When I first heard the word “minimalism” being buzzed around, I immediately had thoughts having to get rid of everything I owned with nothing in my wardrobe save for 5 pieces of clothing and not being able to justify having really nice shoes or purses.
I was imagining a very bare, stark, lifeless sort of existence.
When I finally embraced minimalism, I discovered it was more of a journey to achieve a certain sense of balance to where you feel comfortable.
Minimalism isn’t about seeing who can get rid of the most stuff, or who can live with the least amount of money and things.
I certainly couldn’t feel comfortable living with absolutely nothing.
But if you don’t feel comfortable owning so many items, then you can slowly pick and choose until you’ve pared down to where you feel satisfied and happy with what you own.
There’s no need to go crazy and start throwing everything out the window in an effort to brand yourself a minimalist.
You’re just going to end up wasting money by having to re-purchase the items you tossed, forgetting that you actually DO use those skis in the winter.
Or that you need 30 pieces of underwear because you don’t like to do laundry often but you like to change a lot (is that just me?)
It’s about achieving what feels right for you and your lifestyle.
Kevin Martin Doyle
on Nov 18th, 2009
@ 4:29 pm:
Thanks for a terrific post. This sentence really jumped out at me: “When I finally embraced minimalism, I discovered it was more of a journey to achieve a certain sense of balance to where you feel comfortable.”
I think so often we strive to get something “right,” whatever that means. To me, minimalism is different because there is no right way to do it. It is, as you said, a journey. We all move at different speeds in different ways. The important thing is that we begin the journey. Of course, that is often the hardest part!
Less Really is More
on Nov 19th, 2009
@ 9:01 am:
[...] me question consumerism and objectively consider my wants. Minimalism is about balancing needs and comfort. It’s not about asceticism and everyone’s journey is [...]
Jean
on Nov 29th, 2009
@ 7:42 pm:
Excellent! You really get it. Many years ago, early days of online discussion forums, I made reference to a theory read about in the ’70′s regarding “100 things.” I later posted about it a forum five or six years ago, and observed the post take on a “who can dwindle down their possessions to the least common denominator” sort of competition. Then a blog, or two surfaced about “100 Things.”
The original idea and questioned posed were all about balance, about what each individual’s sense of “enough” could be, as opposed to the “one-size-fits-all.” The same frenzy appears to be evolving from the buzzword, “minimalist.”
You also to appear to be the kind of person who doesn’t just preach gratitude but actually demonstrates it. Thanks for this great post; I found it to be welcome and refreshing.
everydayminimalist
on Dec 1st, 2009
@ 7:14 am:
Wow, thank you so much for the kind comment Jean!