This is another poem I wrote a few years ago that I hid away and want to share in my efforts to encourage myself to write more poems. I can't wait to share them with you.

On the Shore' is inspired by Jonan Christian Dahl's painting, 'A Mother and Child by the Sea' (1840). I wrote this poem after seeing this painting and instantly imagined the time when men would go out to war and women and children would anticipate their arrival.

On the shore a girl screamed “Papa Papa”
Papa was still a long distance away.
Standing on the rocky coastal ground
The child would lose her balance,
Her mother lay one hand on her shoulder
The firm and heavy grip did not faze her
And she pointed “Papa”.

The clouds closed their doors
The boat moved towards them, motionless
Later seemed blown about by the wind.
The glassy sea reflected the dying sun
Let hope ripple through.
The boat lay at a rest stop in the sea.

The dirt-ridden sail flapped, the boat made a movement,
A sigh spread across the sea, the girl jumped “Papa”.

The clouds opened pink sunset
Revealing the mothers tresses
Her dress bunched up around the rocks
The flesh of it supple and young,
Its soft satin, prey to the sharp rocks.

The boat moved sideways
The sail resigned.
The mother moved her hand
Covered the child's face.
Underneath, the child squinted
Turned towards the blanket of the dress
“Mama”.

The painting is a calm evening on a rocky coastal landscape and sun's reflection is the little air of optimism in the painting. I imagined the mother nervous. I depicted the dark mood through my imagery acting as a catalyst to the eventual sinking of the boat, "The clouds closed their doors", the sun was "dying" and the reflection of the sun was "pushed about by the rocks".

A Pair of Shoes painting by Vincent Van Gogh (1886)

I have been writing poetry for as long as I can remember and even published them on a blog I used to have separate to this one. I have been getting back into writing poetry because it has always soothed me. As a teenager I had my poems published on TeenInk. My poem Daddy I Miss You featured as the number one poem on the website 43 times. My poem Beautiful won Editors Choice award for “an exceptional piece”. Poetry has been a huge part of my growth both in terms of achievement and healing. I wrote this one five years ago as a part of my creative writing assignment at university. It is an ekphrastic poem inspired by Van Gogh's shoes.

Reading this is taking me right back to my impressionist art obsession. I can't wait to share some of my new work with you.

Their mouths gape open after a hard day's work
Accusingly, I have used the life out of them.
I drag them through the cobbled streets of the markets
They are too stubborn to lift, defiant.

The laces are burnt out ropes,
Yet hang as threads.
They are jagged jail bars,
Dig into my flesh leaving blue stains.

Making a pact, they lock together
Like twigs that stay put during autumn,
That are ferociously ripped off
By children playing.

Turning them around for further inspection
There was the Wheatfield.
A feather from a crow,
A little present to my soles.

The dying wheat sprinkled off its yellow confetti
Of life.
The feather is molded into the grooves
Life is yellow. Blue is death.

Taking me back to my solitary walks;
One lost its wear a little more,
The heel trips me back at an awkward gravel path
And laughs at me when I stumble.

At sunrise I drop them with a thud
At sunset I drop them with a groan.
The naked eyelets are neglected
The rigid stems refuse to seam through.

Sat there, desolate
Their collars no longer identical
With a sigh one resigned, wilted
Holding me down further.

It is believed that van Gogh bought these shoes at a flea market so I mentioned his walk through "the markets". van Gogh spent a lot of money and time on his paintings and was eventually unable to afford to buy food. He was not well-off and this is clear in his deteriorating shoes.

Another one of his paintings called A Wheatfield with Crows is believed to be one of his last paintings before he took his own life and he seemed to have painted a lot of wheatfields. I couldn't help but get excited about that and incorporate it so it is as if he walked through the wheatfield with these boots, "There was the Wheatfield. A feather from a crow" and concluded it with his death, "Blue is death" and "Yellow is life".

The shoes fight with him throughout and he is eventually unable to continue on with them, his life.

