Minimalism

Time indeed flies so fast, I didn't realize and It's already week four. Anyhow, in our last session , we continued with the discussion on fast fashion and mindless consumerism, but now instead of focusing on the problems we focused on one of the main change that we all can implement in our lives- Minimalism. And even though I have heard about this in many instances I never cared to pay attention on this topic until now. And I would now like to share what all I have learned about this philosophy of living with less. So, without wasting any more time let's dive into the session!

Minimalism refers to the lifestyle that is all about living more deliberately with less, though, ironically this word carries a lot of weight these days. Now many of us are talking abut minimalist philosophy, there are podcasts, documentaries and even books being made on this topic. But why is living with less important these days? How does it help us? Why is Minimalism suddenly being given so much importance? These are some questions that you should now the answers to, in order to better understand the depth and importance of practicing Minimalism. 

In our last session, we watched a documentary on people who started practicing Minimalism, so that they can live more meaningful lives. They all had successful jobs, and every single thing that they could possess, but they still got rid of excess stuff and are trying to live life based on experiences rather than worldly possessions. And why is that? Because even though they had all this stuff , there was this gaping void in their lives, they lived from paycheck to paycheck, spending their money faster than they earned it and all for what? Just so they can feel happy, so that they can fill the void they are feeling with all of that stuff. But they soon realized how they weren't actually happy at all, that even though they had everything they can have, there's still no ending to the desire of wanting more. It just never ends. If you shop frequently, I am sure you all must be able to relate to this. But think about why does this happen? Why do we keep longing for more? According to the documentary, we all face a biologically based delusional craving which is actually a strategy for keeping animals alive in harsh conditions. And because of the emptiness that we feel we engage in this delusional craving, always clawing and scratching for more. 

Advertisements and other sources of media keeps adding on to this delusion. They try to show the delusion of how our lives should look like, how they can be perfect: through movies, advertisements and even books. And all this façade didn't just happen suddenly, it has been a slow evolution. It is something that is being sold to us over say by the past 100 years slowly but surely by those who wants us to believe that we really need these items. But again, do we really need them? I mean consider an example, you buy your first car because you need it, but second comes about because you get tired of the first one. And I'm not saying it's your fault, as human we are wired to become dissatisfied and it's an addiction really! We think we need those items while they are just our desires, and once we start questioning those desires and start letting them go, trust me you'll definitely feel freer, happier and lighter! So look around and think about how many things that you own are actually needed.

Another reason behind our tendency to buy more and fill our lives with materialistic things is that we think it defines our personality and character in a society. But if we just instead of focusing on buying those materialistic things, focus more on developing healthy relationships with that society, we might be able to live a more joyful life and grow as individuals. Not only this, with minimalism we can even contribute our part in protecting the environment for our future generations. Although, I know bringing such a drastic change in our life, is not an easy task. Since I have learned about this, even it has been really hard for me to stop the tempt of buying things, but we have got to atleast try and educate others too about it. We'll have to start atleast from somewhere right?

All these images have been sourced from Pinterest.