Adopting a Minimalist Lifestyle.

Minimalist living. Credits: Yoga Journal.

Let me ask you a question:

Would you be able to live in a home like the one above?

No, really. Would you? Or will you think that your home is so threadbare that you need to fill it up with all the knick knacks that your family and friends have bought for you over the years? Or perhaps the oriental ornamental figurines that your grandmother bought for you during her recent trip around Southeast Asia? Or the lacy table runners that your mother-in-law has been knitting for you and might disown you if you didn’t put them up?

I’ve been doing a lot of research recently, and writing a lot of articles on minimalism. These works were mostly for home and interior design, specifically as a type of home interior design style.

But I have often wondered though, is it possible to achieve a minimalist zen lifestyle? Apparently, it is a growing trend now for people to have the least amount of furniture and decoration in their homes. It is a growing trend for people to live their lives to the fullest with less things and being content with what they have.

The lifestyle with lots of white spaces. Credits: Career Girl Daily.

Many would wrongly assume that it is a premium lifestyle. Let me tell you that it isn’t. It is a lifestyle that everyone can have if they are up for the challenge. In recent years, almost everything can be easily acquired at our fingertips, at the click of a mouse, and at a swipe of our credit cards. You can have it delivered to your doorstep or picked up at a specific time and date. Suddenly, everything is achievable as long as you want it, you’ve got a hankering for it, there will be supply to satisfy the demand.

But with a minimalist lifestyle, it’s the opposite. It is actually a lifestyle with a lot of white space in it. Again, can you really live with that?

Being a minimalist is basically keeping the things that really brings you real happiness and value to your life. Not that I’m one (although I am trying to be one), but Google is a vast ocean of answers for all the questions in your head!

Most of the time, we’re keeping the clutter in our home because we can’t bear to give them away or throw them out. But these are the clutter that cause the mess in the first place. How long have you been wearing that dress? When was the last time you used your coffee machine? Do you even drink coffee anymore? If all your answers are “No,” then it’s clutter. And it’s time to de-clutter. De-cluttering will not only save your life and home, but it will save you a lot of money too!

Source: Becoming Minimalist | Yoga Journal