The Asian Read Team
Let us imagine, take it seriously! Imagine, a blank wall, empty room, curtain-less window, furniture-less floors, one spoon, one bowl, one fork, boring and mundane life, Now, throw this imagination out of the same imaginative window, this is not minimalism! It seems like it but it’s not. Precisely, minimalism is intentionally and consciously living with what has most value to us or what is necessary and then, eliminating everything that distracts us from the above.
In today’s fast pacing lifestyle we are taught to measure success through, the number of possessions we accumulate in a lifetime, but when we come to it, what really separates a great life from a good life is its simplicity, the values one rose to and the depth of one’s life. We humans are emotional beings and more than often we tend to give too much meaning to materialistic things while forsaking health, relationships, passions and not to forget, personal growth.
Do we realize, how much time can be saved from not needing to maintain and organize endless list of not-so-necessary goods we surround ourselves with, therefore it becomes all the more important to understand Minimalism that is all about discovering freedom, freedom from worrying and being overwhelmed about what all there is, to lose. It allows us to become conscious and deliberate about our decisions via clearing the noise
and focusing on inner peace.
Now that we are clear about the ‘why’ to minimalism, lets understand the ‘how’ to it. But first, a disclaimer for the reader, minimalism doesn’t come with a set of rules, therefore, you have the freedom to create your own rules and define your simplicity as your ‘necessary’ can be different from someone else’s ‘necessary’. Now, shall we?
DECLUTTER
It is truly simple, as it boils down to one question DO I REALLY NEED THIS? And you will have the answer, so, go ahead! Have a sturdy mindset and pick an area of your home that you’re willing to declutter. Some ideas that might help in the process can be, for one, dividing the items into three simple piles, : Need, Donate, Dispose to gain clarity as to what do you really
need and there you go! for second, you can simply discard the duplicates, say, similar products or clothes, and eventually you will end up with smaller and simply organized space.
HABITS
Minimalism resonates with the right kind of habits that we create and adopt, the habits that can save us from the time and energy being wasted, on trivial belongings with no meaning to us. Let’s understand few illustrations about right habits, one being, consuming less, don’t
recreate a pile you just cleared, ask yourself the same question do I need it? Is it really of any value to me? two, make simpler meals, remember simple doesn’t have to be boring, you can get creative with the meal prep while being mindful of intake , three, minimalism isn’t an end goal it’s an ongoing process, so, re-do the list of your possessions, maybe, at the end of every month, in order to keep it simple!
Now, as already agreed, there are no real set of rules to the philosophy, however it is vital to understand that minimalism is not limited to food or clothes or other trivial possessions, rather it extends to whole lifestyle and way of existing, it may seem too much work in beginning but one can start always small. It is not about having less but about making room for what matters and being mindful with your spending rather than being mindlessly frugal.
Lastly, this article is not about talking you out of living a life, owning a dream car, having a dream career, eating a cup of ice-cream or for that matter anything that is of value to you; it is about making you aware of the philosophy of minimalism that will allow you to have ample amount of time and a ton of savings to actually being able to achieve all that you aim
for even if it is a delicious cup of ice cream while acknowledging that less is better!
