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Experiences over stuff

Experiences over stuff

Posted on September 25, 2017April 22, 2022

When you create a WordPress account, they ask you to write a little bit about yourself. One of the things I wrote about myself is that I am a wannabe minimalist. Yes, an even more sustainable lifestyle! Life without trash, on my way to veganism, more volunteering, working on my carbon footprint and minimalism. Yes, I’ve changed a lot since I started this blog. For me it all feels like personal progress. In my head most has changed, my mindset is different. And mindset is the thing I want to talk about today. Valuing experiences over stuff.

Gifts

Experiences over stuff (or things), I’ve mentioned it before in some of my weekly diaries. That’s because it’s mostly applicable for birthdays and other occasions where we gift things. I always tell people to not gift me stuff, but it does not always work. People are used to giving stuff and I’m new to minimalism. In the past, I had to have everything. I was the opposite of a minimalist, I could spend 200 euros in one day at the Primark. It seems weird to even write this down because my mindset had totally shifted. I don’t want stuff anymore, only when I intentionally buy it myself.

Alternative to Stuff

Instead of gifting nail-polish, books, clothes or any other type of I-don’t-know-what-to-gift-so-here-is-this gift, I ask for someone’s time. I ask an experience. A day to the spa for example, a meal in the city center or a ticket to the movies. Anything, you can get really creative with experiences, you can make them as crazy (or not) as you personally like. You can make it as expensive or cheap as you want. The movies can be replaced by a movie night at someone’s place with homemade popcorn or another free event. Be creative! Gifting stuff is a nice gesture, but it’s meaningless. If you gift someone your time, you create memories together. And memories are the things you want to remember, not nail polish.

Works both Ways

This trick works both ways. You can gift someone experiences, but you can also ask for them. Speak the truth. Say you’re trying to live more minimalistic and that you’ll not appreciate getting new stuff. And then give an alternative by asking for an experience. People usually want to gift something so if you don’t come up with an alternative you’ll get stuff anyway. One of my best friends wanted to go to a Bastille concert and so we gifted it to her with our friend group. Memories! I gifted my boyfriend a day in Disneyland Paris and that is a day I will never forget. Just give a piece of yourself, your time. By gifting or receiving it.

Mindset

Experiences over stuff, it’s a mentality I’ve accepted and I feel like I’m doing well already. And I feel like a shift in mindset is most important. This way the strategy works best and then you can apply it all the time. With Christmas (if you celebrate it), sugar feast (if you celebrate it), birthdays, anything. It has given me a lot of beautiful memories already!

Yours sincerely,
Romee

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43 thoughts on “Experiences over stuff”

  1. Cindy says:
    September 25, 2017 at 10:34 am

    Volledig mee eens, ervaringen zijn zo veel waardevoller dan geschenken.

    Reply
  2. freeinspirationsite says:
    September 25, 2017 at 8:31 pm

    Eens!

    Reply
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ABOUT ME

 

Hi! My name is Romee Hoeksma and I am on a journey to an eco-positive life. An eco-positive lifestyle is a lifestyle in which I have a more positive than negative impact on the beautiful planet earth. On this blog you can follow my journey to a life with only positive impact. At this blog you can find all sorts of things, from tips to recipes to personal experiences, but most of all fun (I hope!). I write about how I want to change the world, but don’t look at it as if I’m judging you. If anything, I like responses from my dear readers the most, so don’t hesitate to contact me or respond to any of my posts!

Yours sincerely,
Romee

Here’s what I posted most recently

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Ik ga dit jaar weer de challenge aan om de winter door te komen zonder de warming aan te zetten. Hiervoor ging mijn essential, een warmwaterkruik 💦, kapot. In deze reel laat ik je zien hoe ik een ‘nieuwe’ tweedehands kruik kocht. Vandaag te lezen op whenateengoesgreen.com: een inspirerende documentary over Greta Thunberg: I am Greta. Een documentaire over hoop, maar vooral over doorzettingsvermogen 🔥. Lees het nu via de link in mijn bio. Meer vegan producten in de schappen, yay! Gisteren probeerde ik voor het eerst de vegan lentil tikki masala saus van Patak’s 🧑🏼‍🍳. Zie in deze reel wat ik ervan vond. Vandaag verscheen er een nieuw artikel op mijn blog over: 5 dingen die ik niet koop. Want we denken vaak dat we dingen écht nodig hebben, maar vaak is dat niet zo 🧠. Check het artikel via de link in miijn bio. Vorige week verscheen er een artikel op mijn blog over alles wat ik nieuw kocht in 2022. Dat is een groot deel van mijn negatieve impact. Deze week was het tijd om te kijken naar de andere kant van de medaille. Vandaag lees je op mijn blog een artikel over al mijn positive impact in 2022 🌞. Je vind de link naar het artikel in de link in mijn bio. Afgelopen week verscheen er op mijn blog een artikel over alles wat ik nieuw heb gekocht in 2022. Eén ding op de lijst waren deze onderbroeken (een stuk of 20). En nu denk je misschien: waarom zou je in één keer zoveel onderbroeken kopen? Op 31 december, nog net op de valreep in 2022, kwam er een video online op mijn Youtube-kanaal over voedselcoöperaties. Ik denk namelijk dat voedselcoöperaties ons voedselsysteem democratischer en eerlijker kunnen maken 🥦. Elk jaar stel ik mezelf als doel om geen nieuwe spullen te kopen. Er is weer een jaar voorbij, dus het was tijd om te evalueren. Is het me gelukt om in 2022 geen nieuwe spullen te kopen? 🛒 Je leest het vandaag op m’n blog. Ook tijdens het gourmetten kan je heel makkelijk vegan eten 🌱. Zie hier wat ik at als vegan op de tweede kerstdag 🎄. Gourmetten is een topoplossing als je niet uren in de keuken wilt staan. Lekkere snacks kopen, even snijden en alles neerzetten en bakken maar!

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  • Documentary: I am Greta
  • 5 things I don’t buy
  • My positive impact in 2022
  • All my new purchases in 2022
  • Eco-positive toilet paper: The Good Roll

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