Minimalistic Living- No Longer a Fad but Need of the Hour!

One truth that the pandemic brought home to many of us is “how much stuff we accumulated in our lives!” I think it is kind of a reminder that we reassess what is important and what is not in our lives.

The hard fact is that we arrive on this planet with nothing and we leave the planet with nothing. And, we spend our entire lifetime accumulating and adding material possessions. In fact, our possessions become a ground for comparison and competition with others.

In our rush to accumulate more as soon as possible, we risk our health, our relationships, and mess up our present.

Why do we Accumulate Stuff?

We have become a species that identifies ourselves with our material possessions. The car we own, the clothes we wear, our accessories are some of the things that define who we are! And, we use similar yardsticks for assessing others. And, so accumulating stuff becomes a must. Besides, many people can afford to buy stuff that gives them an identity. And, those who can’t afford it make it their purpose of life to earn enough to afford all the expensive stuff. This will help them climb up the social ladder.

As we accumulate things we develop an attachment to some of the articles we own and find it hard to discard them. And, our possessions build up.

Ever wondered what will happen to your stuff after your death?

We might think that our children will want to preserve stuff like furniture, curios, etc. that we have left behind. Unfortunately, they have their own choices and they may not be interested in carrying on with your stuff. Many a time things like furniture may become a burden for the next generation to bear.

Of course, expensive stuff like jewelry, etc. might still have some takers but not the normal things we collect and preserve. 

Here’s a look at the kind of stuff we accumulate and what happens to it?

Some classic examples are books and clothes. If a parent is very fond of reading, he may build a collection of books. Maybe he can afford the space to house the books. But after the death of the parent, if the kids are not interested in reading, preserving the books can become a major issue. Clothes are something that we love to buy and wear. And, with each passing year, the inventory of our clothes builds up. Many people, especially women reach a stage in life when they run out of space to house their clothes. Additional storage is built to accommodate more clothes. But the inventory of clothes keeps increasing and the storage cannot keep pace with it.

Another thing we have become fond of buying is electronic gadgets, the most popular one being the smartphone. So, we have smartphone companies dishing out newer models with enhanced features and we want all the new features. In the case of electronics, we are usually not stuck with the older versions because we have the option of exchanging the item. 

As far as gadgets and devices are concerned we have become a race who would rather invest in a new gadget than get the defective one repaired. And the consequence of this attitude is that we discard old devices and gadgets and contribute to the landfill.

The same is the case with cars. As newer models appear on the scene we want the latest ones and the older cars sometimes need to be scrapped. What happens to the scrap? It adds to the landfill.

Manufacturers of products leverage this very attitude of ours and introduce new products that do not last long. However, these products are expensive and usually have brand value.

Besides such stuff, another possession that makes us appear wealthy is our real estate possessions. If we can afford it, we are not happy with one house. We want more properties as investments that will appreciate in value with time. The downside of people owning multiple properties is that someone else is being deprived of a home. Not necessarily a human, but it could be an animal or a bird. The human population is growing fast and huge. All humans need homes. So, we encroach on our forests, reclaim seas, etc. so that we can build homes. Now if all those who can afford more than one home buy more, we will need more land and land is a limited resource. It is not only required for building structures but also for farming and other activities.

People who own a lot of stuff might find it overwhelming to manage their possessions. In fact, taking care of their possessions might become a time-consuming chore in itself!

I have shifted my house several times during the course of my life due to different reasons. I have lived in houses of different sizes. And, with each shifting, I needed to discard several things which would not gel in my new home. Some of those things were quite dear to me but I had to dispose of them because of the size of my new home. So, when I had to move my home so many times, I learned to grow detached from many things, and fortunately, I do not have the urge to preserve many articles.

The lockdowns during COVID 19 highlighted that I had too many clothes. This was mainly because I did not use so many of my clothes during the lockdown that they stared at me from overstuffed cupboards. I then decided to get proactive and made it a monthly exercise to review my and my family members’ clothes and discard as many as possible. I would send these clothes to charitable institutions that would donate them to the poor. This not only helped me get rid of excess stuff but also helped me organize my life better.

We focus so much on accumulating stuff that we pay little attention to de-cluttering. It is not that we need to stop buying things but we need to check that we do not overboard with our purchases. And, we must keep a check on all our possessions and buy what is necessary. 

This way we will reduce a lot of burden on the planet. Manufacturing every article requires an enormous amount of resources. And, our greed for stuff puts a lot of pressure on the planet. We talk about climate change and other impacts on the planet but we rarely focus on how we can reduce the burden on the planet. 

If each of us adopts a minimalistic approach to life, we can contribute to the health of the planet!

Here Are Some Simple Tips for Minimalistic Living:

De-clutter: Make sure that you check what you have vs what you need and discard stuff that you do not use. If the discarded stuff is in a usable condition, give it away to someone less privileged.

Go Paperless: Paper is made from trees. Fortunately, we live in an era where information can be shared electronically. Try to avoid using paper and use electronic methods of sharing data.

You do not Need Too Many Properties: Try not to go berserk with buying and owning properties. Remember you are depriving someone else of a home! The earth is home to a whole lot of creatures and we do not have the right to deprive anyone.

Stop Defining Yourself with your Possessions: The day you stop identifying yourself with your possessions, you would have made a huge stride towards minimalistic living. The root cause of our greed is the fact that we believe that our material possessions define who we are. Look inwards to discover who you are instead of material possessions. 

Invest in Yourself and your Relationships: We are perpetually seeking happiness and contentment. And, we invest in wealth and material possessions because we believe that they will give us happiness. Often you find that even after owning the things we aspire we are left wanting. True happiness comes from investing in building yourself and your relationships.

A minimalistic approach does not mean that you completely stop buying and owning things. It is more about need-based buying instead of greed-based!

When you adopt a minimalistic approach, you will not only do good for the planet and its inhabitants but a lot of good for yourself too! When you reduce your external clutter, you will automatically minimize your internal clutter-in other words, there will be less disturbance in your mind and you will be more at peace!

Try it!