{"id":9846,"date":"2013-04-26T06:41:22","date_gmt":"2013-04-26T13:41:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/becomingblog.wpengine.com\/?p=9846"},"modified":"2024-03-13T14:16:23","modified_gmt":"2024-03-13T21:16:23","slug":"subtract-to-add","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/subtract-to-add\/","title":{"rendered":"Minimalism: Addition not Subtraction."},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-15246\" src=\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/minimalism-addition.jpg\" alt=\"minimalism-addition\" width=\"600\" height=\"290\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/minimalism-addition.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/minimalism-addition-300x145.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cThe ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 Hans Hofmann<\/p>\n<p>Years ago, my neighbor looked on as I pulled item after item out of my garage. Winter had ended in Vermont and our Saturday morning had been committed to spring cleaning around the house. I chose the garage. Unfortunately, minutes turned into hours. And hours turned into most of the morning and into the afternoon.<\/p>\n<p>Fortunately, my neighbor noticed my frustration and introduced me to a brand new way of life when she asked quite simply, \u201cMaybe you don\u2019t need to own all this stuff?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And a minimalist was born.<\/p>\n<p>Starting immediately, and for the next months (and even years), my wife and I began systematically removing unnecessary possessions from our home. We sold, donated, or recycled items from nearly every aspect of our lives: clothes, toys, decorations, cookware, entertainment, sporting goods, furniture, storage\u2014the list goes on. Eventually, even moving into a smaller house.<\/p>\n<p>As a result, we have discovered some <a href=\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/minimalism-benefits\/\">amazingly practical benefits<\/a> to owning less. We have more money left in our pockets. We have more time available at our disposal. We have removed ourselves from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/escaping-excessive-consumerism\/\">consumer-driven culture<\/a> around us. We experience less stress on a daily basis. And we have discovered more freedom to pursue the things in life that we truly value.<\/p>\n<p>Because we have chosen to live with less, we have found more opportunity to invest in relationships, grow spiritually, experience gratitude, express generosity, discover truth, and find <a href=\"http:\/\/zenhabits.net\/contentment\/\">contentment<\/a>. With our newfound time, money, and energy, we are free to pursue our greatest passions.<\/p>\n<p>An important realization quickly followed. Minimalism is less about the things you remove and more about the things you add. The joy of minimalism lies in what you choose to pursue with your life rather than material possessions. And in that way, minimalism is far more about addition than it is about subtraction.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small; text-align: right;\">Image:\u00a0<\/span>*m5<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cThe ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.\u201d\u00a0\u2014 Hans Hofmann Years ago, my neighbor looked on as I pulled item after item out of my garage. Winter had ended in Vermont and our Saturday morning had been committed to spring cleaning around the house. I chose the garage. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false},"categories":[440],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Minimalism: Addition not Subtraction.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/subtract-to-add\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Minimalism: Addition not Subtraction.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cThe ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.\u201d\u00a0\u2014 Hans Hofmann Years ago, my neighbor looked on as I pulled item after item out of my garage. Winter had ended in Vermont and our Saturday morning had been committed to spring cleaning around the house. I chose the garage. [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/subtract-to-add\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Becoming Minimalist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/becomingminimalist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/becomingminimalist\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-04-26T13:41:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-03-13T21:16:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/minimalism-addition.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"joshua becker\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@joshua_becker\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@joshua_becker\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"joshua becker\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/subtract-to-add\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/subtract-to-add\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"joshua becker\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a6475137c3080b3e68cb23aa9e40ec11\"},\"headline\":\"Minimalism: Addition not Subtraction.\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-04-26T13:41:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-03-13T21:16:23+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/subtract-to-add\/\"},\"wordCount\":328,\"commentCount\":50,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/subtract-to-add\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/minimalism-addition.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"articles\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/subtract-to-add\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/subtract-to-add\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/subtract-to-add\/\",\"name\":\"Minimalism: Addition not Subtraction.\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/subtract-to-add\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/subtract-to-add\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/minimalism-addition.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-04-26T13:41:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-03-13T21:16:23+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/subtract-to-add\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/subtract-to-add\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/subtract-to-add\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/minimalism-addition.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/minimalism-addition.jpg\",\"width\":600,\"height\":290},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/subtract-to-add\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Minimalism: Addition not Subtraction.\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/\",\"name\":\"Becoming Minimalist\",\"description\":\"Own less. Live more.