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How minimalism changed my life



I knew very little about minimalism until I watched the documentary 'Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things'. Anyone who knows me can attest to the fact that I'm an information junkie and documentaries are kind of my thing. There are documentaries that entertain, others inform and some might even move you. But occasionally you get the documentary that completely restructures your mind — this particular documentary, directed by the brilliant Matt D'Avella, was so insightful that it did exactly that. 


I remember watching it and thinking: “What have I been doing with my life?". There is so much clutter in our lives that not only takes up physical space, but also occupies our mental storage centres too. The protagonists in the documentary are fantastic; Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus live what they preach. They go into great detail about how and why they got into minimalism — one had a life-changing epiphany while working at a job that pressured him to sell cell phones to young children and the other was so busy during his high-stakes sales job that he passed on a phone call from a hospital that was trying to communicate to him that his mother was dying.


The reason I love this documentary is that it isn’t preachy in the slightest. The narrative cuts away from the protagonists to take a meaningful, scrutinising look at the global culture of consumerism. It looks at the bigger picture of how hyper-capitalism has led to a form of commodity fetishism.


“You have this thing that you are obsessed with, but then the new version comes out and now you no longer care about the one you have. In fact, consumerism becomes a source of dissatisfaction”
– Sam Harris on consumerism

What I learnt is that active intentionality matters. Minimalism isn't about living with nothing — it's about living with less. When you only have the bare essentials occupying your physical space, it creates room for enhanced mental clarity. If you can’t justify the utility of something, get rid of it. It’s as simple as that.


Shortly after watching this documentary, I moved to China for a short period of time and I made it a point to travel only with a carry-on suitcase. "Wait, that's all you brought with you!?", remarked my colleague at the airport arrivals lounge. Yet, I had never felt more free. I lived off a minimal number of clothes, beauty products, shoes and personal items while living in China and I noticed myself feeling less overwhelmed and anxious as general feeling of liberation took over my body.


Yes, it's possible. To get rid of stuff and still feel really good. I now look at

materialist-obsessed individuals in such a different way than I did before. They seem heavier and weighed down, while I am bopping around literally feeling lighter.


I no longer strive for materialism as much and I am more conscious of what I consume. My wardrobe is only filled with clothes that I wear and if there is an object in my apartment that I half-like, it has to go. I don't own anything that I am not attached to or that I can't use/wear at least every day. There is no junk around me and I love it.


Think seriously about minimalism. Don’t just try it just for a day and then post about it on social media. Really apply the ethics and principles of what it means to be a minimalist into your day-to-day life. This doesn’t mean you have to get rid of everything. No. This is where many of the misconceptions about minimalism arise from. There is no instruction manual or guilt-tripping when it comes this alternative lifestyle. Don’t force it. Simply allow it to enter your life in the most organic way, see how your brain registers with it and move from there.


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