About

A field guide to keeping less and noticing more.

Niksen is a quiet, unhurried journal about minimalism, herbalism, and the practice of being present — one small experiment at a time.

niksen, Dutch — doing nothing, on purpose.

portrait — Maren at the windowsill

I'm Maren Ellis. For nine years I managed products at software companies, where my job was, more or less, to add things — features, meetings, notifications, urgency. I was good at it, and it slowly hollowed me out.

The turn came the winter I could no longer name what I'd done with my week. So I started subtracting: first the possessions, then the commitments, then the constant low hum of half-attention. What grew back in the space was small and green — a windowsill of herbs, a habit of noticing, a slower relationship with time.

This blog is where I keep the notes: what I've let go of, what I've planted, and what paying attention has taught me. Nothing here is prescriptive. It's just one person's field guide to a lighter, more present life — offered in case any of it is useful to yours.

What you'll find here

Minimalism Notes on owning less — what I've let go of, what stayed, and the quiet math of enough.
Herbalism A beginner's windowsill: growing, drying, and brewing simple herbs, one forgiving plant at a time.
Living in the moment Small experiments in attention — leaving the phone behind, doing one thing, noticing the light.