being a minimalist is not my greatest goal in life. it is not my greatest obsession.
i am passionate about my soul, my wife, my kids, loving others, and influencing others. therefore, i will focus on these priorities above everything else.
i am a husband and father first, not a minimalist first.
minimalism is a means to an end. it removes physical distractions so that my greatest priorities can be elevated. it allows my life to be defined by eternal things, not by the possessions in my home. minimalism is a means to that end, but it is not the end itself.
minimalism simplifies life. but obsessing about minimalism begins to complicate it again. i refuse to allow possessions to define my life – not the collection of them or the removal of them.
i want to hear “you are a good daddy,” not “you are good at being a minimalist.” and i want people to remember me as “their friend,” not “the minimalist.”
therefore, i choose minimalism. but it will never become an obsession.
it will define my lifestyle, but not my life.
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Yes, absolutely. It can be too easy to become obsessed with an “ism” instead of a true goal behind the ism. Culling possessions is a means to an end, not the end in itself. Thank you for this post, Joshua.
That’s what I’ve been writing about from day one at thesimplerlife.net. Simplicity is a tool to help me reach a life directed by my values, not the other way around.
Love it! What you *do* should not define who and what you are. I like the way you have it in perspective, that minimalism is a tool.
Good stuff. Totally agree.
Thanks for the reminder!
I remember you as funny. And a good friend. Can we be friends?
See you in July.
Great point! I was just reading today about how great ideals like simplicity or minimalism can become in themselves idols if we become so focused on them that we loose sight of hte bigger picture of why we’re doing them. thanks so much for the reminder- I really needed to hear that today.
On a side note- I just stumbled across your blog a few weeks ago, but I resonate to deeply with everything you say & love hte quotes you share. Thank you SO much for taking the time to share your perspective here. I’m sure there are so many others who benefit from it as much as I do!
Thank you! In just THINKING about reducing my possessions, I sometimes feel stressed, disconnected, and overwhelmed. You’re perspective is beautiful, and I really appreciate you sharing it.
If minimalsim is simply an external change that we hope will change our souls, it probably won’t work. If,however, it is a natural outgrowth of changes we’ve made deep down, it’s all good. I am working on the deeper changes and finding my desire for stuff is just dying away without force.
Excellent! I completely agree with you! Thanks for the reminder.
Thank you for this post. Sometimes I find myself “becoming obsessed” with the idea. It helps to read this and remember just why I started becoming a minimalist in the first place!
Yes, thanks for this post. I just posted some of my thoughts on minimalism on my own blog, and said:
I don’t want to sit around just counting my possessions over and over making sure I didn’t accidentally get to 101. It’s like one of the central ironies of being childfree… some of the childfree message boards out there are mostly talking about children, and in the same way, some of the minimalist bloggers out there are largely talking about their possessions. Hmmmmmm.
It’s nice to see a certified minimalist blogger remembering that it’s all a means to an end. I’ve taken maybe two steps down a very long path but I’m already concerned that it could become its own obsession; right now I do spend a fair bit of time culling my stuff. A period of doing so seems to be necessary but I hope it doesn’t last too long.
Good thing too. Being obsessed and passionate are two different things. Short and simple post, like it.
Well said! Like everything else in life, people can get obsessed with it. I love your quote, “It will define my lifestyle, but not my life.”
couldn’t have said it better myself :)
As in life people get caught up in “stuff” and not living life. Living a life of minimalism can sometimes catch us too. Like you, I want people to say when I die, she was a great mom, wife, friend, daughter and sister. Not, she sure had an organized house.
Becoming obsessed with minimalism could, in some cases, be connected to an emotional imbalance similar to anorexia, for example.The extreme minimalist may have fears and insecurities associated with losing/ retaining/ controlling/ sharing their “stuff”.
Having said that I do think that the principles behind “minimilism” can bring balance into our lives, provided we see the biger picture.
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