I came across an article on Yahoo written by Jenna Goudreau about The Minimalists: Joshua Fields Milburn and Ryan Nicodemus. They’re two guys in their thirties that ditched the rat race, found themselves and live meaningful lives through a simpler lifestyle known as Minimalism. Minimalism, what's that? Minimalism is a trend of the “less is more” concept. Basically the idea of having less stuff allows you to focus more energy on what matters – relationships, passions, bettering yourself and shed material items you don't need. As Joshua of “The Minimalsists” puts it “You are not your khakis.” This rings true, so true. Think about who you are and what represents you, is it your stuff? Doubtful. I’ve found that over the years I’ve collected items and kept things “just in case”, yet the majority of those items I haven’t touched in years and in some cases purchased a newer model to replace what’s been collecting dust. If you really think about it you’ll understand that there’s no point in keeping unnecessary items. Keep what’s useful, not what’s useless.
After reading the article I was very intrigued by the idea of living a simpler life with more meaning. I knew this article only grazed the surface of what these two guys had to offer, so I decided to check out their website TheMinimalists.com and dig around for more information. They’re site is very informative and full of great articles relating to their personal experiences and the journey they’ve taken to get where they are today. While it certainly hasn’t been easy for them, it’s paid off in the long run. I read article after article and especially enjoyed their 21 Days to Minimalism journey. Very inspiring.
Light Bulb. I realized how much stuff I have that has little meaning to who I am as a person. Sure I like Comic Books, Sports and fancy gadgets, but do I really need all these things? The answer is no, but I also can’t rid myself of all my pleasures. The goal here is to find a great balance and simplify my life so I don’t buy the newest gadget or the latest funny book or the latest Lebron James jersey, unless I really feel I need it. I'll opt to buy a quality item that will last for years to come and budget myself better. Instead of running out to the comic store to pick up the latest funny book each week I'll limit my purchases to once a month in digital format. Or I'll consider checking out books from the local library. This way I'll save money, space and still enjoy a great read. So before you even consider buying the newest iPhone, ask yourself, “Do I need this?” The answer 95% of the time is going to be no.
Decision. After researching anything one has to decide whether it’s for them or not. One might assume that to live a minimalistic lifestyle it would be that of a nomad. A life where you get rid of 95% of your possessions, move to a forest and live off of the land. If that’s what you want to do, enjoy, but that’s not for me. I enjoy the modern age and life’s pleasures too much. Minimalism can work in any lifestyle if you want it to. It can be a subtle change to how you approach certain aspects of your life, a full makeover, or anything in between. How you approach and apply it, is entirely up to you. I decided it was something I wanted to try. Will you?
Application and the beginning. I started applying the minimalistic lifestyle a couple days ago by digging through my closet and filling up a box of items that I'm going to donate. I must say it felt great knowing that I would shed items I don't need and help someone less fortunate. With that said, picking out items I didn’t want was easy, generally speaking. The hard part will be ditching items I actually care about or have an attachment to. Here's what I'm going to do to help me through this. While sifting through my belongings, I'm going to create four piles that are separated into: Trash, Donate, Sell and Keep. Obviously, the largest heap after round one is going to be the keep pile because let's be honest, it’s hard to get rid of things. I know the more I continue to do this, the easier it will become. Looking at the big picture I can see this is going to be well worth the effort I put into it.
Think about this. Instead of displaying collectibles around your home to collect dust you could save that money and take a vacation. While the collectibles might give you immediate satisfaction, you’ll find that it fades. If you take a vacation those memories will last a lifetime and if you take pictures you can always revisit the fun times you had.
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