So. I have been hearing about minimalism for awhile. I am giving you my ponderings ...
Minimalists have a minimum amount of stuff. They have less - when more might be the usual desired amount. My theory is that our society is generally pretty materialistic so it's a relative term...
People who are minimalists don't want to have a lot of stuff. I think minimalism started as a way to counteract the excessive materialism that has been valued by our society. Minimal furniture, minimal knickknacks, minimal stuff. It's not really about saving money, it's about avoiding clutter and materialistic possessing. It's sort of has a side effect of frugality but it's not about saving money as much as it's about not having stuff you don't need. I think that they are willing to spend money on high quality stuff just not stuff they don't REALLY need. However, it's not just about money period. So free offerings can be passed up and should be unless you really need it. Good theory in theory.
It has to be different for everyone. I am not a fan of clutter and I am not a fan of base materialism. However... I'm not a fan of major pre-planning, awesome budgeting or cleaning and organizing either! I'm pretty frugal. I like to get rid of extraneous stuff. I think, though that minimalism is more appropriate in a city setting. In my imaginary apartment in the city, I would embrace minimalism because there is no space in the apartment or in the city. Out here in the wilderness, it's a different story! I have space for stuff, no worries! Also, dining out and shopping are not easier than fixing dinner or planning ahead - it's actually hard to impulsively go out to dinner - there are only two viable options!
I believe in getting rid of old things that are worn out, don't fit or are out of style. I believe in minimizing extra stuff - blankets, home furnishings, extra stuff. On the other hand, I don't mind knickknacks - I easily have hundreds of rocks and shells and little pieces of wood sitting around. I have a gazillion people pictures and could easily induldge in more. I love art and could easily add more.
I think I will be more minimal when Marek is grown... I could be horribly wrong!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Denise. I thought minimalism was basically
ReplyDeletejust surrounding yourself with the things you truley love and dumping the rest without an actual number count of the number of items. I've been dumping all kinds of stuff and love it because I was was tired of cleaning it! Also, I'm not frugal so all this stuff just represented years of mindless spending and filling my house up just to fill it up. None of the stuff that I donated even had any sentimental value. I'm taking steps to choose life not stuff. But if you can aquire you stuff while actually living and not just shopping for more and more stuff then that's really good in my opinion.
It's a good theory