The Philosophy of Minimalism: Less Stuff, More You

Vocabulary Review

Conspiring - working together to do something secret and often harmful.

Example: The two friends were caught conspiring to play a prank on their teacher.

Clutter - a collection of things lying around in an untidy way.

Example: There was so much clutter on his desk that he couldn't find his keys.

Contemplate - to think deeply and at length about something.

Example: She sat on the park bench to contemplate her next career move.

Refine - to improve something by making small changes, especially to make it more accurate or useful.

Example: He needed to refine his essay to make the main points clearer.

Declutter - to remove unnecessary items from an untidy place.

Example: I spent the entire weekend trying to declutter my closet.

Unavoidable - impossible to prevent or avoid.

Example: Getting wet during the rainstorm was unavoidable since I forgot my umbrella.

Isolated - feeling alone and without friends or help.

Example: After moving to a new city, he felt isolated from his old friends.

Comparatively - in comparison with something else.

Example: The new phone is good, but comparatively, the old model was a better value.

Consumerism - the belief that it is good for people to spend a lot of money on goods and services.

Example: The documentary criticized modern consumerism and its effect on the environment.

The odd man out - a person or thing that is different from or out of place among others.

Example: Since he was the only one who didn't like pizza, he felt like the odd man out at the party.

Dip your toe in the water - to start to do something slowly and cautiously.

Example: I decided to dip my toe in the water by taking one evening class before committing to a full degree.

Rome wasn't built in a day - important work takes time.

Example: Learning a new language is hard, but just remember that Rome wasn't built in a day.

How do you know what you want in a world full of advertisers and marketers conspiring against you to fill your mind with endless desire and to empty your wallet? The Japanese Zen Buddhists created the idea of minimalism because they believe that you cannot know ourselves (or what you truly want) if you are surrounded by clutter. If you want to save some money, be happier, and make our houses easier to clean, then you might want to adopt a minimalist lifestyle.

The Japanese Zen Buddhists have a concept of "ma," which means "empty space." Empty space, according to Zen,  is important because it forces contemplation, which helps you to discover yourself, know what you want, and organize and refine your thoughts. However, it is also something that is difficult to make time for in today's culture of consumerism and endless shopping. Minimalism is essentially the idea that we should only own what we absolutely need, while also maintaining a lot of empty space.

On the one hand, minimalism can have some very practical benefits. It helps you to save money, time, the environment, and even your mental health. It’s no surprise that if you buy less stuff, you will save money, but you might not have thought about how much time you waste cleaning and decluttering your house. With fewer items, you'll find that keeping a clean and organized house is quicker and simpler. Not only that, but by reducing clutter, you’ll also have a clearer mind, as they say, a messy house is a messy mind. Being a minimalist can help keep your mind clear, your wallet full, and save you a ton of time on cleaning the house.

However, while minimalism does offer many benefits, it may also come with some challenges. Many people who live minimalist lifestyles often complain about judgement from others who do not understand their unique lifestyle. 

This might not seem so bad at first, but let's imagine it's your birthday or a major holiday such as Christmas where receiving gifts is unavoidable. Now let's suppose you have just received several gifts, perhaps a painting to put on the wall, a coffee maker, and some large Bluetooth speakers. Now you have to decide what to do with all these gifts while at the same time avoid hurting others’ feelings.

Another common issue of living a truly minimalist lifestyle is that you will likely feel somewhat isolated or at least comparatively less social. Unfortunately, many social activities these days revolve around consumerism and shopping, and if you don't shop and buy things just for fun, then you risk being the odd man out.

The best way to start living a minimalist lifestyle is to just dip your toe in the water, its much better to take it slow in the beginning and see if you like it. You can start by trying to remove just one unnecessary item from each room that you no longer need and do this every week. This may seem like a small step, but over a few months, you will see a significant difference. 

To maintain your new lifestyle change and prevent clutter from returning, you could also adopt the Japanese Zen rule of "one in, two out," which means you have to remove two items from your home every time you bring a new one in. The goal of this is to reduce your clutter over time, make smarter purchases, and of course to stop yourself from buying something you don't need. Remember, becoming a minimalist is a process, it doesn't happen overnight; as the saying goes, Rome wasn't built in a day.

Discussion

Questions:

1. What does the article say are the pros and cons of being a minimalist? Can you think of any others?

2. What is one way to start living a minimalist lifestyle?

3. Do you ever feel like your home is too cluttered?

4. The article says that a messy bed leads to a messy mind, do you agree?

5. If you could only keep three of your possessions, what would you keep?

6. Do you have any possessions that have sentimental value to you?

More Questions:

1. What are three things you would like to change about your lifestyle and why?

2. Some say being rich does not only mean having a lot of a money, would you rather be rich with money, love, experience, or something else?

3. Have you ever bought something and regretted it after?

4. The article says that a lot of social activities revolve around consumerism, can you think of some examples of this?

5. What are some social activities that do not include buying things?

6. Have you ever received a gift you did not like? What did you do/would you do?