than me, and the length of the strap seems to work better for him.
The small pouch in the picture is home to the underwear that I'm not wearing due to pregnancy. I can, and do, still wear most of my underwear now at 24+2 weeks, apart from a few pairs. Finally, there are two items of clothing: a pair of shorts and a basic top. The shorts have become too tight around my waist, and the top too short. I am keeping these items because I intend to wear them again after giving birth. If I find that I cannot wear them anymore, I will welcome my transformed body with joy and gratitude, and give away the items that don't fit.