Freezing to death in Russian winter because you are a stubborn minimalist who spent all of his life in just a pair of sandals is not what minimalism is all about. It is not about how aesthetically pleasing those modern and sleek minimalist architectural designs from all over the world looks like either. If there is one definition for minimalism, what would that be?
Whatever suits your lifestyle. What you can live with and not about what you cannot live without. If you can weather the storm in a pair of sandals or die even if you are in your tall winter boots. It could be a ‘rich people’s trend or a poor person’s survival. However you experience it. It does not forget to ground and humble you, to get you on your knees and to beg for a way out or make it your mission to live with less.
Creation is a minimalist
Nature created abundance. When man tried to recreate, it became an addiction. When humanity started manufacturing multiples of same thing in mass production or making something available in larger quantity, that was the start of ‘more’ culture. When everything became affordable, the hoarding started. Now if we see a piece different from the rest of the batch, we call it ‘faulty’ and not ‘original’.
Create ‘mental’ space
Decluttering physical possessions is one thing. Clearing digital clutter is another. A true minimalist is the one who has very little clutter inside his head. Mental space needs multiple revisions because thoughts collect more frequently than things on the physical dimension. The less you upload to your brain, the more downloads you receive from your higher consciousness to guide you invariably.
‘Imaginary’ boundary
You could be a minimalist who sleeps in a car and own a hundred books. We can have fifty plants and still call ourselves a minimalist. Because that’s all you own. Few years ago, our ancestors owned less because that is all that they had. Now you have choices to make and decide on the degree of your engagement with minimalism. Be it a minimalist who practices polygamy or a maximalist who eats only one meal a day.
Wash your ‘dirty hands’ first
When we first start this journey, it is so tempting to go and declutter everything your family members have because it is easy to impose our values on others to reinforce our conviction. It is OK if they want to start slow or not start at all. You might have succeeded in being a minimalist but have failed to demonstrate kindness and tolerance when it was needed the most. It is their journey too. Hijacking is strictly prohibited.
Takeaway
When we started minimalism, we instantly became furniture free and fell in love with that lifestyle. We did not own a single piece of furniture in our home and we felt calm and peaceful with that spaciousness. After embracing this kind of living for few years, there came a few practical difficulties that we had to find more of a middle ground to furniture free minimalism and our lifestyle. We are still minimalists in our own way. We do not own 5 cars and 10 watches. But we got a bed to sleep and a chair to sit.
"Owning more than what you need bribes your soul to stay in the accumulation game a little longer"