My home looks amazing. There was a reporter here last week and she kept saying how clean it looked. I’m not a fan of housework so this was a huge compliment. It does look amazing. I love it.

My home, all 1100 square feet of it, feels huge. It feels peaceful. It’s easy to keep tidy even with three adults living in it and a 13 month old that can now get just about anywhere with his hand on a wall and some side stepping. I feel relaxed and rested here. And that’s coming from a woman who hasn’t had a full night of sleep in over a year.

I spent an afternoon reading and relaxing and just enjoying the space last week. My to do list was quite short, nothing urgent and Henry was sleeping. Pretty sure my blood pressure was a few points lower than normal.

Now what? Now I reap the rewards of living with less stuff. So does my son. So does my husband. Less time distracted by clutter piles and more time at the park. Less time organizing stuff and more time reading. More time focused on ourselves and each other and family.

If you had an extra two hours in your day what would you do with it? If you decided to move to a smaller home within walking distance to work you could get rid of that second car and your two hour commute. There’s ten hours each week for you to do whatever you like with. Without the payments + gas + repairs for the second car you could cut down to four days a week at work. With your saved commute time you now have 18 hours to enjoy. To do whatever you like with. To do all those things, the getting in shape, the eating better, the staying in touch with friends or picking up a hobby, all those things you say you would do if you just had more time.

Time is a premium. As I am now a lot more considerate with how I spend my money I am just as considerate about how I spend my time. How are you spending your time?

Looking for a how to guide? I love this post Prioritize, Don’t Organize by Faith at Minimalist Moms. If you’re feeling overwhelmed give it a read. Looking for inspiration? Check out The Story of the Mexican Fisherman at Be More with Less.

A few weeks ago I met up with some friends I hadn’t seen in a while. As we hugged and greeted and caught up the subject of this little blog came up. A friend asked for more information and another friend replied,  ‘she’s getting rid of everything she owns’. I laughed it off.

We’re taking our last load of items for donation today. Last load for a while anyways. When I look around I like what I see and what I see is not a bare home. Lots of DVDs on the shelf still after selling about a third of our collection. A small book collection, mostly Chris’s. Framed wedding photos, a few of me in my athlete days, a couple of us traveling in France and Italy. Two, instead of four, wine crates with about 20 bottles of B.C. wine. A china cabinet, couch, love seat, ottoman, side table. A few lamps. We’re still sitting at a table for dinner. I haven’t gone so far as to say all meals will be eaten on the floor.

For the hardcore I’m not minimalist, I’ve just cleaned house. I’m fine with that. The living with 100 things movement is interesting, shocking and news worthy. The deciding to live a life with a lot less stuff isn’t nearly as sexy or easy to define. But I would argue my version of minimalism, minimalism for the masses, is much more accessible, attainable and has the possibility of changing a lot more of lives.

We’re not all going to sell our possessions and live in South America out of a backpack while earning a small income from e-book sales. That is a great dream but the reality is that most First Worlders won’t do that. They don’t want to.

There is a tight knit group of minimalist bloggers out there living their dream of being office free and living with less stuff. Everett Bogue at Beyond the Stars, Tammy Strobel at Rowdy Kittens, Adam Baker at Man vs Debt, Leo Babauta at Zen Habits, Francine at Miss Minimalist and the list goes on. Good for them. Good for the tens of thousands of people that follow them hoping to break out of their day job and/or become location independent with a minimalist business. It’s inspiring.

But it’s not for the millions.

For the rest of us it needs to be more attainable, accessible and understandable. The leap of logic from two cars, a 2500 sq ft home and loads of stuff to leaving it all behind is a huge one. Too huge for most people.

If you want to change the world advocate for change that everyone can get behind.

Instead of encouraging 10,000 people to live with 95% less why not encourage 300 million people to live with 20% less. Don’t tell them to move to San Francisco and hit up the 4 o’clock yoga class while living on $1000 a month from their e-business. Show the masses that with more thought at the register, less shopping as a hobby, more time with family or working on passion projects, fewer rooms to clean and upkeep and collect clutter in a smaller home, they can all live a better life. A more engaged life. A life with less stress, debt, fast food and waste. A better life through small change.