Author Boyd Lemon in His New Book, "Retirement: A Memoir and Guide," Explains Why Retirees (or Anyone Else) Should Minimalize and How to Do It
St. Marys, Georgia (PRWEB) July 17, 2013 -- Many baby boomers are divorcing, a good time to downsize. Stay in the spare bedroom of friends for awhile, if that is an option, to avoid loneliness and test living in a small space, says Lemon. Enjoy the freedom. Live in a room just big enough for a bed, a chair and a small desk, with no room to store a lot of stuff. It is actually a pleasant adjustment.
Americans don't need the big houses that most of them live in and won't miss the room. The freedom of living in a small space eliminates spending time fixing, moving, maintaining and cleaning. People who have done it don't miss their stuff. There is no “need” to live in a big, fancy suburban home or to be a homeowner at all. Eventually, a small apartment will be ideal and will lay the foundation for deciding to minimalize and an awareness that nobody needs everything that the American middle class holds dear, and most who leave that life behind don't miss it.
Figure out what you really need and use and give and throw the rest away. Store only things that have sentimental value. Consider adopting a rule of thumb that anything that is not used in one year's time will be disposed of. Acquiring a lot of stuff and living in a large space means that one spends a lot of time buying and taking care of stuff, and cleaning and taking care of living space, instead of actually living.
A friend's most recent home was a one-room cottage behind a main house, surrounded by a beautiful garden maintained by her landlady. She spent virtually no time repairing things, buying things (except food and a minimal amount of clothing, books and writing and drawing materials), cleaning or worrying about things. She could thoroughly clean her whole living space, including the kitchen and bathroom, in an hour.
Retirement is a great opportunity to change one's lifestyle and live the way that gets the most out of life (and minimalizing leaves a smaller footprint on the earth).
According to Joshua Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus, who have written a book about, and regularly blog on, minimalism, "Minimalism is a tool to get rid of superfluous excess in favor of focusing on what’s important in life so you can find happiness, fulfillment, and freedom."
Nobody, especially when they retire, really needs that big house in the suburbs. For those who expect visits from multiple children and grandchildren, for the few times they visit, wouldn’t it be more practical if they all stayed in a nearby hotel? Maybe a small apartment in a city where one can walk to the bank, the post office, cafes, restaurants, theaters and shops provides a better lifestyle.
Consider changes that reduce stress and expense, making more time and money to pursue a passion and enjoy life. There is no reason people have to live the same way they have been living for the past 40 years. People have to make their own decision, but make sure it is a personal decision and not just society or their past guiding such decisions.
What about mementos, stuff that has sentimental value because it reminds people of a loved one or pleasant memories of the past? Much of it, if not monetarily valuable, is irreplaceable. Right? The little league baseball glove, Barbie Dolls, soccer trophies, family photo albums. However, people should ask themselves, how often they look at that stuff.
Joshua Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus make an appealing argument by asking these questions: Do you need to keep your mother’s doily to remember her? Is it her old stuff that makes you remember her? Do you need the soccer trophy to remember that championship game? The answers are, "No." Memories are not material things. They are in the mind, and people don’t need stuff to remind them. Those precious family photos: have them professionally scanned and copied to a disk that can be viewed on a computer.
How much clutter can each of us remove to simplify our lives and leave more time for living?
Boyd Lemon's book, "Retirement: A Memoir and Guide" guides readers through the steps to secure the best time of their lives in retirement. Lemon encourages retirees to take life slowly, revel in the beauty of it all, and pursue a passion dear to one’s heart. Lemon emphasizes that these are the keys to avoiding the loneliness and episodic depression many retirees suffer from and in turn have a pleasant, fulfilling retirement. "Retirement: A Memoir and Guide" is available in print and Kindle format on Amazon.
About Boyd Lemon:
Boyd Lemon lived most of his life in Southern California and moved to Boston in March 2007, where he stayed until spring of 2010. Boyd later relocated to Europe for a year, splitting his time between Paris and Tuscany. Boyd’s writings are largely based on his life experiences. He has written seven books including, “Eat, Walk, Write: An American Senior's Year of Adventure in Paris and Tuscany”, “Digging Deep: A Writer Uncovers His Marriages”, “Unexpected Love and Other Stories”, and his latest publication “Retirement: A Memoir and Guide.” Boyd maintains a riveting travel blog “Boomers and Seniors” in which he discusses his travels and recommends economical travel options for baby boomers and seniors. To learn more about Boyd, visit http://boydlemon-writer.com/.
Boyd Lemon, Boyd Lemon, http://BoydLemon-Writer.com, 805-624-0287, [email protected]
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