Minimalism why

Digitize your photos. Get rid of the things you bought to impress people. Downsize your apartment. Think constantly about what will enable you to live the best life possible. Never buy anything on sale. I also turned to Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus, who call themselves the Minimalists and, under that name, run a blog, publish books, and host a podcast that is downloaded as many as three million times a month.

I read the blog Be More with Less , which is written by Courtney Carver, who came to minimalism after being given a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis and views the practice as a pathway to love and self-care. As I waded through this course of study, I felt like a dirty sponge being irradiated in the microwave: I was trapped, unpleasantly, but a cleansing fire was beginning to rage within.

I Kondoed my sock drawer, tenderly unravelling lumpy balls of wool and cotton and laying each pair flat. I made daily pilgrimages to Goodwill. Within hours of arrival, I had filled six large trash bags with clothes to donate. I sounded, I imagine, like many of the converts to what might be considered the latest wave in an intermittent American impulse. For me, using this method to declutter does actually help declutter my mind and feel more at ease with what I own and my ability to fully utilize what I own.

We all have clothes or other items that we hold onto for no reason because we know we will never wear or use it again. The Minimalist Game is another method to decluttering your life, especially popular on TikTok right now. The Minimalist Game involves decluttering a number of things that corresponds with the number day of the month.

This is a great method for people who have a hard time tackling huge projects at once. If the thought of decluttering all in one go terrifies you, this is the method for you. When decluttering and attempting a more minimalist lifestyle, it is important to remember that the established point of minimalism is to live a simple life. Some may even argue that living minimally is related to being as environmentally friendly as possible. Therefore, when decluttering it is very important to make sure that you are not creating waste by getting rid of your belongings.

Having less things, by default, means that you have a smaller environmental impact. Each and every one of the material possessions you own required resources and energy to create it. Then, think about how it came to be in your possession.

This is why it can be greatly beneficial to minimize your purchasing and only purchase the things you really need. I recommend buying less things overall, but especially when it comes to clothes and accessories! Many people already have a plethora of belongings before they decide to become minimalist.

If you go through a constant cycle of buying and then decluttering, you are not effectively being a minimalist or helping lessen your environmental impact. There are many claims that a minimalistic lifestyle will lead to an overall happier life. Owning fewer belongings means you can live more comfortably in a smaller space, allowing for huge savings on rent, mortgage, utilities, and other home-related expenses. Many minimalists experience a refreshing feeling of independence from embracing a simpler lifestyle, and you may feel like you live more freely and happily when you choose minimalism.

By utilizing less of your home for storage, you can create space dedicated to the activities you enjoy. For example, an empty spare room can be transformed into a home gym, painting studio or yoga space. A minimalist-style home is less cluttered and messy, which can make it more enjoyable to spend time at home.

A minimalist who is in a position to influence their families can help lead by example and teach the important lesson that experiences and memories can be more important than possessing tangible items. By opening up extra cargo space in your vehicle, you have more potential to use it for camping, road trips, special activities and more.

Allergies are often triggered by dust, dander and pollen than can easily cling to your belongings and get trapped in your home. There are many benefits to a minimalist wardrobe, including saved closet space and reduced decision time when choosing outfits.

Stocking your closet with just a few essentials — like a good pair of jeans and simple items designed for layering — you can mix and match your outfits with ease.

Almost every item you purchase comes with some sort of garbage, like tags, packaging and disposable pieces. Minimalism may prompt you to explore multi-function tools that can replace the need for several others. There are many multi-functional gadgets available for kitchen, home improvement and cleaning purposes.

By clearing out your garage, you can create room to park your household vehicle s to avoid rain, snow and direct heat. As a minimalist, you may no longer have a need for the extra room in your home. Consider leasing the room to a tenant for a steady stream of income on a monthly basis. From glass to technology, almost all of your belongings have the potential to break. Forward to the 3rd Century BC, and the Hellenistic philosophy of Stoicism — which is partly about the "endurance of pain or hardship without the display of feelings and without complaint" — informs a minimalistic lifestyle in its adherence to simple living ideas, accepting change , and a focus on the self and community rather than possessions.

In Letters from a Stoic, Seneca wrote of "convincing yourself that you can live a happy life even without [riches], and by always regarding them as being on the point of vanishing".

An upbeat, charismatic personality, she gave her take on "what being truly happy means and how to achieve it" to Oprah Winfrey on popular US daytime series SuperSoul Sunday. Rubin tells BBC Culture that her book sprang from realising "people were feeling kind of out of control in a world in turmoil, even before the pandemic. It's natural to want to control your own environment, to manage uncertainty and anxiety.

A simple act, a little order, just makes them feel they're starting their day right. Rubin takes issue with the white-wall brigade of "own-nothing" minimalists.

So maybe that whimsical rubber sunflower you bought had a purpose — it will cheer up the family, or put a splash of colour on the windowsill.

So these dresses were deeply connected to her memories of him. These mavens of minimalism are mere newbies compared to John Pawson , the British architect who has been practising reductionism in his work for more than 40 years.

He trained under the Japanese designer Shiro Kurumata, and his minimalistic aesthetic is apparent in his vast body of work, which includes the first Calvin Klein store in New York and his reworking of the innards of the Design Museum in Kensington, London.

As a boy he earned his minimalism spurs, removing nearly every object from his room except for a bed. He is far from po-faced in person, however, and recalls how his youngest sister wrote him a letter saying "I've enclosed my membership to the minimalist club" and inside he found a blank white piece of paper. The pared-back work of architect John Pawson is informed by his strict minimalist aesthetic Credit: Getty Images.