Minimalist Lifestyle Movement: Amazing Things You Need to Know

Who May Benefit From The Minimalist Lifestyle Movement? There is no one definition to define a Minimalist lifestyle, the practice seems to become more and more popular as time goes on.

Be it Millennials that want a different lifestyle from consumerism and overconsumption their parents lived.

The Baby Boomer is astounded by all the junk and clutter they have accumulated and spent time maintaining.

The family with a house full of junk, busting at the seams, wasting money every month on storage units filled with useless stuff, seeking a change.

The average person just loves coming home to an uncluttered home with floors, tabletops, and countertops pristine and clear of clutter. Is that you?

This is the type of person that would love the Minimalist Lifestyle Movement.

Or the person who does not have the resources to live a life of excess. That could be Millennials strapped with college debt and few resources for anything extra, an older person living on a fixed income, or someone working a minimum wage job.

The Minimalist Lifestyle Movement may not be all glamorous, fun, and games.

Many people in those groups have come to understand the benefits of living the Minimalist Lifestyle.

It may just be good old common sense.

Its a philosophy that was lived and preached by ancient Greek philosophers, Buddhist Zen Masters, and most other religions.

Let’s explore everything you need to know about the Minimalist Lifestyle Movement and more.

What Is Minimalism

If you think minimalism has only to do with decluttering, cleaning, storage bins, or decorating a home with white walls, you are sadly mistaken. Let me try to explain this life-changing practice.

Minimalism is the practice of bringing awareness and controlling the people and objects we allow into our lives. Yes, I said people. These people and objects require precious time and energy from us and those are resources we would not like to waste.

Minimalists focus on experiences rather than stuff. Creating great memories with family and good friends is always worth more than the stuff that currently fills most closets and storage units.

So, what does minimalism look like?

There are no laws or standards. Minimalism looks different for everybody. It takes practice to find out what works for you. Trial and error to learn what people and objects add value to your life and what does not.

Most importantly it takes experience and practice to learn what people and objects to limit or eliminate from your life. Expelling the life force robs the stress and chaos that accompanies them.

In time you learn to prioritize and live in a way that feels true and authentic.  Focusing more on things like happiness, wonderful experiences, and relationships instead of material things.

You become more aware of how you spend the time and space you occupy and work hard to extract value from them.

Minimalists place an emphasis on belongings because we believe that what we own greatly affects all other aspects of our lives. It turns out research proves this to be true.

Author Tisha Morris refers to clutter as “stagnant energy”. She says, “where there’s clutter in your home, there will be clutter in [you] — either physically, mentally or emotionally.” – miadanielle.com

Where To Begin Your Minimalist Lifestyle Journey

The Minimalist Lifestyle Movement is nothing new. The concept is as old as religion itself. Living with less had been used as a tool to gain more focus and spirituality in people’s lives for millennia.

Buddhist Monks and Catholic Nuns take a vow of poverty and were early adopters of this practice and still practice the concept today.

Why will you begin your Minimalist Lifestyle journey if you decide to do so?

Will you begin for economic reasons to save money? Maybe for spiritual reasons to help add more quality to your life by focusing on more important things other than material possessions?

Will social consciousness be the reason you begin your Minimalist Lifestyle Journey? Buying fewer clothes lessen the demand for sweatshop and child labor.

Consuming fewer products will slow the growth of landfills and The Great Pacific garbage patch.

Whatever the reason you may choose to begin your Minimalist Lifestyle Journey it all begins with just the decision to begin. The Minimalist Lifestyle Movement is strong and growing stronger every day. Will you join the revolution?

Why Is The Minimalist Lifestyle Movement Becoming So Popular?

Is the Minimalist Lifestyle Movement becoming so popular because it just makes sense? Great thinkers like the late Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg who could easily afford massive wardrobes preferred to own a Minimalist Uniform Wardrobe which consisted of a few coordinated pieces they just repeated wearing in cycles.

These very busy and productive people believed this practice simplified their lives and helped combat decision fatigue. Wear a similar uniform every day and eliminate the time wasted deciding what to wear every day. Conserve your finite energy for more important decisions.

Is the overconsumption of the 80’s and 90’s catching up with us? With the rising cost of everything the large 3 bedroom home with a finished basement and backyard many people may have grown up in is out of reach for Millennials and most others.

“The past decade brought growth, avarice, and an anything-goes attitude,” and then glibly summarized the 1980s with five words: “Get rich, borrow, spend, enjoy.” –National Review

The small apartment with multiple roommates has become the norm and leaves little space for anything else.

For me, it was having to move to a home full of junk. I had no idea I accumulated so much junk. I said never again. LOL

Like me, are people finally reacting to the constant bombardment of advertisements aimed at making you think you need that junk?

Urging us to buy the next great disposable product or gadget and ditch the perfectly good ones we already own. We’ve been in living in an age of overconsumption, waste, and excess and it may be coming to an end.

The Minimalist Lifestyle Movement may be a rebellion against excess. Its message is very appealing, the less junk you seek to own the less you have to work to acquire and maintain it.

This means you should have more time and resources to spend with family and good friends. That’s a good thing right?

The Minimalist Lifestyle Movement’s message speaks to social justice, saving the planet, and work to live not live to work mantras.

Are people coming to realize that more stuff doesn’t bring happiness? More importantly, it often brings more stress and even more responsibility.

The Minimalist Lifestyle Movement is poised to combat that, along with greed, overconsumption, waste, and the failed promises of Capitalism.

Could this be why the movement is becoming so popular?

Should You Join The Minimalist Living Movement?

That is a great question. Do you find yourself working extra hard to acquire and maintain possession you do not have time to enjoy?

Do you spend the weekend organizing, repairing, and maintaining your possessions?

Is your home bursting at the seams with stuff so bad you had to rent a storage unit?

Do you even know what is in your closets, basement, garage, and attic?

Does shopping when bored come naturally to you?

Do you replace perfectly good items because the bombardment of marketing campaigns says you should?

Are you embarrassed by all of the bags you have when you get home from a day of shopping?

Only you would know if you should join the Minimalist Lifestyle Movement or need an intervention. LOL

You will be happy to know there are no rules or requirements to join. You don’t have to burn all of your possession you just have to start doing what makes sense for you.

Here are a few free resources that may help.

5 Life-Giving Truths From Years of Living with Less

What Is A Minimalist Lifestyle? What It is Not and Minimalism’s Benefits

Minimalist Principles A Philosophy for Enjoying Life Less Complicated

How to Mentally Prepare To Become A Minimalist In Today’s World

10 Minimalist Lifestyle Tips and Enjoying Life More

Consequently,  if you still find The Minimalist Lifestyle Movement appealing? All that is left is to give it a try 😉