You Know You're a Minimalist When...

Over the past few years, I have come to realize that I am an instinctual minimalist. Clutter in my house makes me miserable, empty space makes me happy, and getting rid of stuff (the more, the better!) makes me absolutely giddy with joy.

Thus, without further ado, here is my "minimalism list"! Yes, all of these are true of me.

You know you're a minimalist when...

(1) You get antsy if more than a month goes by without dropping off a box or two of donations at Goodwill. And furthermore...

(2) The people at the Goodwill drop-off site know you by name!

(3) Your friend tells you, "I know you're okay as long as I see you posting things to give away on Freecycle."

(4) You meet someone at your mommy support group, and she says, "Wait! I know you! Aren't you that lady who's always giving away things on Freecycle?"

(5) You (almost always) love it when your children break something, because it gives you a beautiful excuse to get rid of something without having to feel guilty about it.

(6) You dream of owning a smaller house.

(7) You fantasize about going west in a covered wagon because it would be such a wonderful excuse for leaving practically every possession behind (without the family getting mad at you).

(8) Your primary response to stress is to dive into the nearest closet and start throwing things out.

(9) When you find an unidentified object in your house, your question is not "What is it?" but "Can I throw it out?"

(10) When your husband says "Hey, do you want to do something fun tonight?" you respond, "Yes! Let's clean out the closets and get rid of a bunch of stuff!"

(11) Your family thinks that you are certifiably crazy, especially after you tell them, "Please don't leave me anything in your will."

(12) When your children are driving you crazy, you lock yourself in the bathroom and outline a blog post on minimalism.

As a matter of fact, you'd never recognize my minimalist tendencies just by looking at our house. We have waayyy too much stuff. (Although, as I mentioned a few weeks back, my children are actually helping me to obtain my longterm minimalist goals.) But it's a fun obsession, and I really enjoy the thrill of "What can I get rid of next?"

Any fellow minimalists out there? What would you add to this list?