Everything I invited into my life in January
I don't usually refer to my practice as low or no buy. I've written about it in this entry. After many years of practising minimalism, what I invite into my life feels just right, even if it looks like a very small amount to my fellow humans. My practice is not a temporary measure. It is not an experiment. It's just a way of being and relating with the world, including with objects. I don't feel deprived at all. I feel free.
I decided to not simply write about my practice in general or fragmented terms, but to show how exactly it unfolds. Every month, I will share what I invite into my life. It will not be accompanied by what leaves my life because I don't have a rule akin to one in-one out and I'm not scanning my home for unnecessary items. I let many items go once, many years ago, and since then I've been giving items away more occasionally, whenever it felt right. By once I don't mean one day, rather a period of time.
I will also not focus on normal outgoings that we have, including rent, bills, food, public transport and medicine, unless there is something unusual.
In January, our biggest unusual expense was the fee we paid to Danish authorities to be able to reunite as a family. It was DKK 8710 or around EUR 1200. Apart from that, I bought a toothbrush for myself. My partner and stepchild already had new ones. I also bought a balm and a shampoo that all of us can use.
In the end of 2024, we decided to avoid going out in 2025. But we went to our local cafes twice in January to have coffee, and it was wonderful. It felt special, especially because I drink coffee only occasionally in pregnancy.
I'm almost 18 weeks pregnant, and I haven't bought (or otherwise acquired) anything for the baby or myself in relation to pregnancy.
I received a tiny notebook as a gift from my partner and a bracelet from my stepchild. She made it in her kindergarten.
I don't have a wish list or any other consumption related list for my future purchases. But next month, I will probably invite laundry sheets into my life again, as I'm running out of the ones I have, and a new dish brush.
In January, I have been writing a lot, contemplating, feeling excited about walking towards Spring and about all the changes in my body. I've been walking again after feeling unwell in the first trimester. None of the activities that filled my heart with immense joy cost money.
As always, none of the above is how fellow humans should live. Every human being is unique. This is simply my story.