Through our essays we intend to present to you ideas of how to achieve a minimalist lifestyle without adhering to a strict code or an arbitrary set of rules.
Minimalists search for happiness not through things, but through life itself thus, it’s up to you to determine what is necessary and what is superfluous in your life. And Tammy Strobel lives in a tiny home and is completely car-free.Įven though each of these people are different, they all share two things in common: they are minimalists, and minimalism has allowed them to pursue purpose-driven lives.īut how can these people be so different and yet still be minimalists? That brings us back to our original question: What is minimalism? If we had to sum it up in a single sentence, we would say, Minimalism is a tool to rid yourself of life’s excess in favor of focusing on what’s important-so you can find happiness, fulfillment, and freedom.īy incorporating minimalism into our lives, we’ve finally been able to find lasting happiness-and that’s what we’re all looking for, isn’t it? We all want to be happy. Conversely, Colin Wright owns 51 things and travels all over the world. Joshua Becker has a career he enjoys, a family he loves, and a house in suburbia. Our friend Leo Babauta has a wife and six children. There are plenty of successful minimalists who lead appreciably different lives. Minimalism simply allows you to make these decisions more deliberately. Want to own a car or a house? Great, have at it! Want to raise a family and have a career? If these things are important to you, that’s wonderful.
Today’s problem seems to be the meaning we assign to stuff: we assign too much meaning to things, often forsaking our health, our relationships, our passions, our personal growth, and our desire to contribute beyond ourselves. That doesn’t mean there’s anything inherently wrong with owning material possessions. Freedom from the trappings of the consumer culture we’ve built our lives around. Minimalism is a tool that can assist you in finding freedom. If you desire to live with fewer material possessions, or jettison your car and television, or travel all over the world, then minimalism can lend a hand. But people who dismiss minimalism as some sort of fad usually mention any of the above “restrictions” as to why they could “never be a minimalist.” Minimalism isn’t about any of those things, but it can help you accomplish them. So what is this minimalism thing? It’s quite simple: to be a minimalist you must live with less than 100 things, you can’t own a car or a home or a television, you can’t have a career, you must live in exotic hard-to-pronounce places all over the world, you must start a blog, you can’t have children, and you must be a young white male from a privileged background.