Over the course of my life, I have accumulated a lot of stuff. This stuff basically took over my life in my younger years because my room was never not a mess. My floor was littered with clothing, toys, paper, trash, etc. But when I was moving away to college I remembered I couldn't take everything I owned with me. This was difficult because I was going to be leaving behind clothes, makeup, and bags that I used basically every day while I was in high school. But I made the decision to start clearing my life of the unnecessary items in my wardrobe and life.

The first time I ever started clearing out my room, it scared my mom a bit. I threw away almost everything that I clung to for years. I kept the memorabilia that I collected through high school (some of it), but if it had no significance in my life in the past 3 months, I tossed it. Moving to college made me realize that I don't need over half of the stuff that I owned. The items were just fillers that brought me temporary happiness at the moment. I am still working on dwindling my collection of things to be able to better suit my needs, that being said, I have had minimalism in the corner of my eye for a while now. My good friend is a minimalist and she seems happier than all get out. She has what she needs, nothing more, and nothing less.

While starting my journey to less stuff (I wouldn't say minimalism at this point), I started to find that I had so much stuff that I forgot about more than 80% of my things. I don't think I will ever fully reach minimalism, however, less stuff is definitely in my future. Living in a dorm has made me see the essentials for life, and how many unnecessary items creep into our lives and find a home on a shelf. Collecting dust is what most, if not all, of my things did before I decided to purge. Expiring makeup filled my drawers, unworn clothing bulked up my closet, unused handbags littered under my bed, but now all can find new homes (the makeup is in the trash).

Moving rooms is also what jump-started this even more. My sister moved out and I was finally approved to take her room. In the process of moving items, I discovered that I still had too much to even move so I got rid of even more things. Donating and selling items is a great way to motivate yourself to get rid of things. If you go through your closet, ask yourself, when was the last time I wore this, why am I keeping it, and will I ever wear it again? By doing this, you trick your brain into thinking that you don't need the item and you will throw it into the donate pile.

By ridding your life of unwanted items, it releases stress and you will start to feel more refreshed.