The More of Less

Have you ever looked around your home and felt overwhelmed by just how much stuff you have? You’re not alone. Millions of people slave away to buy the latest gadget only to end up feeling just as dissatisfied as before.

But things are starting to change. There’s a new movement on the horizon that’s taking on mindless consumer culture and embracing a more fulfilling life: minimalism. Its aim is to help you get rid of unnecessary possessions that stop you devoting your energies to doing the things that matter most.

The author embraced minimalism during the Memorial Day weekend of 2008. That was when he suddenly realized that consumerism was stopping him living his best life. This revelation came after he’d decided to sort through his family’s cluttered garage. It was supposed to be a quick affair, but it ended up taking hours of hard graft.

As he was sorting and cleaning, he thought back to all the other times he’d tried to impose order on his belongings. Why had he always come away from those cleaning stints feeling so despondent?

Just as he was pondering that question, his neighbor stopped by. Noticing his frustration, she told him about her daughter who’d just become a minimalist and was always reminding her that she didn’t need all of the things she owned.

That was an epiphany. There he was, wasting his time in the garage sorting through unneeded things rather than spending quality time with his family!

After talking it through with his wife, he decided to start reducing the number of things he owned. He then set up Becoming Minimalist, a blog that documented his new clutter-free lifestyle.

The site clearly touched a nerve. Today, it has over one million monthly readers and has converted thousands of people to minimalism.

In the following blinks, we’ll take a closer look at what minimalism is all about. As you’ll see, the popular perception that it’s about depriving yourself of the good things in life is wide of the mark.