Since I started to think about becoming a minimalist, I have been a hater of stuff. The first things that went out of the window were knick knacks. I never liked them and the few gifts that I procured were discarded. I have pledged to never buy paper napkins again and never to shop for clothes this year. I sold my car in 2008, ride a bicycle everywhere and a 125 cc motorcycle to work.
Usually, when we discard things, we replace them with more stuff. A new bed sheet for the old one, a new printer and a new iPhone. Partly, we are sold things that are meant to break and are either urn-repairable or too costly to repair. It is explained very well in this must watch video about the story of stuff: http://storyofstuff.org/index.php
Some of the righteous few among us tend to find pride in their recycling initiatives to cover for their stuff-replacing habit. Recycling is the last ‘R’ in conservation. The first being ‘Reduce’. A minimalist lifestyle lets one reduce the amount of stuff one needs to live life happily, let alone having to reuse and recycle.
A lot of my friends gripe that they are living with the absolute minimum to live a happy life. Well, the pursuit of happiness is never ending. The objective is to not live with what makes you happy but to not live with what steals your happiness. The pursuit of happiness, a noble aim for the people of America has mutated to the pursuit of stuff.
This is why it is important to travel and see what other people’s minimum living conditions are. Then can we respect the stuff we own and more importantly the stuff we throw away. I am not asking to take from the rich and give to the poor but to use less, whether rich or poor.
It is simple to be happy but so difficult to be simple.
