We live in a world that idolizes celebrities. They are photographed for magazines, interviewed on the radio, and recorded for television. Their lives are held up as the golden standard and are envied by many. People who live minimalist lives are not championed by the media in the same way. They don‘t fit into the consumerist culture that is promoted by corporations and politicians. Yet, they live a life that is attractive and inviting. While most people are chasing after success, glamour, and fame, minimalism calls out to us with a smaller, quieter, calmer voice. It invites us to slow down, consume less, but enjoy more. And when we meet someone living a simplified life, we often recognize that we have been chasing after the wrong things all along.
What is Minimalism?
This article is so good that I had to share it. I could quote from it in various places, and each one would be good. But the gist of the piece is the fundamentally countercultural nature of the minimalist lifestyle. To be a minimalist is to be different from the herd. Being a minimalist is having a different set of values than the ones that dominate our current society.
The problem with society is that it values the counterfeit. I have always had certain values in my life such that I have eschewed the credit card and the acquisitive lifestyle. I just find it refreshing that people are learning what I have always known. Expensive stuff bought on a credit card is not true wealth. It seems that everyone is desperate to live the lives they see on television, but television is make believe.
I also enjoyed this bit:
A minimalist life is completely achievable. My family stands as living proof. We were just your typical family of four living in the suburbs accumulating as much stuff as our income and credit cards would allow. Then, we found minimalism. We have embraced an intentional lifestyle of living with less and will never go back to the way life was before. And we stand as living proof that minimalism is completely achievable (and unique) to anyone who seeks it.
The minimalist lifestyle is enviable, but I have to laugh when people claim that they can't do it. That makes no sense to me. I could understand someone saying they can't become a bodybuilder because they don't have the time or the discipline. I can understand someone saying they can't live in a mansion because they are too poor to afford one. But minimalism is just getting rid of stuff and simplifying. How hard is it to stop buying stuff? How hard is it to get rid of stuff that doesn't matter anyway?
What makes minimalism difficult for people to embrace is the mental programming they are living with. They can't let this shit go. They are programmed to live in a certain way that makes no sense, but they are going to stick with it. It doesn't faze me because I don't really care how other people live or spend the money they don't have. I care when people in politics say that I need to bail them out. Fuck that.
The problem is that people are fed one version of the good life which involves the accumulation of stuff while not considering that the good life is not about owning stuff but doing stuff. Speaking from personal experience, I live very simply in terms of the material, but I am always doing something in the way of work, activity, etc. I do not feel that my life is diminished because I choose not to own a bunch of shit. I feel free to do more things because I don't have all this stuff weighing me down.
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