What Is A Minimalist Lifestyle? What It is Not and Minimalism’s Benefits
Living a minimalist lifestyle is nothing new. It’s just common sense. Why burden yourself with more than you need?
Yes, I did say a burden. When humans were hunter-gatherers carrying more than they need was a burden. It has just since the Agricultural movement humans began to steadily acquire more than needed.
The Agriculture movement afforded humans the opportunity to set up semi-permanent domiciles in one location. Humans are now able to accumulate more than could be carried and more than needed to survive.
With the ability to safely store food and accumulate more possessions than needed to survive without immediate ill effects begins the race to the bottom.
Crime soon followed. Then the need to protect the accumulated possessions and you guessed it. War!
Will living a Minimalist Lifestyle prevent war, and hunger, and cause world peace? Hell no! LOL.
What A Minimalist Lifestyle Is Not
Minimalism is all about living with less. This includes fewer financial burdens such as debt and unnecessary expenses.
The interest in Minimalism and The Minimalist Lifestyle has been on the rise for many years. The Minimalist Lifestyle is not a radical lifestyle. Before I answer the question “what is a minimalist lifestyle?” let’s look at what it is not.
The Minimalist Lifestyle is not about living with only 10, 50, or even 100 things. If a person chooses to do so that is fine but not required.
The Minimalist Lifestyle is not about not owning a car, television, or any of the great things that make life more pleasurable and comfortable.
The Minimalist Lifestyle is not about living in exotic places and traveling the world living out of a backpack. For me, that would be nice but not required. LOL
The Minimalist Lifestyle is not about being frugal but in almost all cases living a Minimalist Lifestyle will save money.
Living a Minimalist Lifestyle does not mean you can’t have hobbies or your own collectibles.
Adopting the minimalist lifestyle does not mean your home has to bear with no furniture or all of your furniture has to be white and boring.
Living a Minimalist lifestyle does not mean you have to get rid of your children. LOL
What A Minimalist Lifestyle Is
The first word that comes to mind is “Quality”. It’s about controlling what enters your life and ensuring quality.
It’s not about focusing on less because ensuring quality in itself will create less. In that sense, less is more. It’s about intentionally living with only things a person needs and being ruthless about eliminating things a person does not need.
This adds an element of clarity and purpose to a person’s life. The Minimalist is seeking quality and only the essentials in their life. Believe it or not, people don’t really have time for much more.
There are only 24 hours in a day, 168 hours in a week, and 28470 days in life. Why intentionally waste any of it?
The average American lifespan is 78 years. That’s roughly 28,470 days.
If you’re 20 years old, you have 21,170 days left.
If you’re 30 years old, you have 17,520 days left.
40 years old, you have 13,870 days left.
If you’re 50 years old, you have 10,220 days left.
If you’re 60 years old, you have 6,570 days left.
They don’t come back so you better make them all count.
Living a minimalist lifestyle should be unique to the person, with no steadfast rules. Person minimalism will be different from my minimalism. What adds value to one person’s life may be different from another person’s and that is ok.
I do believe every individual should have a clear vision of what their minimalism is and the goals they would like to reach. A person should be able to envision what minimalism looks like in their life.
Minimalism reminds you to abandon the consumerism insane train to find enjoyment in more productive places. Don’t shop or eat out because you are bored. Don’t find enjoyment in buying things you don’t really need because it’s on sale.
Seek enjoyment in things that are really important to you. Most people don’t remember the stuff they purchased a week ago. Seek enjoyment in relationships with good friends, and family, and create wonderful experiences. The important.
The Minimalist Lifestyle forces a person to slow down in this fast pace world and be deliberate in what they would like to experience in it. They make the choice. If it does not make them happy or add value they have the choice to get rid of it.
Once that person has decluttered their life of useless internal and external pieces they are freed from the time once spent managing, storing, and maintaining those pieces. They now have time to closely examine what is left. The essential, the pieces of life a person enjoys most.
The Benefits Of a Minimalist Lifestyle
The benefits of living a Minimalist Lifestyle can be many. The main benefit people enjoy is freedom. It allows people to be deliberately free from many of the burdens of life.
If there is a burden in your life, minimalism requires a person to examine it and possibly get rid of it. Minimalism strengthens a person’s mental and physical resources to allow burdens to be more easily examined and possibly discarded.
Minimalis helps people . . .
- Live Free
- Live Healthier
- Elevate the important
- Live in the moment
- Grow as a person
- Build Stronger Relationships
- Consume less
- Contribute more
- Live our passions
- Avoid Stress
- Save time
- Save money
- Live more with less
As you can see the minimalist lifestyle encompasses every aspect of a person’s life. Hopefully, enhance and focus it for the better.
Now that I have answered the question, I would like to know what you think. Could you benefit from minimalism? Are you benefiting from minimalism and how?
Here are my 10 Minimalist Lifestyle Tips to help you enjoy life more 😉
This is cool. Minimalism is okay to me, finding pleasure in why you love the most. Finding happiness where you are, and where ever you find yourself, finding pleasure within yourself without an external body. This is worth the time and I will save for my friends for viewing. Thank S for the article .i like it
Thanks for your comment, John. Enjoy the simple pleasures in life.
Thanks for your comment Kashia. Those items you have packed up and stored away can earn you money to get items you need or can really use.
Items can also be donated or given to family and friends to be used and ad value to their lives.
Hello,
Ive just visited your website and it is very organized .at first glance i can see youve put some work into your layout. like your use of pictured to promote the flow of the page. Content is well put together and resourceful. Im still new at this and i appreciate good examples of a functioning page thats easy on the eyes.
Thanks,
Sunshine
Thanks for your comment Sunshine but don’t blink because I can’t stop making changes. LOL.
I actually never thought of it as living with quality rather than quantity. Now that I think about it, there are so many things I have that I don’t use, they just end up getting packed up and stored who knows where.
Living like a minimalist sounds so beneficial.
Thanks for such an informative post. I used to picture minimalists living in empty houses with just a few things to accommodate for basic needs. But reading this, it actually sounds like something I should consider.
Thanks for your comment Kashia. Those items you have packed up and stored away can earn you money to get items you need or can really use.
Items can also be donated or given to family and friends to be used and ad value to their lives.
I actually never thought of it as living with quality rather than quantity. Now that I think about it, there are so many things I have that I don’t use, they just end up getting packed up and stored who knows where.
Living like a minimalist sounds so beneficial.
Thanks for such an informative post. I used to picture minimalists living in empty houses with just a few things to accommodate for basic needs. But reading this, it actually sounds like something I should consider.
Hello,
Ive just visited your website and it is very organized .at first glance i can see youve put some work into your layout. like your use of pictured to promote the flow of the page. Content is well put together and resourceful. Im still new at this and i appreciate good examples of a functioning page thats easy on the eyes.
Thanks,
Sunshine
Thanks for your comment Sunshine but don’t blink because I can’t stop making changes. LOL.
This is cool. Minimalism is okay to me, finding pleasure in why you love the most. Finding happiness where you are, and where ever you find yourself, finding pleasure within yourself without an external body. This is worth the time and I will save for my friends for viewing. Thank S for the article .i like it
Thanks for your comment, John. Enjoy the simple pleasures in life.