Moving On From Minimalism? (Personal Update)

So while I do still believe that minimalism has served me well for quite some time now, I'd say that the way I put it into action has moved past that initial stage of decluttering the stuff in my life. My style is pretty well defined now thanks to the many changes and experimentation I've gone through, and keeping things organized/clutter-free within my space seems to be easy for me now. Be it, my mental health could still use some work at times, but I can only do so much to help myself. We'll save that topic for later on, though. 

Some of the people I follow online who have practiced minimalism for several years now have made videos with titles that are similar to what I've chosen for this particular blog post. Moving on, redefining its meaning, or just becoming more lenient on the supposed "rules" that one has to follow to be a minimalist... all of those things are good to ponder or think about, and naturally, I think it's good for us to evolve and adapt to different perspectives in life. In the case of minimalism however, I feel like it's time for me personally to stop writing about minimalism in the traditional sense, or to stop capitalizing on the word itself when making posts like this in general. 

YouTube is a weird platform, and because I'm someone who has - for the prolonged seasons of my time making blog posts - relied on YouTube for inspiration, I find that there's really no right or wrong way to define what it means to live simply or be more intentional with your time and energy. Call it whatever you want (simple living, intentional living, minimalism, etc.), but ultimately, the goal is to just create a life that helps you to experience more of what matters to you. 

This month for me at least has been up and down in terms of my mental health, but I've also had plenty of moments of joy and fun along the way. I definitely feel more like myself when I'm around people who bring joy to my life. The only thing that has kept me from being fully present at times is my worries about the future. It's easier said than done sometimes, just allowing myself to breathe and not becoming so hung up on things I can't control. What seems to be helping me the most in those times of worry is listening to music and meditating. "It's okay for me to let go; I'll just let go"... That's the mantra that I'm trying to keep in mind, and while it does work, I kind of have to be in the right head space to really make that mantra stick.