For the past twenty six years of my life I have been taught to think that more=more, and mathematically and literally, this would seem to be true. More time spent studying translates into a higher reward in my GPA. More time spent working gives me more money to spend on the things I need and want. The more things I get, the more I will be able to do with those things and the more interesting, attractive, desirable, and seemingly unique I can mold my self image out to be. But what if the truth was just the opposite? Where do we draw the line between two more, and too more?
Our quest for progress and growth that has translated into our obsession with material objects is not a new phenomenon, but something that has been ingrained into our DNA as a species trying to "survive" on this earth since the beginning. Historically, having more meant having a greater chance of survival. Having a surplus meant we had done the best job possible might certainly survive to further the population and provide for future generations. Some might argue, and with some degree of truth, that many indigenous tribes believed in lives without surplus, but in balance with their surroundings; this is again true to some extent, but I believe that the majority of communities around the world have chosen more over less, more often than not. Fast forwarding to today, what, more, do we need?
Since high-school I have moved 11 times and I can say that I am tired of moving the amount of, more, that I have. From motorcycles to golf clubs, TVs, laptops (3 of them) couches, printers, shoes for every occasion (each with a different purpose), racks to hold the shoes, clothes for every situation (in a variety of colors and patterns, just because), dressers and shelves to hold the clothes, portable electronics and the seemingly endless amount of cables and accessories that go along with them, and the list could continue much longer than your or my attention span would tolerate. So what's the point? The point is that I've had enough of, more, and when I look around, I think the rest of the world could use a little less more too.
Most people have heard of minimalism and I am certainly not the first or even in the first 1,000 to try it, but for those who are new to the idea like I am, minimalism simply put is the conscious shift toward minimizing your material possessions to the point where everything you have is used, and adds value to your life rather than weighing you down (both literally and figuratively). I have decided to move toward minimalism to regain freedom from my possessions. In my own Google search for what this might mean, I have found that this might mean something slightly different for each person, as each person and or group might require different things in different amounts to compliment their lives. Let me be clear, I don't plan on, nor do I think it wise to get rid of all of my belongings and live in an empty box of an apartment blissfully staring at the empty walls of nothing. I do, however, believe that in my own case, and for many, maybe a little less, might translate into a little more; more time spent doing and less organizing, more time traveling and less packing, and more relaxation with fewer choices to make on insignificant things.
The move to minimalism has been done by many is many different ways. Some of the highest profile minimalists run a blog aptly named, The Minimalists. They suggest two routes to drastically reduce your baggage, one more immediate than the other. The first is to pack ALL of your belongings up. Over the course of 3 weeks, you unpack and remove ONLY what you need. At the end of the 3 weeks you donate, sell, or trash anything that is still left in the boxes. A short disclaimer on this method that even they mention is that obviously if it's summer, you're not going to be using your winter clothes like a down jacket so maybe doing a round of this in the summer, and one in the winter would be most fitting for your life. The second method they prescribe is called the 30-day Minimalism game. This game is simple and straight-forward in which on the first day you get rid of one item, on the second day two items, the third day three item and so on until you get to the end of 30 days. In the end I don't think it matters much what method you choose, or if you create your own way, the idea is simply to minimize and enjoy the newly found freedom of less.
As another semester of school is about to start, re-packing all of my belongings and then having to unpack the things I need in the midst of rushing around trying to complete my assignments would be simply disastrous, but the 30-day Minimalism game just might do the trick, and is what I have decided to do starting today. I have set up a tote where items can enter but never return back out of and I will continue to add totes and boxes until I have finished my 30-day purge. Today I am starting ahead of schedule by donating a bag of clothing. I'm not quite sure what my apartment and life will look like when I'm done but I'm hoping that as the great Will Ferrel said in, "Step Brother," that there will be "more room for activities" and room for life. To preface and integrate a topic to be discussed at a later date, maybe if more of us choose to live with less we can reverse the paradigm of, more, produced from survivalism and providing for future generations to using less and securing, enough, for our future generations and slowing our global consumption.
