there are countless articles written on the steps to a minimalist lifestyle. this is where we started: a guide to creating a minimalist home.
today, as a supplement, we offer 8 “outside of the box” simplicity living tips that you haven’t read anywhere else:
- buy things for their usefulness rather than their status. stop trying to impress others with your stuff and start trying to impress them with your life.
- reject anything that is producing an addiction in you. refuse to be a slave to anything: coffee, cigarettes, soda, television, chocolate, alcohol…
- develop a habit of giving things away. most of us could get rid of half of our possessions without any serious sacrifice.
- refuse to be propagandized by modern gadgetry. technology doesn’t always make your life simpler. as a matter of fact, most of the time it just makes your life more cluttered.
- learn to enjoy things without owning them. ownership is nothing, access is everything.
- develop a deeper appreciation for nature.
- reject anything that breeds the oppression of others. bananas, coffee, etc.
- never underestimate the freedom of plain, honest speech. a lack of simplicity in one area, such as speech, can undermine simplicity in every area.
di says
If you possess it, you’ll need to pay for it, store it, care for it and probably repair it.
di says
Collecting is addicting.
Collecting is not practical.
di says
I’ve given away more things that have come my way and still have too much.
wu wei says
“Develop a habit of giving things away. ~ I love this one!
Giving away stuff is a statement that the thing doesn’t own you and it tells the universe that you’re open to accept more of Life and less stuff…
Have you had someone get really confused when you offer to give them something for free? It’s funny. Sme people believe that they HAVE TO pay for things so they kinda freak when you offer something for nothing – Funny!
Give away stuff and receive peace.
di says
We’ve always passed things on to friends, family, neighbors and charitable organizations.
It’s just a big part of who we are. It saves us time and others money.
I keep an ongoing bag in the closet. When someone visits, I’ll ask them if they’d like to look through a few things that I no longer need.
If they know of someone else that could use something, I encourage them to take it and pass it on.
Catz says
I was going to ask… how do I stop drinking coffee, I need it when I’m stressed! Then I thought again…
Laurie says
Thanks for your reply. I was glad to see these wonderful simplicity principles in a new context (your blog). Because Foster’s book is about “Spiritual Disciplines”, many readers might not have come across it otherwise. Peace.
Laurie says
The 8 “outside the box” principles were lifted directly from the chapter on Simplicity in Richard J. Foster’s classic book, Celebration of Discipline. How can you say this hasn’t been read before?
joshua becker says
Impressive. And a good clarification that I should have added later. Thanks for giving the proper credit. I had completely forgotten about this post.
I had originally found these tips on some class notes from a college course that I had taken years ago – which were clearly lifted from the Richard Foster book.
When I wrote, “which you haven’t read anywhere else,” I was speaking generally to my readers… which weren’t very many at the time.
Red says
“Reject anything that breeds the oppression of others.” Very good tip. We all need to research what we’re buying before we support companies that oppress their employees. Good for you!
Barbara@BabyBloggingBoomer says
I like this one. It really hit home.