"Minimalism is the constant art of editing you life" - Danny Dover
 |
| An Image of a Bat from our Sri Lanka Trip |
Often, we come across posts or books that suggest a minimalist way of life. When we say we are living the minimalist life, what exactly are you in for? Somewhere mid-August last year, some things really hit me hard, two things to mention in particular, one that I was constantly feeling overwhelmed by the things I had to get done in a day and two I never felt any sense of satisfaction on most days even if I had done a great deal of work.
I realized that the major reason I felt that way was because I was living a rushed life, constantly badgering myself to do more and more, which is not wrong when you aspire a productive day, but it got me thinking is that really productivity? In this fast paced life of ours, often we forget there is an expiry date, we forget that this race has to end some day, in those last days or last moments, I assume none of these achievements or ticks on our "To Do Lists" are going to matter, what will matter are the moments, moments where you lived.
I do not believe that for minimalism, there is any set defined rules. You can decide what is your minimalism limit - it may not be same for all. Nowadays its in trend to be adhering to minimalist makeup, minimalist wardrobe, minimalist whatever, which is great as we are creating fads that are good in a sense. The thought behind this minimalism edit is not to restrict yourself from possessing things but to free yourself from constant clutter which does not allow new and fresh things to enter your life. The problem with today's lifestyle is more is less, we all want more, consciously or mindlessly. The society has defined that the more you have, the more successful you are, the more you have achieved the more you have made a mark. I do not believe this to be true.
The whole purpose of minimalism is to help you attain freedom in an area which is totally cluttered. That could be anything, freedom from your pile of clothes, drawers of makeup, stack of books or even non-tangible things like too many commitments, endless to-do lists, rsvp-ing yes to many social events and many more such instances. The whole idea is to create a life that is fulfilling. It is creating a rhythm which helps you sing to the tune of your life and not just hum to music which is thrown at you.
We have assigned our lives to too many things and thoughts around us, it is breaking-free from all that. It is creating space for finding our true purpose, detaching ourselves from things that have no real meaning in our lives.
We all want to be happy, but we create a mindless rut around us, build a wall between us and happiness by putting everything else that needs to be done or owned before we can decide we are happy. By living the minimalist life, we define happiness not through all those things and lists but much to the contrary, through life itself.
Comments