This is an interesting topic to me and I hope someday to become one. And by one, I mean a minimalist.
Basically a minimalist is someone how limits their paraphernalia to only what’s necessary.
Wow, I love the word paraphernalia.
Anyway, often the common image of a minimalist is someone living out of a backpack with, for example, 100 items or less. I used to think too that the less possessions you had, the more of a minimalist you were, but that’s not necessarily true.
Minimalism isn’t literally defined as how many possessions one has. It’s a philosophy–a way of life–and even if you have a million things you can still be a minimalist, as long as you truly believe that you need those million things.
According to this guy,
A minimalist is simply one who questions the necessity of things, and who tries to live with what’s necessary, rather than with consumerism.
The 100 thing challenge is just a tool: by trying to reduce your possession to 100 things, it forces you to look at them and ask, ‘Is this really necessary? Can I live without it?’
So forget about the 100 things challenge, and instead just ask yourself the questions. Is it really necessary? Can you live without it?
So, let’s stray a bit.
I’ve always favored multi-functionality. I tend to buy things that I like, but that also have more than one purpose, especially when it comes to clothing. Having a top that can be worn as either casual or formal expands your options without adding another item.
In a way, this relates to minimalism because if you are able to find multi-functional things, then you can cut down on your possessions without sacrificing some things.
Also, with less things I’d imagine it would be easier for people to get organized. After all, you’d have less things to organize.
But as a teenager, I do have quite a bit of paraphernalia, most of it being things like books, clothing and desk supplies that I don’t have the heart to throw away.
For me, it’s not about being attached to the item–there really aren’t any emotions involved. It’s just that there’s always the thought that someday I may wear these shoes again or someday I may need a basket full of colored pencils and markers (when really, unless you’re a professional artist, you can make do with basic colors).
This also happens to me with music. Even though I deleted it from my iTunes, I keep it on my computer because I did like the song before. Perhaps I’ll want to listen to it again someday…
I think overcoming these kinds of thoughts is also what minimalism is about because honestly, if I were ask myself I can live without most of these things, the answer would be yes.
