I took the 30-day minimalism challenge, got rid of 338 possessions, and still failed — here's what I learned

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My name is Madeleine, and I failed the minimalism challenge.

Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus, who call themselves The Minimalists, designed the minimalism challenge as a fun game to help people declutter their houses.

The rules are simple, but the math adds up quickly over the month-long endeavor. On day one, you get rid of one thing, day two, two things, and so on and so forth until you get rid of 30 things on day 30. In total, if you complete the challenge, you'll have gotten rid of 465 things.

I was drawn to the challenge because I'm moving soon and wanted to downsize. I'd watched their documentary where they talk about how minimalism made them happy, and thought they made excellent points about how consumerism isn't making Americans happy.

Consuming isn't bad; we all need a new coat or new pants sometimes. But the consumerism that drives people to continuously shop is dangerous, the two argue in their documentary.

So, I got rid of 338 things, before hitting a wall.

Here's the emotional roller coaster I embarked on attempting the minimalist challenge.

Joshua and Ryan don't have very strict rules, so I had to make up some of my own. I decided if something could be used again, or had great sentimental value, it counted.

Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus/The Minimalists

Source: The Minimalists

So, a candy wrapper didn't count. But a card given to me by a close friend did count. They were both getting tossed out, but one took effort to part with, while the other didn't.

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And so the challenge begins. I hoped my bedroom would look fresh and minimalist like this afterwords.

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