Minimalist Lifestyle
Minimalism seems to be a word that is used predominantly with art or design, but I’m beginning to think it’s a good way to describe a lifestyle.
While I’m still a considerable hypocrite with most things I say on here, I feel as though one day my life will be quite simple.
A few years ago my fiancee and I decided to get a joint bank account. Financially we were the one entity – neither of us kept tabs on money spent on each other, so it made sense to join the accounts. All of a sudden I realised how much easier it was for the both of us. In the process I got rid of my Visa card, my high interest account, my normal account, and an account that I used to use for business and never bothered to close. So much less paperwork, so much less hassle!
Next up I decided to start cleaning up my old email accounts and other internet accounts. You know, the ones that bug you from time to time about coming back to a forum or that someone has replied to a post from two years ago. Took a while, but I sorted it out. Even just by removing these small annoyances from my life I feel more relaxed.
Since then I have been slowly selling small things from my spare room on eBay. I have a ridiculous amount of bike parts, car parts and computer parts just wasting space and driving me nuts every time I walk in there. It’s taking time, but I’m slowly getting rid of the gear that I don’t need.
I’ve mentioned my bike before that I ride to work on. It’s a single-speed. One gear. Pure simplicity! You’re never in the wrong gear, and there are no derailleurs to break and leave you stranded at 8am in the rain. It’s mentally so much more enjoyable to ride than my geared bikes. All I have to do is pedal and not get hit by a car. The rest of my brain is free to ponder the topics that end up on this very blog.
“Less is more.”
- Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, architect.
While I do love minimalist design, and believe that the house that my family will live in will incorporate lots of these principles, I believe minimalism to be a term that has such a broader meaning than what it is usually used for. To me, a simpler life quite plainly means much less stress. Without stress, life is pure fun. What more could you want?