It could be the birth of a child.

可能是一個孩子的出生。

It could be an unfortunate downsizing at work.

可能是一次不幸的裁員事件。

Any number of different things, really.

它可能是各種各樣的事情。

♪

（1 | 我如何成為極簡主義者）

My trigger event happened on a Saturday morning when I was cleaning out my garage.

我的觸發事件發生在一個星期六早上，當時我正在清理車庫。

My son was five years old at the time and we went out to do some spring cleaning.

我的兒子那時只有五歲，我們正在進行春季大掃除。

We were pulling everything out of the garage into the driveway.

我們把所有東西從車庫裡搬到車道上。

My son lasted for about five minutes, is about it, and he was off in the backyard to play by himself.

我的兒子只堅持了大約5分鐘就放棄了，他跑去後院獨自玩耍。

I'm working on the same garage, one thing leads to another.

我還在整理同一個車庫，事情一件接著一件。

Hours later, I'm still working on the same garage.

幾個小時後，我還在整理同一個車庫。

My neighbor happens to be outside, and she was the first one to ever introduce me to the word "minimalism".

我的鄰居剛好在外面，她是第一個告訴我什麼是「極簡主義」的人。

As I began complaining to her about how much time and effort had gone into this cleaning project...

當我開始跟她抱怨我在大掃除計畫投入大量的時間和精力時......

She said to me, "Yeah, you know, that's why my daughter is a minimalist."

她告訴我：「對......這就是我女兒成為極簡主義者的原因。」

She keeps telling me I don't need to own all this stuff.

她一直告訴我我不需要擁有所有的東西。

I remember looking over at my driveway, with this pile of dirty, dusty things that I don't care anything about.

我記得我看著車道上那一堆我一點也不在乎、髒兮兮、充滿灰塵的東西。

I knew full well weren't making me happy.

我也知道它們沒有讓我感到開心。

But out of the corner of my eye, I noticed my five-year-old son, still swinging alone on the swing set in the backyard.

突然從眼角的餘光，我注意到我五歲的兒子仍然在後院的鞦韆上獨自搖擺。

And suddenly had this further realization that not only were my possessions not making me happy.

突然間，我意識到我擁有的物品不旦沒有讓我開心。

They were actually keeping me from the very thing that did bring me happiness in life.

這些東西還讓我無法把時間花在真正帶給我幸福的事物上。

And not just happiness, but purpose, fulfillment, contentment, joy.

不僅是幸福，還有目的、成就感、滿足感和喜樂。

This is a very different realization that our possessions aren't not just making us happy...

這是一個非常不同的見解，我們的財產不僅讓我們感到不快樂......

But our possessions are actually keeping us from the very things that do.

還將真正能帶給我們快樂的事物隔絕在外。

This really is the foundational truth of a lifestyle of minimalism that our possessions are distracting us from the things we value most.

這是極簡主義生活方式的基本原理，我們的財產使我們讓我們對最重視的事情分心。

And that our lives are simply too important to waste chasing and accumulating material possessions.

我們的生命太珍貴了，不能浪費在追逐和累積物質財產上。