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Minimalism is both beautiful and a little scary. As you slowly start to remove the unimportant things from your life, you are left with a lot more free time and the things that really matter to you. That is part of the beauty of minimalism. By removing many of the daily distractions from life, you are left with more silence to start thinking about what really matters, and that can be scary.
I am sure that most of us want to live lives that are meaningful. Lives in which we spend the majority of our time creating wonderful memories together with our loves ones. Lives in which we work towards pursuing our life’s purpose, whatever that might be. However, as the days, months, and years go by we find ourselves slipping away from what is important. We let distractions get in the way, and before we know it large chunks of our lives are gone. Coming to a place where we realize this is hard. At least it was for me.
Minimalism Gives You More Time
As I started my journey towards minimalism by removing both physical and digital things from my life, I gained back time. As you get rid of stuff that you no longer need or want, your home will become more and more simplified. As this process continues you will find that you spend less time cleaning and maintaining your things, simply because you have less things to care for. Cleaning your house also becomes easier.
I no longer have to lift up tons of items so I can dust. I don’t have to vacuum both my floors and floor mats. I got rid of all the floor mats because they attracted dust and created extra work, as I needed to wash them and vacuum under them from time to time. It’s not that I am too lazy to do this, but I found the floor mats weren’t something I really enjoyed anyways so why bother with the extra work? Now I just have wooden flooring throughout my house which is easy to vacuum. I bought furniture that is simple and slightly raised off the floor. This makes it easy to vacuum under these pieces.
I also decided to simplify my bedding. Before I used to have lots of pillows on my bed, a full sheet set, a blanket, a comforter, and a bed skirt. Now I have only 2 pillows, 1 fitted sheet, and one blanket which is inside a duvett cover. Making my bed is simple now and takes no time. It is also easier to use as I don’t have to move tons of pillows off the bed before I can actually jump in and go to sleep. I also save money as I no longer need to make a trip to the dry cleaners with my comforter when it needs washing. A duvett cover is simple to remove and wash.
This is a picture of my bed.
Around the same time that I started to declutter my physical items, I also started to be mindful of the amount of technology I was using. It wasn’t because I was using technology too much, but because I was afraid I might start. How many times have you been out to eat at a restaurant only to observe that many of the patrons there are so absorbed in their phones that they are hardly speaking to others in their company? Or instead of having a friend or family member call you or stop by on your birthday, they post a happy birthday message on your Facebook page.
Sadly, behavior of this sort is becoming more of a norm than an exception, and I knew I didn’t want to be a person who contributed to this new norm. Therefore, I decided to give some serious thought to when and how I use technology, and adopted what is called digital minimalism. Digital minimalism involves only using technology as it aids one in creating meaning and purpose. For me that is doing things like: personal development, journaling, working on this blog, calling my family and friends via FaceTime because they live in another country, turning on the exercise program on my TV in the morning, and using the online apps necessary to manage my banking and pay my bills.
I also use technology to play video games and computer games, which is something I do in my free time. I have always enjoyed gaming, and part of minimalism is to removed excess from your life so you can focus on what you enjoy. I try, however, to do this in moderation because I also want time to invest in my relationships with others.
I don’t use technology to operate a Facebook page. I am not interested in posting about my dinner and receiving a bunch of likes. I don’t use any kind of social media in fact. I also try to minimize my time on YouTube. I know way too many people who waste hours a day mindlessly consuming content on YouTube, and I always wonder why these folks don’t have anything better to do. I rarely watch TV programs or use streaming services. I feel that I have better things to do with my time, and practicing digital minimalism allows me to do that.
By minimizing my use of technology I have the time I need to work on other things like personal development and cultivating meaningful relationships with others. Meaningful relationships require time and commitment, and this time and commitment cannot be replaced by a quick Facebook post, or a like or thumbs up on social media. Let me repeat that:
Meaningful relationships require time and commitment.
Minimalism Focuses of Things that Matter
This brings me to my second aspect of minimalism, which is the fact that it allows you to focus on things that truly matter. As you free up time and have less distractions around, you create an environment where you can sit in more silence. In these quiet moments I found myself thinking about the direction I wanted my life to take, and what really mattered to me.
Tough questions came to mind during these quiet moments. What did I want my life to amount to when it was over? Was I doing the best I could to cultivate my relationships with others? Was I investing in and serving my community? How was I doing as far as acting with integrity went? At first I was scared to take a real hard look at the answers to these questions. The truth is, I wasn’t satisfied with how I was living my life, and this had nothing to do with the amount of possessions I had accumulated, but had everything to do with the way I was living my life.
I think many of us tend to have a feeling from time to time that something vital is lacking from our lives. That feeling can be so uncomfortable that instead of getting to the root of it, we tend to look for a quick fix. We run to the store to buy the newest gadget because we think that item is what is lacking. For a moment, it provides a distraction from the discomfort we are feeling. However, this rush quickly fades and our shinny new object too often becomes quickly forgotten and that nagging feeling that something isn’t quite right with life returns.
I know I fell into this pitfall many, many times. Sometimes I still do. Unfortunately, it took me 40 years of living to understand that materialism doesn’t equate to happiness. There is truth in the old saying that money can’t buy happiness. I looked around at all the stuff I owned and was mind-blown by the fact that I had about everything I could want but still felt unhappy more often than I would like. I finally had to face the fact that I couldn’t purchase a cure to my uneasiness in a shop. Rather, I had to get to the root of the problem.
Thinking back over my life as a whole, I started to ask myself when I had truly felt satisfied with my life, and what was I doing. Three answers finally came to my mind after much reflection. They are as follows:
- First and most importantly, I was happiest when I was spending time invested in being around others who were important to me. I loved listening to my friends and families as they shared parts of their lives with me. I enjoyed being in their presence and doing different kinds of activities together with them.
- I felt happy when I had a job I liked. I have really only had two jobs I truly liked, and these are my current job which is working as a teacher, and my previous job which was cleaning houses. Neither of these jobs are prestigious, but helping others has always put a smile on my face.
- I also realized that I was happiest when I owned less stuff. I used to practice minimalism without evening knowing it, simply because I had taking nothing with me when moving to Sweden. At, first I didn’t understand why having next to nothing made me happy, but it quickly become apparent. Minimalism allowed me to do more of points one and two.
As I honed in on the three points above in my mind, I knew I needed to start making changes. I decided to spend less time on mindless consumerism and more time with my family, friends, and doing the job I love. I also decided to journey towards minimalism by getting rid of more than half of what I owned so I could free up time and mental energy. The results I am seeing from these small changes are all positive so far. I have more energy, more time, and less stress to name just a few of the benefits I am experiencing. Journeying towards minimalism has also allowed me to reconnect with myself.
I am so grateful that I decided to take a hard look at my life instead of continuing to run away from it. Our lives are the sum of all the actions we take throughout it, and I want to continue to perform actions that cast a vote for the type of person I want to be. I believe that minimalism is a tool in helping me get there, and I look forward to sharing my journey towards minimalism with you.