If you ask me what minimalism is really about, I would say that it's the altering of values - enter the small doors of minimalism and come out on the other side with big ideas.
In my community of minimalists, there are really wealthy people who work at stock brokerage firms, there are people who are unemployed, but it doesn't seem to matter. We're all really good friends, and we get along really well. It's a very varied and diverse community.
Holding on to things from the past is the same as clinging to an image of yourself in the past. If you're the least bit interested in changing anything about yourself, I suggest you be brave and start letting things go.
Living with only the bare essentials has not only provided superficial benefits such as the pleasure of a tidy room or the simple ease of cleaning, it has also led to a more fundamental shift. It's given me a chance to think about what it really means to be happy.
Minimalism had to be born, not out of a mere spur-of-the-moment idea or yearning for a new lifestyle, but from an earnest desire and fervent need to rethink our lives.
The important thing is not the measurement of how many or few things you have, but your own state of mind and how you feel about the things you have and don't have.
I wasn't always a minimalist. I used to buy a lot of things, believing that all those possessions would increase my self-worth and lead to a happier life. I loved collecting a lot of useless stuff, and I couldn't throw anything away.
I think that 'minimalist' is a useful label for other people to identify me, but from my standpoint, I doesn't necessarily have an identity as that.
We think we can't become a minimalist until our lives have settled down. But it's actually the other way around; we won't be able to settle down until we're living a minimalist life.
Whether we live alone or with other people, few acknowledge the presence of another roommate. This roommate is named 'Things' and the space that 'Things' occupies is typically a lot larger than the space people have for themselves.
I enjoy challenging myself to try new things, going outdoors, scuba diving, running a marathon. Anything that I have never done before, I enjoy trying it out.
Some of you may think that I'm a loser: an unmarried adult with not much money. The old me would have been way too embarrassed to admit all this. I was filled with useless pride. But I honestly don't care about things like that any . The reason is very simple: I'm perfectly happy just as I am.
