Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. That means if you buy through my link, I may receive compensation at no extra cost to you. For more information, see my disclosure page here.

I never thought I would call myself a minimalist. I have always been the Queen of Too Much Stuff. Once, I packed 12 pairs of shoes for a week-long mission trip in high school. To be fair, each pair had an outfit or a purpose, but gosh my suitcase was heavy. I have seasonal decorations for each and every season and holiday during the year. I even have extra decorations for some of the bigger holidays.

But then something happened. I had a baby. When I found out I was pregnant, I was determined not to be one of those families that triples their belongings simply because there is a kid in the family. For one thing, we didn’t have any space. I was already taking up all of the storage space in our small townhouse with my own stuff. For another thing, frankly, I was sick of being surrounded by stuff.

Now, when I am talking about minimalism, I’m sure it conjures up a thought of bare rooms with stark white walls and sparse, super modern furniture. That is definitely not the kind of minimalism I could ever get away with and I wouldn’t want to. My house wouldn’t feel like a home without my gallery wall of pictures and my hand-me-down knick knacks.

But then I stumbled onto my kind of minimalism. I’ll describe it more in detail below, but suffice to say that Joshua Becker calls it “rational minimalism.” I had found my home. But now that I had the introduction, I wanted to learn more. Here is a list of the best minimalism resources I have found.

Rational Minimalism

The first place I really became interested in minimalism was from a Facebook page called Becoming Mimimalist. A few friends of mine would like or share posts and eventually I liked the page myself. In fact, I liked it so much that I signed up for the e-mail list. Through the newsletter, I got the chance to review Joshua Becker’s book, The More of Less. (If you want to read my initial review, click here.)

The More of Less is an amazing guide to starting down the road to minimalism. I have re-read my copy many times and have even highlighted the parts that really speak to me. To me, it is the ultimate minimalism resource. Not only does Mr. Becker provide facts and statistics about the commercialization we deal with now, but he also talks about the benefits of downsizing the things we own.

As I mentioned before, rational minimalism is what really caught my eye. Minimalism doesn’t have to mean only owning 100 things or having only the bare necessities (unless you want it to!). The More of Less helped me see that minimalism can still fit my lifestyle. You don’t have to give away all of your books, but do you really need all of the books you have? Do you actually need all of the pots and pans in your kitchen? The point of The More of Less is making minimalism fit you lifestyle.

Does it Spark Joy?

I have blogged a few times about The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up. (If you want to read my previous articles on it,  read Decluttering Progress with KonMari and Slow Progress with KonMari.) I know this book was all the rage for a while, but I believe there is some substance behind the fad. I know Marie Kondo isn’t strictly a minimalist, but this book was added to my minimalism resources because it helped me on my journey.

I am a sentimental hoarder. I keep things because I attach memories and emotions to them. I know I do it, but I have a hard time stopping it. After reading The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up, I was finally able to part with things that previously would’ve been emotionally hard to give up. I was able to do it by asking myself if the object sparked joy. Sometimes objects will spark anger, sadness, or guilt and those are objects you need to let go of.

Minimalism Documentary

Just the other day, I watched a documentary called “Minimalism, A Documentary About the Important Things.” It was made by The Minimalists. What I liked about this documentary is that they interviewed many different minimalists and  each and every one of them approached minimalism differently. They even interviewed Joshua Becker, who wrote The More of Less. This documentary is also available on Netflix.

Other Minimalism Resources

Honestly, one of the best places I find minimalism posts and articles is on Pinterest. In this day and age, people use Pinterest as a search engine. Not only is it a bit more beautiful than Google, but it also provides a lot of great reading on how others are approaching minimalism.

Also try signing up for newsletters, like the one over at Becoming Minimalist. Every weekend I get a newsletter in my inbox with a few articles about minimalism to read. It is such an easy way to get access to some great articles.

What minimalism resources have you read or watched? Let me know, I’m always looking for more!

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. That means if you buy through my link, I may receive compensation at no extra cost to you. For more information, see my disclosure page here.