SOULBASE Talk:
Kristina Ricken
Minimalism Coach & Feng Shui Consulting
Clarity on the outside creates clarity on the inside. We always want to share with you real life stories and also share with you people who changed their lives and live to BE the change. Kristina, the face behind einquadratmeter, is definitely someone we wanted to share with you. Another reader actually forwarded us her profile and sent us an email sharing that we should reach out to her as her life has changed drastically over the last few years and she is now a helping hand for others.
Krisitna works in her main job as a controller and works part-time as a photographer and a professional organizer. Over the last five years, her life turned upside down. A health diagnosis caused her to take a closer look at her life leading to a sabbatical, three months of traveling around the world, an excessive purge of her things, reducing hours in her day job, a move to a tiny apartment and many more things helped her to tidy up her life.
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? Where you live and what you do for a living?
Hello! Yes, gladly. I’m Kristina, I’m 34 years old and I live in Wuppertal/Cologne in Germany. My main job is as a controller at a large U.S. company here in the area, so I mainly work with numbers. I work part-time as a photographer, and I have been a professional organizer for two years. Photography is a nice balance and offers me the opportunity to work with my creative side. And organization is my passion. When I was a little girl, I always tidied up my mother’s Tupperware collection. Clarity on the outside creates clarity on the inside, and with this concept, I want to help as many people as possible to obtain more serenity and joy in life. In the last five years, your life has been turned almost upside down, if you can say that. Can you give any insights into what happened?
Yes, you’re absolutely right. Up until five years ago, I had been living a picture perfect life - from the outside looking in. I was successful at my job, I worked on my career and was also in a very long, happy relationship. That is, until I got the diagnosis for MS (Multiple Sclerosis) almost exactly five years ago. It was a dramatic experience that turned my life upside down and shook me awake. Through this stroke of fate, I began to think about myself and about my life and questioned for the first time ever what I actually REALLY want in life. I had always just done the standard thing and did what everyone else was doing without allowing myself to ever really listen to my gut feeling. So, I took a sabbatical and we went on a trip around the world. Those three months away from my job, away from daily life and the endless hamster wheel that I had been running on opened up a whole new perspective on life and above all on myself and what I really want. When I came back from this trip, I had a new outlook on my life and also on my belongings. To make a long story short, an excessive purge took place, followed by a move into a new house, reducing hours at my job, starting my self-employment as a photographer, separating from my husband and a moving into a small mini apartment. To summarize, I tidied up my whole life. Not just from the outside, but most importantly from the inside. I questioned everything and that was definitely a hard time. But believe it or not, getting rid of things and tidying up on the outside helped me be able to find myself. A year and a half ago, you founded the Instagram account @einquadratmeter. Can you tell us about how you came up with the name and what the thought behind it was?
The name einquadratmeter came about by chance. I saw a poster on my normal jogging route that had 1m2 written on it. I began to think about this unit of size and this symbol. Since I love typography and I didn’t have any art on the walls of my little apartment, I designed the lettering “1m2’’ as wall art and hung it in a 1x1 meter frame in the bedroom. When I was looking for a name for my account and for the organizational coaching, I didn’t have to think long about it. Funnily enough, it was never clear to me before how big (or small) one square meter really is. We live in such excess and cram almost every inch of our apartments full. Through sorting out items and the conscious enjoyment of room and space, completely new perspectives open up. Less is MORE is definitely a main theme. Would you know how many things belong to your house? Have you ever counted all your belongings and asked why do we cramp our homes and apartments so full? How can we create more space in our home and in our mind? Through her organizing coaching and her account @einquadratmeter, Kristina shares life hacks and approaches to make a conscious choice and reorganize things for a better life.
Through sorting out items and the conscious enjoyment of room and space, completely new perspectives open up.
You once counted all your things in a post you made and you counted 2,000 things in your apartment. It sounds like a large number. What did it mean to you to count it?
