Embrace your weird

One of the hardest parts of making big changes in your life, of being unequivocally who you are, is the people you leave behind in the process. Between the acquaintances that never blossomed into anything deeper or the long-term friendships that slowly burned out, there is a graveyard of relationships in our past, present, and future when we are 100% ourselves.

Learning that we can’t keep building these connections on a foundation of half-truths and complacency is an area of minimalism many of us want to avoid completely.

Once, while getting coffee with my mom group, the conversation quickly turned to a practical brand of leggings. Most of the women were not only obsessed with these leggings, but some were even selling them. And I didn’t get it. I didn’t understand the appeal of not being able to just choose from a few, thoughtful color or print options in a size that fit your body. The item prices were so low and the quantities available so high, worker conditions and environmental impact couldn’t possibly be considered in production. Why watch a multi-hour livestream to find one item? Why invest $5000+ on products you couldn’t be sure your customer base would like? The whole thing made absolutely no sense to me. But I smiled and nodded along.

In this situation, I was completely ignoring my weird and just trying to fit in.

But when we accept that we are different. Not better, but different. That our “weirdness” is our strength in this journey towards a better life; that’s when things that easier. We can have less, but better friendships; a home with zero items purchased to impress or fit in; conversations where we can be open and honest with no hesitation.

Living below your means and without debt is weird. Being ruthless about what items enter your home is weird. Let’s embrace our weird together and watch how much better our lives are because of it.