A Soul Minimalists Guide to Thrifting
5 Decisions That Led to One of My All-Time Favorite Hauls
Hi Soul Minimalist,
Even though we are mere weeks away from our youngest graduating and I have FEELINGS and the headlines continue to be devastating and my sleep score is atrocious, I’m working hard to take my own advice and share some of the fun stuff anyway.
Amid the celebrations, the graduations, and the hellos and goodbyes that come along with the days of May, I snuck in a 3-day trip north to see the one and only Shannan Martin. We ended up engaging one of our favorite pastimes: finding the Goodwill Stores and losing our actual minds.
Searching for and finding pre-loved items is one of my counterweights (a concept Shannan continues to model and teach us all) and it’s one of hers, too.
“A counterweight is anything that helps keep us upright against the strain of everything that hurts in this world and our lives. It means we acknowledge that while there's a lot we can't control, there's also a lot we CAN control.”
—Shannan Martin
As it turns out, engaging a counterweight together is a communal spiritual practice and thrifting is a liturgy best engaged with a friend. As we checked out at what we intended to be our only store, we asked the clerk if there was another one nearby just to see. When she said it was a mere thirty minute drive away, we both knew that was how we would spend our second (and third) day together.
Because when Shannan and I left that tiny Goodwill Store with a bags full of stuff TWO HOURS after we first walked in, we wondered out loud how we spent so long there. I enjoyed myself so much and scored so many fantastic finds, I started to pay attention to what I was paying attention to.
A small part of what it means to be a soul minimalist is to notice what we’re noticing and make adjustments along the way. Do I love / admire / dread / enjoy / prefer / disapprove of this activity / person / situation / project? Do I need to make small moves in a particular direction to either lean in or opt out?
Soul minimalism doesn’t descend upon us when we’re in a room by ourselves having Very Calm Thoughts. It’s a way of being in the world, knowing we are always receiving input that impacts both our outer and inner life. What will we hold onto and what will we let go?
One way to notice is through the practice of reflection after the fact (if you’ve been here for five minutes you know I’m a big fan of this). Another way is to pay attention as we go. This matters even when we’re doing something as inconsequential as thrifting. We get to be whole people and our spiritual life is not separate from our actual life. Part of wholeness is to know what we love and to engage it on the regular.
If you’re into thrifting, you’ll love the rest of this essay where I’ll share the mindsets we practiced as we walked beneath fluorescent lights through the linoleum aisles of castoffs (and of course I’ll show you some of my finds). But even if you’re not a thrifter, you can apply these simple decisions to your own pastime.
Note: I’ll share ALL my finds on our Soul Minimalist Instagram account this weekend! Be sure to follow me there if you’re a paid subscriber - details at the bottom of this post.
Decision 1: Know and name your thrifting posture. (What?! I know, it’s so fun.)