Skip to main content

Minimalism - Is it worth it?

"Things you own end up owning you" - Fight Club
__________________________________________

Minimalism - A buzzword which one hears often, seldom understands and rarely follow. But many people (including me) have it as a part of their wishful thinking.

 Different people have different interpretation of minimalism. For some it is about things, for some it is about the things they own (or not own) For some this includes non-things too (for instance, number of people one interacts with in day to day life). For others it may be about prioritizing experiences over things. For some it may be about partially automating a part of their lives.

 The above interpretations may not be mutually exclusive. Nor they need be one of them or just one of them - there are many more interpretations & combinations of interpretations possible. But one underlying thing is the need to de-clutter. More so, if one tends not to be too attached to things.

 How can minimalism be helpful? Here is my take in few bullet points!
  • Less clutter at home. Easier to find things. More space.
  • More the things you have, more the things you need to maintain. This may not be good for your money or energy. 
  • Less expenses, especially in maintenance & storage costs.You may need an almirah less to store your stuff. More so, if you have stuff that you haven't used for ages and unlikely to do so in future. 
  • More the things you don't need, more the things you won't buy. For example, if you decide not to wear a watch, you won't feel the need to buy a watch.
  • More space - physically & mentally to do the things you love. 
  • Health benefits, since you may spend less time fretting about unnecessary things & focus more on things that matter.
  • Less need for external validation by showing off things. 
  • Virtuous cycle of not feeling the need to compare yourself with others, benchmarked by things you own.
  • Being content with less stuff may eventually come naturally to you. And isn't contentment a great state of mind to aspire for?

Despite seemingly several benefits, minimalism is often difficult to follow because we usually  love accumulating things - partly due to love of things, partly due to love of showing off things and partly due to - well, it has always been this way.

What do you think? 


 (Disclaimer - Despite my affinity for minimalism, I am still struggling to follow it & hopefully, should be able to traverse a part of this journey over next decade!)

 ___

 You can also check this out on BeingFinwise
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Shop @ Amazon

Popular posts from this blog

The Shrill Voice

There was a shrill voice within, Longing to see the light With each passing moment It grew louder and bright. It didn't stay there for long As louder became its screams, Sounds of half-fulfilled wishes And long abandoned dreams. And then I asked those troubling voices What is your wish and what do you want? It spoke, and I replied -Y our wishes are unreasonable, And asking something that I can't.
Post a Comment
Read more

Downhill

That was the last of the drink left, and he gulped it down. They had finished it all. Had there been more booze, they would have gulped it too. It was around 3 in night, but then there was still a lot left in the night. The lights in the city below had faded along ago but it still looked beautiful. After all, the beauty of the city was not dependent on light. And from this place, located uphill somewhere amidst wilderness, human settlement was the last thing that could have come to their mind. But in the end, that was where they all had to go to. They walked back to their cars and planned to head back to their hotel, which was some 20 km away at Shimla. They were a group of 7 people - all college friends out on a trip to Shimla to celebrate the last extended weekend before getting out of the B-School. One of the guys had a car and all crammed into it and headed for the vacation. The owner of the car, Chandru as the fondly called him was too drunk to drive. But he had often been too...
4 comments
Read more

The road to nowhere

Everything seems to be at crossroads ... but I dunno where r these roads heading towards. I am moving on with the traffic, knowing that others are going toward somewhere, where I don't want to go ... yet I am trying to be in sync with it I wish to to stop my car and see if I am headed in right direction, but I don't have guts to do so on an expressway where everyone is speeding by I am just hoping that my car doesn't run out of fuel or break down while on a way I am scared to take an U turn, but am scared that I would be knocked down by a speeding vehicle I am scared to drive slowly, because I am scared to be left behind I am bound by the rules of the game, I wish to break them but I dare not do it on this expressway Something is wrong, maybe that's obvious ... but the obvious is often not too obvious. The problem is that I dunno what really the problem is !!!
Post a Comment
Read more

The parrot

"You shall have your freedom", Said the generous master, As he opened the cage. The parrot was delighted, As he suppressed his joy, And controlled his rage, For so long he had wished, To be free and be Up in the sky. At last his chance had come, And towards his destiny, He shall fly. And then the realization dawned, That his wings were clipped, How shall now he even try?
4 comments
Read more

DARK

It was going to be a very short night. Maybe just couple of hours of sleep. Next day had few presentations, few project submissions and exams nearing. He don't care much, but nevertheless he had to pass. He was worried about that. And more so, as he had spent last few hours doing nothing except boozing. But for next few hours he had a more important task in had. That was to catch on with some sleep. Suddenly a voice woke him up. It was completely dark. Probably a power failure. Damn! His heater was not working. He was trying to sleep when suddenly that man covered all in black woke him up. He had probably left his door open. He did not introduce himself, but for no reason the two started some conversation. "What are you doing here?" The stranger asked Seems he has been caught unawares. Someone from outside world knew that he was doing nothing in the institute apart from just whiling away time boozing, gambling with few friends, sleeping, watching useless stuff on computer...
3 comments
Read more