When I first discovered minimalism, many years ago, one of the suggestions that appealed to me was to form a small group that would meet regularly. I am not really great at starting this sort of group, so that never got off the ground. But the idea of having a support group of folks who understand and can challenge "strange" simple living values has stayed with me.
Anyway, The Minimalists did the hard part for me. I found a group through their website and went to my first Internet meet-up last night. We talked about people who keep wanting to give us stuff because they think we are poor or deprived and how to communicate that. Also, how once you begin divesting yourself of stuff it is hard to understand others' acquiring or maintaining stuff. We also talked about reevaluating beliefs periodically to see if we still believe what we thought we believed.
Only four of us met out of a group of 38 or so, and it really took a lot out of me - I came home, ate (including two bowls of ice cream - whoops! Probably dealing with some nervousness there that I hadn't acknowledged previously) and went to bed almost immediately. I am going to try to continue to meet with them. For me, it is rare I form an instant connection with people, but can bond with continued exposure.