Until recently, I didn’t know how many things I owned. I read about a family who all together only owned 800 things. I found that so inspiring and it made me motivated to also count my things. They say in a western household there is an average of 10,000 things, although many estimate it to be much more. Of course, most people use only a fraction of that. I found it incredibly interesting to think about the kind of abundance we live in and how many resources there are in all of this. Besides the sustainability aspect, we have to ask ourselves: “Do all these things really make us happy?” Since then I have already sorted out another 500 things. It’s a process. How do you think it would affect us if we could let go of our material possessions more?
That is a big question. I think it would open a completely new world. In my opinion, we are so focused on our material possessions that we are simply missing out on real life. We often subconsciously make our happiness and our contentedness dependent on things on the outside. If I have this kitchen, then things will finally be great and my family will be relaxed. If I have this article of clothing, then my wardrobe will be perfect. We all work many hours to buy these things - and in the end they don’t give us lasting happiness. That’s of course putting it exaggerated, and in my opinion consuming isn’t a terrible thing, but when we all CONSCIOUSLY own and consume only what really does us good, I believe we would all be much happier and ultimately more contented. I also believe we have to reshape our thinking for the sake of the environment. All of these things that we don’t use were made by somebody at some point, somewhere. Being more conscious about the world’s resources has to start with us.How did you start sorting out your things and leaning into minimalism?
In the midst of the turbulence when my life was in upheaval, I watched a documentary called “Minimalism: A Documentary About The Important Things’’ from The Minimalists. That was one of the biggest eye-openers I have ever had. I just knew I had found the key. I began sorting out my things that same day. That’s where my journey with minimalism began. It was a process that took a few years, but by now I would call myself a minimalist. When I made the account @einquadratmeter on Instagram, I had also devoured Marie Kondo’s book. It was also a huge inspiration to me and gave me the tools not only to part ways with emotionally weighted items, but to also to organize the things I still owned with aesthetic and structure. During that time, I also started meditating and through meditation and minimalism, I learned to trust my gut feeling and no longer chase after that elusive, supposed happiness of having ‘’more.’’ Every material thing I gave away made me feel freer, happier and more contented. I finally had the feeling I could breathe freely and have room in my life for the things that are really important. I am thoroughly convinced that less is always more, and I want to help others obtain this freedom, awareness and inner peace and to be able to trust their gut feeling more.
What would you say is the best way to begin sorting out your things and what would you say are mistakes you sometimes see?
The best start is simply with small, approachable steps. So many people let themselves be afraid, because it feels like too much. But the most important thing is to take action step by step. Take a drawer or a corner in the living room. Set yourself up with three baskets and begin sorting out into categories like give-away/ donate, sell, trash. If in the beginning you don’t have a lot of time, I suggest getting into it with the Minsgame from the Minimalists. With this minimalist challenge, you take 30 days to sort out something every day. On the first day one thing, on the second day two things, on the third day three things, etc. In total, you’ll have sorted out almost 500 things. I did the challenge in September with many others on my account. If people motivate each other, it is a lot more fun. One mistake I do see people making is to only superficially sort out. It is really important to take everything out of the cupboard or drawer, hold every piece in your hands and ask, “Do I really need this? Do I really like it?” Do NOT keep it just in case you might need it someday.Do you offer consultations to help people who can’t quite make it on their own?
Yes, I offer consultations. I also offer consultations on Feng-Shui, which rounds off the topic very nicely. After I dove quite extensively into dealing with my possessions and explored questions of meaning and read books, including Marie Kondo’s, about various theories of order and systems, I somehow felt the urge to help others to make ‘’order’’ in their lives with the knowledge I had learned. It is so much fun for me to help others bring clarity and with that, a new sense of joy, into their lives and their living spaces. It creates space for the really important things in life. I find that so fulfilling. What is something that makes you happy?
For me the most wonderful thing is to spend time with family and friends and to really enjoy the time together. I am so thankful for that.Thanks so much , Kristina