One of the core aspects to the minimalist philosophy is not having too many possessions. For me, it felt great to move out of home and into a new college dorm, to have almost nothing with me other than a few clothes and my laptop to study on. Letting go of your possessions is a great feeling, but it’s not for everyone. When you move into a furnished room, it’s kind of nice to be able to just move in and get to work. I think it’s important to let go of the idea that you need to be always minimal, and instead focus on what you love, and what makes you happy. If those things happen to be minimalist, then great. But if you need a sandwich maker, then get one.
My favorite part about minimalism is the freedom it gives you and the peace it brings you. I recommend trying to find your own way in the world of minimalism. Maybe you’ll go all the way, maybe you won’t. Either way, I think everyone can benefit from the idea of less stuff, less stress, and more time for what really matters.
I often have thoughts and worries about people stealing my laptop when I leave it in the library during a study session. And that’s one of the few possessions that I own! I can’t imagine how stressful it would be to have a full house full of things that you own!
A cabin
A common misconception about minimalism is that it must mean you live in a miniscule apartment in the city, have only a few clothes, and hardly ever eat. While this can be the case for some, it doesn’t have to be. Many people have a beautiful fantasy of living on a huge empty acre block of land, out in the woods, with a house full of only the essentials. Smoke curls out of the chimney, and the smell of dinner is in the air. You hang up your one pair of shoes, on the one pair of shoe hooks, and sit down, feeling cozy. Doesn’t that sound amazing? And doesn’t it sound totally stress free? I’m sure reality is slightly different, but not by that much.
Minimal Security
Sometimes I’m worried about burglars breaking into my dorm, but with the amount of people here, it’s likely that I would be completely safe. However, if I were to end up in my dream cabin, out in the woods, I would be worried that I’d be on my own. I immediately started to mentally accumulate things to protect myself, such as iron bars on the windows, and a safe room, even a camera security system and a monthly subscription to a monitoring security guard service. Down and down I went into a mental spiral of additional needs. But then I decided that there’s no-one out there in the sticks, and so all I really need is to know if someone is coming up the (I imagine) long curving driveway from the main road. In which case, a simple and effective driveway detector would suffice. So there is a minimalist path out of any weird and terrible mental rabbit hole.
Having your possessions stolen is only one source of stress among many in this crazy world. One other way that having less stuff reduces stress is by eliminating financial stress. If you have a smaller house or apartment, you have less of a mortgage. That’s probably the single biggest change you can make, right there. On a smaller scale, eating the same few meals that are highly nutritious, fast to prepare, and are enjoyable, means that you have only a few ingredients to buy (and you can buy them in bulk to save money) and you don’t have to decide what to have for dinner. Similarly, you have just one big favorite pot / pan to wash, instead of an avocado peeler, salad spinner, melon-baller, bread machine, cake mixer, etc etc. There’s freedom and calm in simplifying down to the few bare essentials.
Culling Clothing
Another way to be minimalist is by reducing your clothing spend. It feels great to get rid of clothing you don’t need. If you immediately feel “Actually, I don’t have enough clothes!” Well, reconsider. I’m not sure how many clothes I actually, really truly need. When I was in high school my wardrobe was basically just jeans and t-shirts, and I’ve kept that up even though I’m now in college. I’m sure that I could eliminate a lot of my clothes, and it would be a lot easier to decide what to wear in the morning. Perhaps I’ll start now.
I’m not a big fan of spending a lot of time and money on clothes, partly because I don’t like spending a lot of time and money on anything (as you might suspect from someone writing on a minimalist blog!) But I do like wearing clothes that are nice. I really like wearing dresses, not because I like the way they look, mainly because they are comfortable. I’m not convinced that my aversion to buying expensive clothes is a good enough reason to go around looking like a bum all the time though. I don’t have to wear designer clothes, but I don’t want to look like I just rolled out of bed either. It’s a balance, like most things.
Regardless, the fact is, if you have a smaller wardrobe, you don’t have to spend as much on clothes. Same applies to your car (if you even have one!). On and on it goes, I’m sure you can pick the trend here.
Remember
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that it’s a bad thing to have nice things. It’s great to have nice things! But if you’re trying to cut back on spending, then less clothes means less spending. Less shopping means less stress about making money, which means less work, which means less stress. And all of that means: more time to be happy.
