Minimalism: Things to Know

Minimalism is a concept that's thrown around a lot these days. It seems everyone is "a minimalist" and everyone wants to practice this magical thing. It sounds romantic, doesn't it? Get rid of everything, start over, let go, have nothing, wear one shirt and one pair of pants the entire month. Have one bowl and one plate. Sleep on the floor with nothing but a sheet, throw away all of your furniture, fit all of your belongings into a bag whenever you need to travel.

To be a minimalist, doesn't exactly mean any of the things I listed above. It's very possible, of course, and you are for sure a minimalist if you do all of those things, however, that's not the only way to be a minimalist.

I do consider myself a minimalist, but still a new one so I'm constantly looking around at my possessions and wondering how much of it I can downsize. I began this minimalism journey through a YouTuber and filmmaker Matt D' Avella, and he's taught me a lot about minimalism which I'll be putting into this blog.

In my short time practicing minimalism I've learned a few things. First off, minimalism isn't exactly, "get rid of everything." rather, it's "get rid of everything that's not bringing you value." Meaning, if you own something, or are going to buy something, ask yourself, "how will this bring me value in life?" And the answer often, "it won't." One thing I feel helps this "impulsive buying" problem is to sit on it. If you think you absolutely need something, wait a few days, weeks, months, heck I've even waited a year to buy something. Then, if you can still honestly say you need it, go for it.

The next thing I've learned about minimalism is that it's not often an "entire life" choice. This means that there are often parts of minimalists life where they're not that minimalistic. Matt D' Avella for instance, has a ton of camera gear. Of course, it's not the same camera gear, and every camera has it's purpose but he keeps a lot of cameras, and he recently made a video showing his camera closet which isn't that completely empty dream that you'd think minimalism is. For me, I own a lot of cards and I collect cards. I'm a cardist, and every time I buy a deck of cards, it's something I enjoy, something that does give me value through having a variety of designs to express my cardistry in.

To prevent this from being long I'll say one more thing about minimalism which is, it's hard. But it's also freeing. It really is an amazing feeling to have fewer things. You feel less tied down to your surroundings, less tied down to your possessions. You feel more clear, your house is easier to navigate through, your devices are easier to navigate through if you practice digital minimalism. It is truly a great practice and I support and recommend it. It'll help you, your mood, your wallet, there aren't many cons. The hardest step is that first step, getting rid of things is challenging. Getting rid of moments, sentimental things, and those, "maybe I'll need it" items—p.s you probably won't need it. If you're able to do it, though, it's a truly amazing feeling. If you don't want to get rid of everything downsize one part of your life: your clothes, your tech, your kitchen supplies, your chargers, your and cables. Or just get rid of duplicates, don't have 10 power banks for five items that do the same thing.

I hope you implement some sort of minimalism practice in your life, it's truly freeing and I hope you feel the same lightness I feel as I continue to downsize my life. I wish you luck on your journey with minimalism and if you're interested in this topic, I recommend you check out Matt D' Avella's content on youtube.