Minimalism - Embracing Simplicity

Minimalism

EMBRACING SIMPLICITY

Author: Katherine Pretorius

Overscheduled calendars crowded physical space and the inability to focus on the things that truly matter can leave you feeling overwhelmed.

Minimalism can help you create more space in your home and your life. Space to spend more time doing things you want to do with the people you want to spend time with. It may also help to make radical lifestyle changes over time, like changing careers or exploring entrepreneurship.

What is Minimalism?
Minimalism is often defined as a design or style where the simplest and fewest elements are used to create the maximum effect. Its origins can be found in the arts, where simple lines and fewer colours are used and placed. Recently, it has become representative of a lifestyle that aims to remove clutter from all facets of life.

Minimalism is about owning only what adds value and meaning to your life (as well as the lives of the people you care about) and removing the rest. It's about clearing the clutter and using your time and energy for the remaining things. We only have a certain amount of energy, time, and space in our lives. There are many different approaches to minimalism, but it's really just a tool to help you prioritise what's essential in your life and make the most of it; you must be intentional about how you live each day.

As much as I'd like to say that once you've applied minimalism to your life, you're done—that's not the case. We're all evolving beings, and as our needs and lives change, so does everything else. Just like the weeds in your yard, embracing minimalism in your life requires regular maintenance. It is not a once-and-done thing, although it does get easier as you go along.

Minimalism helps you to create space—physically, mentally, emotionally, and with your resources and time—but it's not the end goal. What comes next is building the habits to form the foundation you need to do more of what matters to you. And with the space cleared and foundation of practices built to create things, find your creativity and positively impact the world.

People think owning expensive luxury items leads to a life of fulfilment because we've been taught that our sense of self-worth comes from the validation of others.

But the truth is, true fulfilment doesn't come from owning material possessions. It comes from making genuine connections with people, making memories, building healthy relationships (especially with yourself), having a sense of purpose and living a life of simplicity.

It may seem like an overwhelming challenge at first, but as you untangle the life you built around owning more things, you'll find the stress disappearing and the world starting to slow down. Those choices you make will begin to build muscle that will fundamentally change the way you live your life.

In the end, minimalism is less about owning fewer items and more about actively deciding what kind of things genuinely matter to you.

"The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak." - Hans Hofmann