That was me! Lol. I am the former artist. The way you explained letting go of old identities was so perfect.  I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders since I gave up creating art.  For me, I now see that I held onto it for the external validation it gave me.  Now I am working to find that validation within myself.

I love the idea of treating minimalism as a spiritual practice of letting go and preparing the strength for the difficult goodbyes that can’t be avoided. I’d been thinking that decluttering is a practice in decision making, but what you said makes it much deeper! Sometimes there is guilt when getting rid of something but holding on to that thing just to avoid the short uncomfortable moment of decluttering usually brings more stress. I feel that many things we hold on to are to give comfort or distract from discomfort. It’s always liberating to remove something that doesn’t resonate anymore. Great video😊🌸💖

This is just what I needed to hear today!😭
My best friend passed away last year and shortly before he died, I donated some of his old shirts that I had. Now I wish I had them and have been feeling guilty and mad at myself for letting them go. But thank you for the reminder that physical things are just things and not as important as my memories. ❤️

I got rid of my college degree too, and honestly it felt really good. It doesn’t mean I never went to college—the knowledge is still in my head. I don’t need a piece of paper to prove it, and I definitely don’t need to carry that paper around.

I just found you recently and only saw a few of your videos, and so far this one resonates with me the most. Thoughtful, profound, compassionate... Thank you, Alicia!
I hope your channel will grow; if for nothing else, for this video you should have over a million followers. "Memento mori!" (Remember the death!) and "Carpe diem!" (Seize the day!) used to be wise words on the antique Roman walls...

great video and very true! when i went thru my divorce, i was moving to another state and wasn’t ready to move all my things so i got a storage unit and put all my favorite things in there, my childhood diary, momentos i couldn’t replace, pictures etc. My ex husband went to that storage unit, convinced the front desk oerson he had lost the key and got in there and threw it all away. I felt such enormous grief, i think i am still carrying that wound and need to heal it.

You are so wise thank you for starting your channel I am constantly learning new and better ways to deal with this life, you have been a wonderful blessing the past few months. I really needed this specific topic today.

I had three things that I decluttered and regretted enough that I rebought them.
A cardigan that I went to goodwill to buy back. Got it home put it on. Realized that it still was not a flattering color on me and not as like new as I thought it was. Took it back to goodwill.
A phone with answering machine. It had a voice message from the mom of a good friend of mine. The mom had died years ago. About eight years after she died I had played it for my friend and he thanked me and said it was great to hear her voice again.  It accidentally got donated. I panicked and went to goodwill to rebuy it because I was sure I was going to use it. Realized it had already served its purpose and redonated it.
A book on gardening in Virginia. I had bought it when I lived in Virginia but had moved to Ohio. Donated it and then ten years later moved back to Virginia. Found a used copy on Amazon and rebought it. I’ve been in Virginia six years and haven’t used it yet. I know all the plants in our yard and don’t need the book.
From this I learned that for me at least when something gets decluttered it can suddenly become more useful in my mind, but it isn’t. I remind myself of this when I start regretting or feeling guilty about decluttering something. I appreciate your reminder that it is all just stuff.

Fear is the mind killer... ;)

When I started decluttering my material things, I started to rethink some of my friendships also, so I "decluttered" people who were sort of toxic for me.
One of those friends was someone that I knew all of my life.
I felt so guilty for a while, but now I feel so free and so differnt without her.
I really hope she feels the same way too.
Thank you for your thoughts!

Wow, Alicia, thank you for a thought provoking video.
"We dont own our things, but rather our things own us." Your explanation of number 2 really bears out how we are slaves to these things. They even evoke emotions like guilt even when they are gone from our presence.
Impermanence is certain, maybe our pursuit of accumulating and hoarding  things is our attempt to make life permanent and predictable. Its even harder to get rid of something that belonged to or was given to you by someone you lost and loved. Getting rid of something like that seems like betrayal of that person.

Thanks again. I hope all is going well with you and your apartment hunt.
Btw, your hair looks beautiful.

Your hair looks so beautiful. Thankful for your content, as always. I really look forward to it!

It's so interesting, I'm a minimalist, everything I own fit in my car, but I never thought about letting go of my diploma. I'm holding them for some reasons and I never used them ever, so now I can let them go because it doesn't even represents who I'm anymore.Thank you again for your beautiful sharing💖💖

Amen to everything that you said . “Love people not things “ as the minimalist often say. Your hair looks beautiful fuller 👌That’s helpful when you put things into perspective as it does make letting go easier . I will remember what you said as I continue in this journey of decluttering. You are awesome 👏

Your hair is so dreamy ❤🇦🇺

The way I’ve been thinking lately is “I didn’t have this item when I was a little kid, and I was fine and perfectly happy without then”. It seems to help.

Change is the only constant. I'm usually so rigid with my routines, I follow certain things so strictly, this rigidity prevents me from flowing through change. Through your video I realized that for me to live fully I need to accept changes and not fight against them.

You hit the nail on the head on so many points! We lost just about everything in fire years ago. At first I  missed so much stuff, but our lifestyle changed and those lost things wouldn't  have fit in the new life we created. Plus I  also think your hair looks great but your skin is amazing! You look like you are wearing blush and lipstick and your eyes ❇

1000% guilt is really powerful, letting go makes things SO easy... when in doubt, go to nature, really gives perspective and presence and makes letting go easier. 💫

The only things I have felt regret about decluttering were sentimental type items. I think if the item is common place - like a charging chord, mug, bath towel etc... you can let go without having to feel worry or guilt. If later you did realise you needed one of these it would be very easy to replace. But I would advise to be careful with irreplacable sentimental items. Once they're gone you can't get them back. Set them aside for a while to think about and make sure you're in the right mental space before you let them go. A few times I decluttered sentimental items when I was in a really bad place mentally, feeling really depressed and thinking I would end my life. Later when I felt better mentally I regretted getting rid of a few of those sentimental things, and they can't be replaced. I'm trying to detach from physical things and tell myself they're not that important. Still, I think its good to be careful before getting rid of something sentimental.