Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Jeffrey Tang.
“I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life…” – Henry David Thoreau
Some people look at the minimalist movement and see a bunch of ascetics and misers, a group of modern monks who willingly deprive themselves of the material pleasures in life.
That’s not what I see.
In my eyes, minimalism isn’t about depriving yourself or about undergoing sacrificial suffering. It’s not about being miserly with your money or your time or your space.
Rather, minimalism is about becoming a high connoisseur of life. Being willing to burn away the chaff in order to enjoy the wheat of life, like a sommelier who discards a thousand cheap imitations in favor of a single bottle of fine wine, or like the biblical merchant who sells all his belongings to purchase a pearl of surpassing beauty.
Think about it:
- When you clear the clutter from your closet, what are you doing if not making room for the enjoyment of the few quality items you keep?
- When you sell off unneeded books and gadgets and toys, what are you doing if not highlighting the usefulness of the ones that remain?
- When you create space in your life, when you empty your schedule, or your inbox, or your to-do list, what are you doing if not making room for better experiences, better communication, better work?
In Rework, Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson write: “Be a curator. You don’t make a great museum by putting all the art in the world into a single room. That’s a warehouse. What makes a museum great is the stuff that’s not on the walls … it’s the stuff you leave out that matters.”
Jason and David were writing about the art of business – but their advice applies to the art of life as well.
Be a curator of life. Edit. Leave out the junky parts. Don’t be afraid to say no – but when you find something worth saying yes to – treasure it. Enjoy it. Hang it on the walls of your museum and be proud of it.
When you look back in 20, 30, 60 years, what would you rather see? A life filled with stacks of stuff and a ton of obligations and a lot of scurrying around from errand to errand? Or a life centered around carefully gathering valuable experiences and items and goals?
Because that’s the other half of minimalism. The half where less gives way to more: more experiences, more enjoyment, more purpose, more connections, more laughter, more independence, more passion, more great work. The best kind of more.
We can let the world label us misers, or we can show them that we’re connoisseurs. Which do you prefer?
Marlina says
I am wondering what is the 80/20 ratio? My husband and I have kept a lot of things for our grown daughters in plastic bins for years. While trying to give my daughters the bins it is very clear that they really do not want all of the plastic bins full of their childhood toys, memories etc… But I have an extremely hard time just getting rid of them…hoping I will get better at this.
Liz R. says
I have a box of things from when my daughter was a baby (she’s 15). I kept it small by choosing my very favorite of each item, pajamas, stuffed animals, etc. It was enough to satisfy my sentimenal side but not so much to add clutter.
Katie O'Brien says
What a beautifully written article reminding us minimalism has nothing to do with lack. And that frugality and minimalism don’t necessarily go hand in hand. I choose to embrace minimalism in my life and business because of all it adds to my life rather than what it appears I’m clearing away.
Minimalism to me simply means more purposeful living.
Bruce Elkin says
Excellent piece. A simple or minimalist life is about making room for what matters most in life, work, relationships… Simplifying is not primarily about solving problems, it is about creating — bringing into being — what we most deeply care about and aspire to. And giving it to the world.
Ralph says
With immigrants and refugees flooding in, weigh them down with your donated stuff and become a light traveller yourself.
Kevin @ ChristianSimplicity says
Great post. From my perspective it reminds me of this quote by Oswald Chambers.
God never tells us to give up things just for the sake of giving them up, but He tells us to give them up for the sake of the only thing worth having, namely, life with Himself. It is a matter of loosening the bands that hold back our lives.
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Dave says
Good article. I think the message is another interpretation of the 80/20 rule. Nothing new, really – just a fresh way to interpret it in this modern life we live.
Bernadette says
Brilliant post. Thank you! This is a must share. The way you describe it is exactly how it truly feels for myself and my husband – clearing away the clutter to be a connoisseur of life, focused consciously on what matters most to us. I often wonder if people think we’ve gone mad, or perceive our minimalism and nomadic life now as being woo-woo spiritual or if they think we’re anti ‘things’ or anti the way they live their lives. On the contrary! We just want to spend the rest of our life immersed in meaningful experiences, with the things, people and situations that are most valuable to us and minimalism has been a pathway which practically supports that vision and aligns to our values – to me this is a no-brainer rather than looking back at the end of our life… like you say… to see “A life filled with stacks of stuff and a ton of obligations and a lot of scurrying around from errand to errand?”
Thanks Jeffrey for a great post and thanks Joshua for sharing! :)
Best wishes
Bernadette