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Becoming Minimalist\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/becoming_minimalistA.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/becoming_minimalistA.jpg\",\"width\":2549,\"height\":898,\"caption\":\"Becoming Minimalist\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/becomingminimalist\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/joshua_becker\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/joshua_becker\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/JoshuaBecker\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a6475137c3080b3e68cb23aa9e40ec11\",\"name\":\"joshua becker\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e115429cac082338e5a78b84564f7406?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.becomingminimalist.com%2Fwp-content%2Fthemes%2Fbecoming-minimalist%2Fimages%2Fgravatar-bm.png&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e115429cac082338e5a78b84564f7406?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.becomingminimalist.com%2Fwp-content%2Fthemes%2Fbecoming-minimalist%2Fimages%2Fgravatar-bm.png&r=g\",\"caption\":\"joshua becker\"},\"description\":\"Joshua Becker is the creator of Becoming Minimalist, a website dedicated to simplifying life. He has published four books on minimalism, with some being named best sellers by Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Amazon, Audible, and Publisher's Weekly. Joshua has also made live appearances on Wall Street Journal, CBS Evening News, Huffington Post Live, and more.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/becomingminimalist\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/@joshua_becker\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/c\/joshuabecker\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/author\/jbecker12\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Minimalism: Addition not Subtraction.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/subtract-to-add\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Minimalism: Addition not Subtraction.","og_description":"\u201cThe ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.\u201d\u00a0\u2014 Hans Hofmann Years ago, my neighbor looked on as I pulled item after item out of my garage. Winter had ended in Vermont and our Saturday morning had been committed to spring cleaning around the house. I chose the garage. [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/subtract-to-add\/","og_site_name":"Becoming Minimalist","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/becomingminimalist","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/becomingminimalist\/","article_published_time":"2013-04-26T13:41:22+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-03-13T21:16:23+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/minimalism-addition.jpg"}],"author":"joshua becker","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@joshua_becker","twitter_site":"@joshua_becker","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"joshua becker","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/subtract-to-add\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/subtract-to-add\/"},"author":{"name":"joshua becker","@id":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a6475137c3080b3e68cb23aa9e40ec11"},"headline":"Minimalism: Addition not Subtraction.","datePublished":"2013-04-26T13:41:22+00:00","dateModified":"2024-03-13T21:16:23+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/subtract-to-add\/"},"wordCount":328,"commentCount":50,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/subtract-to-add\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/minimalism-addition.jpg","articleSection":["articles"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/subtract-to-add\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/subtract-to-add\/","url":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/subtract-to-add\/","name":"Minimalism: Addition not Subtraction.","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/subtract-to-add\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/subtract-to-add\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/minimalism-addition.jpg","datePublished":"2013-04-26T13:41:22+00:00","dateModified":"2024-03-13T21:16:23+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/subtract-to-add\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/subtract-to-add\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/subtract-to-add\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/minimalism-addition.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/minimalism-addition.jpg","width":600,"height":290},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/subtract-to-add\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Minimalism: Addition not Subtraction."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/","name":"Becoming Minimalist","description":"Own less. Live more.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/#organization","name":"Becoming Minimalist","url":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/becoming_minimalistA.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/becoming_minimalistA.jpg","width":2549,"height":898,"caption":"Becoming Minimalist"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/becomingminimalist","https:\/\/x.com\/joshua_becker","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/joshua_becker\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/JoshuaBecker"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a6475137c3080b3e68cb23aa9e40ec11","name":"joshua becker","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e115429cac082338e5a78b84564f7406?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.becomingminimalist.com%2Fwp-content%2Fthemes%2Fbecoming-minimalist%2Fimages%2Fgravatar-bm.png&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e115429cac082338e5a78b84564f7406?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.becomingminimalist.com%2Fwp-content%2Fthemes%2Fbecoming-minimalist%2Fimages%2Fgravatar-bm.png&r=g","caption":"joshua becker"},"description":"Joshua Becker is the creator of Becoming Minimalist, a website dedicated to simplifying life. He has published four books on minimalism, with some being named best sellers by Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Amazon, Audible, and Publisher's Weekly. Joshua has also made live appearances on Wall Street Journal, CBS Evening News, Huffington Post Live, and more.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/becomingminimalist\/","https:\/\/x.com\/@joshua_becker","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/c\/joshuabecker"],"url":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/author\/jbecker12\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9846"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9846"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9846\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30134,"href":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9846\/revisions\/30134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}