“Imagine a life with less. Less stuff, less clutter. Less stress and debt and discontent. A life with fewer distractions. Now imagine a life with more. More time, more meaningful relationships. More growth and contribution.”
~ Ryan Nicodimus in the documentary Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things
Minimalism has been around for centuries, but a new documentary has brought more insight into the simplistic lifestyle. Here’s a glimpse into the world of minimalism and how you, too, can be a minimalist.
Minimalism Documentary
The recent documentary named Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things, directed by Matt D’Avella, recently came out on Netflix and has people talking. The documentary follows two men, Joshua Fields Mellburn and Ryan Nicodemus, on their book tour around the U.S. The film tells the stories of how each one of them came to be minimalist and why they created their blog, The Minimalist.
Not only does the film follow Mellburn and Nicodemus, the film also talks to many other minimalists and how they came to minimalism. The film interviews many published authors of minimalism books and centers around the idea that we don’t need everything we own.
What is Minimalism?
Minimalism is a lifestyle that many say simplify their life. Minimalists only have possessions they can justify to themselves as needing or bring them happiness. They live life with the bare necessities in order to simplify their lives. Minimalist resist the need of compulsive consumption and make their possessions last. Minimalists value every one of their possessions.
Benefits of Minimalism
Many people open their lives to minimalism in order to find happiness and content. They want to live a life of living and not working to live. Minimalism has many benefits including leading a more purposeful life, growing as an individual, feeling less burdened and stressed and reclaiming your life. Minimalism allows individuals the opportunity to live to their full potential by not feeling weighted down by insignificant objects. Minimalism frees those who are stuck with the idea that making more money, having a bigger house and nicer car will make them happy. Minimalism is being happy with what you have, because it is all that you need.
How You Can Become a Minimalist
Many people have the impression that to become a minimalist you must basically own nothing, or, like I said above, only own the bare necessities, but that is not the case. To become a minimalist you just need to become aware of your consumption and stop what we’ve all been brainwashed to do: compulsive consumption. Don’t buy something just to buy something, buy something because you really need it.
To start your journey as a minimalist like I did, I began by going through my clothes, my makeup, my “random” drawers and everything else I owned. I asked myself if I was ever going to wear a certain dress or eye shadow, and if the answer was no I had to be willing to part ways with that item. Not only did I feel free of stress and guilt of owning these possessions, I felt good because I was able to donate most of my possessions to others who need my items more than I do.
Becoming a minimalist will not happen overnight, unless you just get a dumpster and pretty much trash everything you own (just kidding, please do not do that). Becoming a minimalist will take time and transitions to fully live the true minimalist lifestyle, but every step towards that goal is stepping stone of opportunity and happiness. My journey as a minimalist has just begun and I invite you to try out the lifestyle and see if it brings you as much happiness and freedom as it has brought me.