IT IS COMPLETELY ACHIEVABLE.īecoming a minimalist is completely achievable. After the external clutter has been removed, we create the space to address the deepest heart issues that impact our relationships and life. I have learned embracing this lifestyle is always a matter of the heart. And while it helps people find freedom from external clutter, it does not take the next step of helping people find freedom and unity in their heart and soul. The book concentrates almost exclusively on the externals of life. The principles outlined in the book have helped hundreds of thousands find freedom by removing much of the physical clutter in their homes. In my first book, Simplify, I outline 7 guiding principles to help anyone declutter their home and life. And when we meet someone living a simplified life, we often recognize that we have been chasing after the wrong things all along. It invites us to slow down, consume less, but enjoy more. While most people are chasing after success, glamour, and fame, minimalism calls out to us with a smaller, quieter, calmer voice. Yet, they live a life that is attractive and inviting. They don‘t fit into the consumerist culture that is promoted by corporations and politicians. People who live simple lives are not championed by the media in the same way. Their lives are held up as the golden standard and are envied by many. They are photographed for magazines, interviewed on the radio, and recorded for television. We live in a world that idolizes celebrities. It is reliable, dependable and unfluctuating. It is the same life on Friday evening as it is on Sunday morning… as it is on Monday morning. It has learned a lifestyle that is completely transferable no matter the situation. On the other hand, a simple life is united and consistent. They are tossed and turned by the most recent advertising campaign or the demands of their employer. The lifestyle they have chosen requires them to portray a certain external image dependent upon their circumstances. They live one life around their family, one life around their co-workers, and another life around their neighbors. IT IS FREEDOM FROM DUPLICITY.Īlthough nobody intentionally chooses it, most people live in duplicity. It values the intentional endeavors that add value to life. It aims to remove the frivolous and keep the significant. We remain in constant connection with others through our cell phones, but true life-changing relationships continue to elude us.īecoming a minimalist slows down life and frees us from this modern hysteria to live faster. We rush from one activity to another-even multitasking along the way-but never seem to get anything done. We work long, passionate hours to pay the bills, but fall deeper into debt every day. We are too hurried, too rushed, and too stressed. In doing so, we find a more abundant life. It lets us see all that we already have and reminds us to be grateful. It values relationships, experiences, and soul-care. It steps off the treadmill of consumerism and dares to seek happiness elsewhere. Embracing minimalism brings freedom from the all-consuming passion to possess. They believe that more is better and have inadvertently subscribed to the idea that happiness can be purchased at a department store.īut they are wrong. Modern culture has bought into the lie that the good life is found in accumulating things-in possessing as much as possible. IT IS FREEDOM FROM THE PASSION TO POSSESS. Intentionality looks different for everybody, as no two individuals are the same, but it requires each of us to dive deeper and become more introspective about our values and passions. As a result, it forces improvements in almost all aspects of your life. It is a life that forces intentionality upon us. At its core, being a minimalist means intentionally promoting the things we most value and removing everything that distracts us from it. It is marked by clarity, purpose, and intentionality. When people ask follow-up questions that allow me to explain simple living further, I like to add: IT IS INTENTIONALITY. I am removing the distraction of excess possessions so I can focus more on those things that matter most.īut oftentimes I desire to answer more in-depth. Like I mentioned before, minimalism is intentionally living with only the things I really need-those items that support my purpose. I typically answer them with a short, simple explanation: MINIMALISM IS OWNING FEWER POSSESSIONS. I am often asked the question, “So what is minimalism anyway?” It is a question I receive from people I have just met and from people I have known for many years. “Simplicity, clarity, singleness: These are the attributes that give our lives power and vividness and joy as they are also the marks of great art.” -Richard Holloway
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