Minimalism
I first heard about minimalism through a podcast on self-improvement. This was not very long ago. I was not aware of it then. But sooner I kept encountering this term frequently at other places and my curiosity grew with each occurrence. What was minimalism and why was everyone talking about it? I looked it upon on the internet and as I read personal blogs and books and watched countless videos on this topic, I grew more inspired and keen to adopt it in my life. What I absorbed through these went on to transform me and I feel grateful to have come across that one podcast that changed it all.
Having multiple choices does not always lead to having a better quality of life. There are several instances to elaborate on this. Today we have access to multiple resources through the internet. We no longer need to visit libraries and search through the limited content. But today we notice that as more and more knowledge is easily available, the attention spans are getting shorter and focusing is becoming a real challenge. I always prefer visiting stores that have fewer choices to select from and provide guaranteed quality. It's easier, hassle-free, and also time-saving. This is what minimalism is all about. It's about having only what one needs and disposing of all that one doesn't. Less is always more.
Some extreme minimalists take it to the next level. They sustain on so few items in their possession which if need be could be packed into a backpack and they could get moving to maybe a new city within no time. These kinds spend much of their time and money in gaining experiences rather than in acquiring materialistic means. They live consciously and in tune with their real needs and are not influenced by what the world wants to make out of them.
Though I would like to have the flexibility to pack up all my belongings into a backpack in a jiffy and go wherever I wanted to, whenever I wish to, but under my current circumstances, that's not a possibility for me. I like owning some nice furniture, gadgets, and other things that I feed on daily, which make me happy. I will never be able to be an extreme minimalist but if I try I can become what I call is a minimum minimalist. It is a gradual and minimalist approach to become a minimalist. And it's a term coined by me. There is no fixed set of rules that defines what a minimalist should look like. The idea is that one only owns what they need, and gets rid of the rest.
Today we have instant access to thousands of products from across the world. Everyone is trying to convince you to buy something that you probably do not need. It's an age of maximalism where shopping is not a need but it is an activity that we do when we get bored, to uplift our mood, a hobby, to hang out with friends, and so on. We buy because we can.
Once we realize this, we start to notice the great amount of time that goes into acquiring things, maintaining them, storing them, and so on. Also, things beget things. Today you buy a car, tomorrow you will need insurance to protect it, then you will need seat covers, car wax, car perfume, and so on. As our expenses increase so does the need to earn more. We end up working hard and long hours in our respective professions aiming for a promotion or a raise or any such similar financial objective. This further takes away the limited time we have in hand which could have been spent on things that we cared for.
Just how reserving physical space at home for storing unnecessary things in your house makes for lesser space available for the things that are necessary, sparing time for work that is undesired will only reduce the time you have for important ones.
In China, few highly skilled youngsters, frustrated with their busy, stressful, high-paying jobs, are now quitting and shifting to rural regions with lower living costs and are willing to settle for a simpler life. This concept is called ' lying flat'. The Chinese government is highly discouraging of this trend as it dampens the country's economic growth and it closely follows the social media accounts of such followers and bars them from posting such influential content. Slowly people around the world are growing aware of the bane of choices they have. It's not an easy choice to decide to be a minimalist. It needs to come from within and is closely related to one's values and mission in life. Warren Buffett, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg are examples of men who had it all but still chose to live with less.
The concept of minimalism can be extended to just about anything. You can have a minimalist thinking style or food choices, a minimalist to-do list, a minimalist celebration, or a vacation. It takes time to transition to such a lifestyle and it's a slow process, one step at a time.
Less is always more.
Bonus tips to live a minimalist life:
- Keep things that you need- useful, beautiful of makes you happy
- Discard anything that has not been used in the last three years
- Wait for a month before buying something big
- Do not own more than one piece of a particular item
- Renting over owning
- Focus on quality than quantity
- Do it one shelf at a time
- Buy experiences
- Stop consuming, start creating
- Use digital space
Bonus Resources to read: Goodbye things by Fumio Sasaki
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