Minimalism is not only about throwing out your spare socks
Why choose to write about minimalism? I think there is a lot of theoretical advice and examples of people who have thrown out their last pair of boxer shorts to embrace minimalism as a lifestyle, but not too many ideas on what this means in the real world. Being a practical person I struggle with the internet’s favourite ‘9 steps to becoming a minimalist’ bullet points format to solving all your problems.
My journey into minimalistic thinking started when I finally found myself admitting that I was in a rut. And as much as I hate writing that previous statement as it feels like I’m writing a self help ‘novel’, I do think this is where most people start to look for inspiration. I was overworked, overwhelmed and self-destructive.
So I started to look for inspiration:
Inspiration however come in many forms, from the dark side to the light, the world has a million ways to keep you busy enough to forget how misarable your instagram perfect life actually is. You can choose to do a hobby, you can choose to leave your spouse, or you can stop thinking the solution to everything is external, and take a look at yourself with a view towards minimalism.
Why take an inward view? Because it’s often not pretty when you realize you brought every single stationary accessory that the art supplier can think of, but you haven’t drawn anything in a long time. Or you come to grips with the obsession you have with the size of the house you live in so you don’t feel inadequate when you’re with your ‘so called friends’. You know something is wrong, you just haven’t found the right questions to ask to unpack and effectively break away from your external locust of control.
Enough of the heaviness, so let us switch gear to something practical. Something like a formula, that you can think of every now and then to help you align your thinking to your goal to become a minimalist. Not a ‘12 steps to enlightenment’ list, but rather an approach.
But before that we should take another quick side step and think about definition. What does being a minimalist actually mean? It means something different to everyone, but in my context I attached the most meaning to the following statement:
Minimalism is the endeavor to reduce and eliminate the things in your life that cause you stress.
Right, now that is a manta you can always go back to. Think about it, is throwing out all your duplicates going to reduce your stress in your life? Then do it! Is selling your ridiculously expensive car going to free up some cash and give yourself some space to breath? Then do it!
I do however advocate that becoming a minimalist requires you to put in the time. In the martial arts they don’t give you a black belt on your first day, or on the day you can pronounce all the fancy names. You train, you learn and you progress. Then finally when you have exceeded your own limitations a simple belt is awarded. And you, at that point, realise you were happy in the art, without needing a belt to show for it.
Remember that the beauty of art is that it is entirely subjective. You get to choose what you like and how you interpret it, and your journey should be the same.
Small steps done often. My advice if you’re starting out, write down the things that are stressing you out. Regardless of whether or not you can do anything about them.
