Minimalism has been a trend for several years recently. The rise of Maria Kondo’s KonMari and her simplest lifestyle may be one of the reasons. But if we want to dig more, there are actually a few deeper motives behind the minimalist lifestyle. Yeah, according to the Minimalist Academy site, people suddenly started to apply minimalism in their life probably due to the “side effect” of the negative aspects of modern society and the damage us, humans, have made to the environment.
But, actually, what is minimalism?
Terminologically, minimalism means a style of art, music, or design that uses very simple ideas or a very small number of simple elements. This is why this lexicon is usually linked with music and arts. But to talk minimalism as a lifestyle, as the Minimalist Academy has put, is to lose an attachment to material items and aim to live without unnecessary junk holding one’s back. Thus, minimalism is living with less.
Minimalism key points
Elbow Room by MakeSpace has published eight easy ways to become a minimalist, and this article would like to put down some key points of living a minimalist way.
- Set your definition of minimalism. Some define minimalism as owning less items, while others define it as minimize their participation in this world, one of which is by living in a smaller house. Both can be said as a minimalism lifestyle, so does your choice. So, first thing first is set your definition of minimalism, for each person has a slightly different take on it.
- Start doing one thing. Once you’ve decided what your minimalist is, start doing one thing to make it work. You may start with cleaning your things. Yeah, you may or may not realize it but we tend to ‘save’ some trash in our home: whether the unused boxes of package we ordered last year, untouched old clothes, or old belongings we have since elementary school. Unconsciously, these “little” things may fill up some space in your property. Hence, throwing away all of these is a very good start. A to-do list can also help you to get things organized.
- Organize by category. KonMari method highlights category as one of its golden rules of minimalism lifestyle. Yeah, organizing items by categories—not locations—will make you see how many duplicates you might have. Then when this actually happens, you’ll likely start to toss identical yet unimportant things and you’ll reach a minimalist lifestyle.
So, are you ready to buckle up and go for minimalism? Hope the ways to apply minimalism above work best for you! (AP)
