This month’s simple living interview is Anthony from Break The Twitch. The monthly interviews are designed to give you a glimpse into people’s lives who call themselves minimalists, or are pursuing a simple lifestyle or living slow.
Each month the bloggers are asked the same questions in order to see the similarities and differences in their experiences. It’s a wonderful way to be encouraged in simplifying our own lives! You can read the other interviews HERE.
Can you introduce yourself to my readers – who you are, where you live, and what you blog about?
Hello! I’m Anthony, the creator of Break the Twitch. I explore how to live an intentionally connected life through minimalism, habits, and creativity. Most of the time, you can find me at home in Minneapolis with my wife, Amy and our dog, Rocky.
What initially attracted you to simple living?
When I first learned about simple living, I realized that it was what I had always wanted, but hadn’t quite figured out a name for it. I was spending way too much money on Amazon, chasing happiness through my credit card, when I realized that all the things I actually wanted in life couldn’t be ordered online. I was living a life driven by consumption instead of creation and that inspired me to start walking down the path of simple living.
The idea of focusing on wanting less instead of acquiring more really appealed to me–I’ve always been for living in the moment, but that has it’s pros and cons as well. The concept as a whole has really helped me find balance between many areas of my life and learning to be content in the here and now.
What are the benefits that you have found in simple living?
The major benefit to living simply is that we get to take back control of how we define success and what we want out of life. It takes some major mental work to unwind the deeply rooted feelings of lack that consumerism creates.
At the heart of it, there’s a $580 billion per year advertising industry set on making us feel the “if onlys” for their own benefit. If only I had a Lexus I’d feel more successful. If only I had the latest Canon camera I’d take better pictures. It goes on forever. Choosing to live simply means taking back the reigns from an industry determined to choose what a good life means and try to convince us to fit the mold. It’s not easy, but it’s worth it.
The benefits from there on are endless–we’re empowered to choose what we want for almost every aspect of our lives. We create the space to do that thing that we’ve been dreaming about for a decade. All of a sudden, financial resources aren’t being burned from both ends in an attempt to find external validation because of the things we own. It’s less about how you live, but more about what influences how you choose to live.
If someone wanted to start living simply, what advice would you give them?
The first step to living simply is defining exactly what that means to you. To do that, it’s important to eliminate things that influence your definition in a negative way. Commercials, advertisements, sales, marketing emails, all have a goal of getting you on board with their definition of living well. See what you can do to eliminate the needless consumption of these influences in your day to day life.
From there, start really small and take one action every day that reflects the values you’ve determined. Those values will change over time, and that’s great, but for now just do one small thing every day that reflects those current values. That means removing an item from your home you no longer need, cancelling a service you no longer use, and slowly removing the things that do not align with your desired lifestyle. Slowly but surely, your life will take the shape you imagined–this removal of the unnecessary will create the time and space to add more of what you want your life to reflect.
Lastly, remember that it is a marathon not a sprint–this is a lifelong journey and more of a daily practice than something you arrive to. Let it be the way you live your life instead of a particular goal you hope to someday reach.
PIN IT FOR LATER:
This post will be shared at these link up parties.
Thanks for introducing us to Anthony, Angela.
It’s a good interview.
Thanks Melinda! Yes, I really love his perspective and hearing his story.
Love his comment that it is a marathon, not a sprint! Great interview! Thanks for sharing at The Blogger’s Pit Stop! Roseann from http://www.thisautoimmunelife.com
That statement is true for so much of life isn’t it! We get in trouble when we try to sprint through areas of life!
Nice interview. Thanks for sharing this at the Inspiration Spotlight party.
Beaching minimalist is so soul enriching, my family is so much richer now we have less ‘stuff’ to clutter up our existence. Great interview #KCACOLS
That’s exciting Andrea that you’re a practicing minimalist! We are striving for minimalism and love the promise of minimalism.
Break the Twich sounds like a fascinating blog. My mummy needs to ditch the unnecessary, unfortunately a lot of distractions come from blogging so a simpler life would be for her to ditch the phone and social media…unfortunately that’s not going to happen for a while x #DreamTeam
I agree that blogging “complicates” life in some ways. Keeping blogging simple is a challenge!
This is such an interesting read, I may have to go back and read the other interviews too. I definitely want to live a simpler life , we seem to be drowning in ‘stuff’ that gives no added value to our lives. I’d definitely rather spend money on experiences that enrich your life rather than material items.
#FamilyFunLinky
Yes to experiences and simplifying life! We’re still working on it, but it has enriched our lives for sure.
I think I must be on the right path to a simpler life because in terms of consumerism I spend very little. Nice interview an Thank you for linking up to the #familyfunlinky
Good for you Karen! We’ve just spent so much this September for back to school items – I’m hoping to do a “spending freeze” in October to try to counter all the money spent in September!
So insightful and encouraging. Nothing like having a child to make you come round to this way of life. They seem to come with sooooo much stuff!
Thanks for linking up to #KCACOLS . Hope to see you back again soon.
Yes, babies and young children come with LOTS of stuff if we aren’t careful. I started the majority of decluttering after my youngest was in school.
I love how Anthony acknowledges that it can take quite a bit of work to move away from a consumerist life. It’s so deeply ingrained sometimes, this feeling that we need to buy and have more all the time, I like that he admits that it takes a while to step away from that. x #KCACOLS
Definitely Madeline! That is such an important point.
This is so interesting and I agree that any changes to the way you live, need to start off slowly and surely in order to keep it up. I seem to naturally gravitate to being more minimal as I can’t stand loads of clutter from ‘stuff’. Thanks for joining us for the #DreamTeam. x
Good for you Annette! It helps when minimalism is our “natural” bent.
I wish We could live like this. How do people manage it with kids! #kcacols
I think with little kids it’s challenging so your expectations might be different from someone who has older kids or no kids. What does progress look like for you and your family?
Great interview, Angela! I enjoyed ‘meeting’ Anthony and reading his thoughts on simple living .Thank you so much for sharing with us at The Hearth and Soul Link Party.
Thanks April! Thank you for reading the interview. I’m glad you enjoyed it!