I just came across an article introducing the idea of minimalism. It says minimalism had its origins in the arts, but more recently, it has become representative of a lifestyle that aims to remove clutter from all facets of life. Minimalism is all about owning only what adds value and meaning to your life (as well as the lives of the people you care about) and removing the rest. It’s about removing the clutter and using your time and energy for the things that remain. We only have a certain amount of energy, time, and space in our lives. In order to make the most of it, we must be intentional about how we’re living each day.
This article also points out that you don’t need to get rid of your favorite collection—whether it’s books, shoes, or music. Minimalism doesn’t have to look like white-walled, modern and sparse homes you’ve probably seen in magazines and videos, which is a common minimalism mistake.
Yes. For years I slept on a mattress on the floor. I was very much into it.
Nowadays I have my comforts but I just got into an amazon Kindle. All my books are now ebooks. I don’t want the clutter of having physical copies to move around. I’m into it but I do have hobbie collections and do have some things I continue to have…
But. I love minimalism. The less clutter in my life that better. I have a good computer. Some good cricket gear and I survive on the three shoes concept…your life shouldn’t have more than three pairs of shoes. …I have 3…
One set of dress shoes. One set of casual joggers. One set of cricket spikes…
Same to me. I don’t like the clutter of physical books either. When I buy books I choose digital copies as much as I can. However This Minimalism teaching is useful to me because I tended to accumulate clothes over the past five years. I need to be cautious about my clothes-buying behavior. It’s not just about saving money, it’s more about living a disciplined life.
I own things, but got rid of most of possessions 5 years ago to move into the board & care. I like having “things” but it’s just not practical in my living situation.
Over my lifetime I accumulated quite a lot of stuff: books, CD’s, videos, furniture, cooking equipment, etc. and just tons of miscellaneous possessions. I ended up having to sell some of them and giving away or throwing away the rest. I see the beauty of not collecting possessions and now I’m happy enough to live sparsely where I mainly only have clothes and a few odds and ends.
But tbh, I loved all my books, and all my other stuff, it was hard to give them away. For the past 20 years I’ve lived in apartments or rented rooms but I had enough stuff to fill a small house.
And sometimes, even recently, I’m 59 and I look around, and after all my decades of living, all my possessions fit in a small bedroom. I was so used to filling up storage lockers, or attics or family members garages with a ton of stuff and now this is how I ended up.
My roommate in the board & care was a minimalist. HIs reason for not having material possessions was that he didn’t want any responsibilities. So he didn’t want a car or lots of clothes or anything. I saw him get by on nothing and tbh, it didn’t look appealing.
So to sum it up, I can like having stuff but I can also see the beauty of being a minimalist.
When it comes to physical posessions I am somewhere inbetween. For instance I have a huge collection of DVD’s, but just the other day I had a look through it, and I think I won’t ever see many of them again. I could probably give away half of it. On the other hand I have bought most of my furniture and clothes second hand.
I am just now discovering mental minimalism. That is basically to stay in touch with yourself and focus on your own life instead of letting things distract you. For the last week I have not watched tv or videos on the web, or used the internet for surfing, only useful stuff like this forum and other necessities. I don’t know how long I will keep it going, but for now I don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything, I rather feel that I am able to be present in the real world. This was how people lived before tv became mainstream. All people who ever lived before the 1950’s lived this way.
I read Walden by Henry David Thoreau and it was meaningful to me. A cabin the woods would be pretty cool but living in 500 sq ft would be kind of hard.