Many people wish that they had the determination to be a minimalist but few actually choose to head down that road. They watch a documentary or read a blog about how freeing it is to live a minimalistic life, get hyped up, and then decide that they could never live like those select few capable of doing so. These people might even get as far as selling a bunch of their clothes or getting a smaller more fuel efficient car. But in the end, they get overwhelmed with the difficulty of being like the famous minimalists and unfortunately give up.
Hi, I’m Matthew, and that paragraph above is describing me. I watched a documentary about Minimalism, had a few too many discussions with my friends about it, and decided to jump on in.
By no means am I a true minimalist, I still have way too much stuff and am in the process of getting rid of a large portion of it. However, after getting rid of half the clothes in my closet, I realized that I am not cut out to play in the minimalistic big league. I am not able to get rid of everything I have and live on my own in a tiny house in the middle of nowhere. I can’t live completely off the grid without indoor plumbing or a car all while wearing only one pair of clothes.
Good thing that those things don’t make you a minimalist huh?
According to the gods of Minimalism themselves the definition of the word goes something like this.
“What is minimalism? If we had to sum it up in a single sentence, we would say, Minimalism is a tool to rid yourself of life’s excess in favor of focusing on what’s important—so you can find happiness, fulfillment, and freedom.” -theminimalists.com
Make Space
To be a minimalist you simply need to have a desire to make space in your life, to slow it down, make time to smell the roses if you will, and act on it. That can be in whatever capacity makes you comfortable. You could go all the way and move your family into a tiny home, each with one pair of clothes and a wooden stick to play with. If that seems to extreme, you can just give some old clothes to Goodwill. Both options are equally valid, depending on your capacity for change.
Be Willing To Sacrifice.
I’m not sure if you have heard this saying before but it is one of my favorites and I try my best to live by it. Every yes you say is a no to every other option. Saying yes to any form of minimalism means saying no to the clutter of life. Saying yes to a more fuel efficient car means saying no to a giant truck. Saying yes to organic food means saying no to fast food, and so on.
It’s Worth It.
At the end of the day, whatever you do to allow yourself more room to breathe, is beneficial to the soul. The less cluttered your life feels, the more energy you will have to pursue more important endeavors. Whether you realize it or not, your stuff draws energy out of you. Energy you could be using to work towards what everyone on planet earth is working towards. That one thing we all wish to posses, Contentment.