Minimalism: to have nothing in one’s life that is not known to be useful, purposeful, or meaningful.

This is a concept lost on the current living generations, more so, the younger generation.

People today seem to be fixated on acquiring more and more “stuff” and the idea that all of that “stuff” is the key to happiness.

Millions of homes, and public storage containers, are simply filled to the brim with material objects that serve no purpose or have no meaning. The are the objects that people either say they need, or that they’re going to use, or going to get rid of, but yet none of those things ever seem to happen.

As a society that revolves around a materialistic world, we have so much more “stuff” than we would ever be able to use.

That’s where minimalism comes into play.

Minimalism is not a concrete idea set in stone with rules, but something that means something different to everybody, even those who don’t embrace it.

For some, minimalism is simply cleaning out a closet, or getting rid of outdated electronics and old books; mostly just creating more space with the space they have.

For others, its downsizing. A smaller place to live, little to no useless objects, and more efficient use of space.

But then there’s those who take minimalism to an extreme, and carry all of their belongings on their back, because they value few enough possessions to do so after removing clutter from their lives.

Minimalism is in the eye of the beholder. There is no right or wrong way to go about it.

There are two men made famous by their belief and execution of minimalism. Referring to themselves as “The Minimalists,” they travel the country sharing this very idea.

Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus are famous for their book, Everything That Remains, in which they focus on the impact of minimalism on every aspect of human life, such as wellbeing and general happiness.

Also featuring these two crusaders for clutter control, is a documentary that follows them on their journey to spread the idea of minimalism every ear willing to listen.

In this video, Millburn and Nicodemus get a chance to learn and share the stories of several others who have chosen the same minimalistic path that they address. People share their stories of why they chose to minimize their life into only things that they felt were truly important to them, and each one is different and inspirational.

In every situation, even though each individual had a different understanding of the term “minimalism,” these people were immensely happy with their choice to live simply; they were happier living as a minimalist than when they had money, fancy cars, large houses, and countless meaningless possessions.

All in all, the idea is to “love people and use things, because the opposite never works.”