Many goals or accomplishments are celebrated at the end. I remember my prom, getting my first job, getting married and I’m sure that the day my kid steps into this world will be cause for celebration. All of these are celebrated in part because they mean the end of a journey, the start of a new one, etc.
Minimalism Is Not A Destination
From my point of view, minimalism, or most other lifestyles that you could think of are very different. I don’t think any of us will ever reach a point where we’ve “achieved” minimalism. It’s not as if it was a some kind of science that you work on and eventually get some kind of certificate for passing or achieving a certain level of success.
I feel like I could always work on different aspects of my minimalist philsophy. It could be about how much stuff I own, what is truly necessary in my life, how simple I’ve made things in my life, etc. But I could also consider the types of businesses and friends that I have and how some of them might end up making my life more complicated than it really needs to be. It could be about being able to travel more lightly, about diminishing my environment impact or even reducing the stress in my life.
Some Milestones Could Exist
Many feel like achieving goals or milestones can help and in that way, being able to keep the number of posessions under a certain number can certainly be helpful. So can being able to travel around the world with as small of a suitcase or bag as possible.
It’s About The Journey
For me, it’s more about feeling like I’m improving my lifestyle. There will certainly be setbacks if you consider only the number of items that I own (such as having a kid coming in our lives). Another big aspect is that minimalism is a lifestyle and can be expressed in different ways for each one of us. For some, it means not owning a home but renting it for example. Those definitions will certainly change over time making it even more difficult to always target some kind of lifestyle and feel like I’ve accomplished my mission and became a true minimalist once I reach that point…
What about you? Is minimalism more of a journey or destination?
