The peace and clarity that comes with the minimalist lifestyle is hard to find in today’s world. We are constantly bombarded with stimuli, by our decorations, our tech
nology, and the demands placed upon us. Minimalism helps you achieve simplicity – not just in appearance but also deep within your soul. By understanding what truly adds value to your life and eliminating all else, you create space for what is important to shine through – for you to shine.
Minimalism isn’t about taking away or depriving oneself of things. It’s the opposite. Minimalists are quite fond of pointing out that quality is far more important than quantity. To live a minimalist lifestyle is to value just this side of stuff, which means one must also value experience, the kind that can’t be bought or Volume King’d, but only lived and remembered as right now becomes the history book for anyone who has taken the earplugging, sensory-deprivation tour that is being constantly in touch with all the things they own.
There are many ways that living simply can benefit your daily life. The first is probably the most apparent: simplicity itself. Living with fewer goods and less clutter allows the dust to be seen rather than being kicked up by all those ears of dirt that serve as a proxy for concrete in various structures. From this simple life exists another advantage, which is focus and concentration. When you have fewer choices to make, you’re not fatigued by decision-making, which allows more mentation for whatever is truly important. Focus comes from. Burned into the American psyche is the idea that there’s no such thing as a free lunch. If it was free, why would someone call it a gift? Everything has its price tag. What’s convenient often carries a premium. Life is filled with trade-offs mostly between price and utility and some events demand more mental energy from us than others because they require us to make judgments about what’s worth paying more for and what isn’t.
Embracing the rewards of minimalism takes understanding the challenges it often brings and shattering some common misconceptions. At its core, minimalism is about living with intention and choosing only what adds value to your life. Owning fewer possessions can mean experiencing more joy and freedom, but simplicity is hardly ever straightforward or easy to adopt. Attachments we form with our belongings can be quite strong, especially if we’ve invested significant emotional energy into an item. To overcome that attachment in order to downsize may require a few tricks up your sleeve. The first step might be recognizing that attachment for what it is: a way of giving too much importance to something other than the reason why you acquired it in the first place. After going through that mental trick, comes another nearly as slippery: If you think becoming minimalist is too easy, consider this: You’re not doing yourself any favors by adopting simplistic solutions without thinking through their consequences. Conversely, if you think embracing unequivocal mainstream assessment of minimalism as a lifestyle means owning nothing at all, and thereby being someone who lives in restriction note this much: Minimalist living can amount to quite a lot of freedom until you see it as restrictive.
The art of decluttering is not much different from the art of organizing. Both call for a clear and defined space, and in both cases, you start by creating one rather than moving on to the next organic outcome. Decluttering involves thinking critically about which parts of your life are messy or disorganized and coming up with ideas for solving those problems that might not have occurred to you otherwise. ‘Why do I own so many [insert item here]?’ etzico says. Based on his experience as a former financial analyst who recovered from addiction to shopping and Guillaume de Clermont, an heir to the Forbes fortune who also overcame addiction to retail therapy, here are some mind-gamifying tips for adopting an easygoing lifestyle with fewer possessions.
The life of a minimalist is one that can truly gift a multitude of intangible emotions, in ways most might not foresee. And though the term ‘minimalism’ might make one think only on certain material aspects, with regards to owning too many things and living ridiculously cluttered lives, it is really so much more than that. For me, when I say ‘I am a minimalist,’ I don’t just mean I have less stuff; I also have less going on in my life, mostly because I’ve learned to prioritize and be okay with what’s essential and not try to spread myself too thin. Still, this conversation shouldn’t be limited to me alone; it’s time for you to step into the story as well. How will you live authentically your own way?