It feels right to finally give you a two and a half year update on my minimalism journey. I cannot believe it has been this long. My minimalism playlist on YouTube is the most watched and followed playlist on my channel.

Above is a photo of a corner of my bedroom that I am particularly proud of. I am obsessed with open spaces and try to keep furniture to an absolute basic minimum. My rule is that if it's not going to be in frequent use it should go. In this way I am able to enjoy the paintwork and the gorgeous warm solid teak flooring against my dresser. I still can't quite get over how big this dresser is. The mirror is almost as tall as the door.

Having minimal furniture means I am able to splurge that extra bit more on the furniture I actually need and that is a bed, dresser, reading chair and one nightstand. I make that emphasis on one nightstand because I really don't think it necessary to go all symmetrical when you don't need a nightstand on both sides of the bed.

I also have an Instagram page to document the process of turning my home into a sanctuary. Do give it a follow if you love all things natural wood, blush pink and white. I'm inspired by beach houses and of course the Hamptons. Here's a link to my personal Instagram page.

Getting rid of stuff has become easier 

I am ruthless. I am really strict with anything that I sense is making both my physical and mental space feel cluttered. Understanding this feeling is something that comes with time. As your mind gets used to the idea of not having twelve pairs of shoes you start to notice other things you need to cull. This is fuelled by that feeling you get when you see a clear space as a result of the stuff you have got rid of. I make snap decisions and I realise it is through the snap decisions that I make the best ones.

I suffer from regret quite often

I regret getting rid of some stuff but I value that as a learning experience. If you don't get rid of stuff you regret, how will you ever learn to get rid of stuff you really need to get rid of? I get over the regret by reminding myself that regret is an essential part of my journey of living a simple life. Making mistakes helps me learn better ways of culling. Despite regret I feel so much lighter. I can travel, I moved to London for six months and have now moved to America.

Living with non-minimalists

Living with non-minimalists has been the biggest struggle in this journey, bigger than getting rid of sentimental items. They don’t understand my lifestyle but I learnt to respect theirs nevertheless. My only advice for this is to lead as example.

Overcoming people’s opinions on my lifestyle has been difficult. 

Anyone who has ever stepped out of their comfort zone to try something bold and significant will always receive resistance. The worst is when people question how much of a minimalist I actually am based on what their definition of minimalism means to them.

Minimalism still scares me

When I started I was worried I'd get rid of stuff I'll need later and what my friend would think. I was worried I'd lose my identity and everything I gave meaning to in life. That was it, meaning, whatever you apply meaning to becomes bigger than what it actually is. Your mind is subjective. When I take on a big project I really throw myself in the deep end. I have high expectations of myself and expect perfection. On top of that a lot of people around me enjoy pointing out non minimalist things I do. Like the amount of makeup I own, the 'expensive' clothes I buy and get this, my bulk buying toothpaste, and the list goes on. That too is subjective.

Minimalism is not about number. 

It's progress. There's no end point to minimalism and that's the beautiful thing about it. What you find meaningless may bring great value to another person.

So what is minimalism? 

To me minimalism is allowing yourself to live the life you want to live. It is the quiet of a summers night. It is the view on top of the mountains. Most importantly, it is freedom. It can get to the point where you're renting the things you already own at the cost of your happiness. I seek to get rid of stuff both physical and non-physical that do not bring me value. Minimalism is ever changing, growing as you grow too. The beautiful thing about minimalism is that there's no right or wrong. There is no right way for you to live. That's the reason I chose minimalism. To remove myself from the social conditioning of 'get a job get married have kids, teach your kids to do the same and then die'. To simply live as I want.

What's next?

I want to share my thoughts, projects and new ideas with you but without the word 'minimalism' attached.  I may share a video with 'minimalism' in the title but that would only be to reach the right people. Everything I do is based around my minimalist lifestyle and I want to share that authentic, or more candid part of it.