Mrs. LLL

“With our desire to have more, we find ourselves spending more and more time and energy to manage and maintain everything we have. We try so hard to do this that the things that were supposed to help us end up ruling us.

We eventually get used to the new state where our wishes have been fulfilled. We start taking those things for granted and there comes a time when we start getting tired of what we have.

We're desperate to convey our own worth, our own value to others. We use objects to tell people just how valuable we are. The objects that are supposed to represent our qualities become our qualities themselves.

There are more things to gain from eliminating excess than you might imagine: time, space, freedom and energy.

When people say something is impossible, they have already decided that they don't want to do it.

Differentiate between things you want and things you need.

Leave your unused space empty. These open areas are incredibly useful. They bring us a sense of freedom and keep our minds open to the more important things in life.

Memories are wonderful but you won't have room to develop if your attachment to the past is too strong. It's better to cut some of those ties so you can focus on what's important today.

Don't get creative when you are trying to discard things.

There's no need to stock up.

An item chosen with passion represents perfection to us. Things we just happen to pick up, however, are easy candidates for disposal or replacement.

As long as we stick to owning things that we really love, we aren't likely to want more.

Our homes aren't museum, they don't need collections.

When you aren't sure that you really want to part with something, try stowing it away for a while.

Larger furniture items with bold colors will in time trigger visual fatigue and then boredom.

Discarding things can be wasteful. But the guilt that keeps you from minimizing is the true waste. The real waste is the psychological damage that you accrue from hanging on to things you don't use or need.

We find our originality when we own less.

When you think about it, it's experience that builds our unique characteristics, not material objects.

I've lowered my bar for happiness simply by switching to a tenugui. When even a regular bath towel can make you happy, you'll be able to find happiness almost everywhere.

For the minimalist, the objective isn't to reduce, it's to eliminate distractions so they can focus on the things that are truly important. Minimalism is just the beginning. It's a tool. Once you've gone ahead and minimized, it's time to find out what those important things are.

Minimalism is built around the idea that there's nothing that you're lacking. You'll spend less time being pushed around by something that you think may be missing.

The qualities I look for in the things that I buy are:
- the item has a minimalistic kind of shape and is easy to clean
- it's color isn't too loud
- I'll be able to use it for a long time
- it has a simple structure
- it's lightweight and compact
- it has multiple uses

A relaxed moment is not without meaning, it's an important time for reflection.

It wasn't the fallen leaves that the lady had been tidying up, it was her own laziness that she had been sweeping away.

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.

With daily cleaning, the reward may be the sense of accomplishment and calmness we feel afterward.

Cleaning your house is like polishing yourself.

Simply by living an organized life, you'll be more invigorated, more confident and like yourself better.

Having parted with the bulk of my belongings, I feel true contentment with my day-to-day life. The very act of living brings me joy.

When you become a minimalist, you free yourself from all the materialist messages that surround us. All the creative marketing and annoying ads no longer have an effect on you.”
― fumio sasaki, Goodbye, Things: The New Japanese Minimalism

“Final Cause is the reason, the interest in why you do what you do, your hope for how things turn out—how you imagine your best future. Final Cause is more than the goal of the goal—it’s the effectual living beyond the goal. Final Cause is the success after the success. Final Cause is the place where your time is spent on your values. Final Cause is where misaligned commitments are reexamined. Final Cause is purpose. Final Cause helps you integrate your purpose into everything you do—even before you’ve finished the puzzle to your big-picture dream. Puzzles are put together one piece at a time, not in one big block—and so are dreams. Final Cause helps you identify the big-picture dream, and Time Tipping helps you put together the oddly shaped interlocking pieces. The mosaic of our dreams draws closer as we draw the mosaic wide awake. Final Cause is your intangible expression of joyful living—that feeling of starting something new harmonizing with the fulfillment of accomplishment. To Time Tippers, Final Cause is not the end—it’s both the end and the beginning. The end informs the beginning so you can begin living the values of the end from the beginning.”
― Richie Norton, Anti-Time Management: Reclaim Your Time and Revolutionize Your Results with the Power of Time Tipping

“Don't worry about trying to keep up with the Joneses. They're flat out trying to keep up with their repayments.”
― T.W. Lawless

“Few things are more important than finding a home and working at it constantly to make it resonate with deep memories and fulfill deep longings.”
― Thomas Moore