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How to be a minimalist without being freaky

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How to be a minimalist without being freaky–An opinion

Minimalists have always been looked at people who don’t know how to enjoy things in life, and are more of hermit kind. This idea, however, is far from being true. There are a few minimalists who take the cult to freaking heights, making ideologies of minimalists seem weird to others. There are some others also who tend to be miserly with their monies but are happy enough splurging others monies. These two do not represent what minimalism is all about.  So their behaviors should not be taken as sample of minimalistic culture.

What is minimalistic cult?

Before understanding and adopting a minimalistic cult we need to understand what it is all about.  Simply stated, minimalism is about keeping things simple.  For example, today we are constantly being told by those commercials that we need something to improve our lives and enjoy it better. So we go ahead and buy those things. A few days later, there is another item that we purchase which looks better than what we bought before. Now, we just have to find a place to keep our previous purchase till we find a buyer for it. We of course have to spare some room to store it, and also dust it and keep it in good condition. In other words, we struggle to buy that additional space to store things that we don’t need, and never wanted in the first place, and are willing to spend parts of our lives dusting and maintaining them. Minimalist is just that smart person who has realized this is happening, and does not want to be a part of this charade.  While this example is used with reference to an object, minimalistic attitude is applicable in other spheres as well, such as art, music, writing, etc.  Minimalistic cult is realization that we are different from what we are told we are, and effectively we start living. It often means finding pleasure in simple things like Robinson Crusoe must have done.

Becoming a minimalist

For starters we need to acknowledge that everything out there is not really essential for us. Then we have to set our priorities identifying what and who are the most important things and people for us. We also need to honestly speak to ourselves about what we like and what we accept due to peer pressure.  It could be customs, rituals, and old habits that everybody seems to be following. For example, most people give costly gifts to their loved ones on their anniversaries, birthdays, or festive occasion. However, once the occasion is gone, the person goes out of the mind and people are back into the rat race earning money at a furious pace. They want that mansion because everybody they know from their college has one. They want sea front properties because all their relatives own one. They quite forget that they might prefer a small cozy home without doing much around but with enough nature to fill the heart with pleasure.

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This does not mean that minimalists do not earn. They do. In fact, many of them are very rich people. However, it is the way they use their resources that differentiates them from the rest.  They use minimum number of clothes. This is because fashions change almost every year. What are they going to do with old-fashioned clothes in the next year? They make optimal use of their vehicles and electronic gadgets instead of changing them every year. You would think that is miserly. However, research has proved that few millionaires go about changing their things frequently. They are too pre-occupied with other issues to be concerned about how their mode of transport looks.  They possibly save a lot of money by not losing any on value depreciation of their assets. Doesn’t that sound smart?

There are many self made millionaires who do not own large homes. Instead, they make do with small homes. After all, they are accustomed to small rooms since childhood, and it offers them a cozy feeling. Moreover, they feel they can entertain their guests better in some reputed hotel. Smaller homes imply less cleaning, less manpower requirement, less headaches of resolving manpower problems, etc.  Moreover, the privacy of the person also remains intact when guests are not accommodated within the same premises. If the guests were to live in the house of the millionaire, the millionaire would have to spend monies for getting the house painted and decorated. All such interior decoration expenses can be foregone, and spent on hotel room instead. Minimalist tends to think in this fashion rather than thinking whether he needs to shift into a larger accommodation and frantically earn to buy that mansion. Effectively, minimalist manages to spare time for himself and his family instead of spending time earning monies for accommodating guests towards whom he may not have as much love and affections.

Style and minimalism

There is less of clutter in minimalist’s place. Their minds too are less cluttered. Simplicity reigns in minimalist’s thoughts, words, deeds, and environment. These folks are able to create beauty out of that simplicity which is full of peace and tranquility. This is the reason fewer colors, fewer objects, less ornate environments appeal to them. Contrary to popular belief, such things and facilities are stylish and expensive. Such style is an evidence of their creativity.

Living and minimalism

As mentioned before, opting to be minimalist is identifying personal needs and desires and fulfilling them rather than living life in a pattern set out by others. They are no monks because minimalists don’t preach the cult. They practice it, and are happy folks without any self denial. Therefore, minimalists do not wear standard monk clothing. They wear what they want and not what advertisement or peers tell them to wear. In a way therefore minimalists can be termed as people who defy the normal society norms.

Minimalists are also those people who are always there for friends and loved ones, having got their priorities in order. They also do not have much respect for customs such as gifting. Therefore, minimalist is hardly likely to give a very costly gift on birthday or anniversary. However, a sane advice at the right time is what you can expect from such a person. Likewise, you can also get a surprise gift from them that you always wanted but didn’t know how to get it. Minimalists therefore know you and understand you unlike others who think that buying the costliest object in the market they have managed to express their love for you.

Minimalism and environment

The tendency of minimalistic people to use minimum of resources for maximum benefit is environmentally friendly, even though many would frown upon using faded clothes and giving hand-made gifts.

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