This text was originally published on my former blog typeoneminimalist.com. The website has been offline since 2020. This is an archive version.
“What do I really need in life?” That’s the question I asked myself after moving out of my parent’s home into a little flat in the city of Vienna. I was confronted with a ton of new opportunities. All of a sudden, I could meet people I’d never seen before in my life every day. I could apply for internships in companies I always wanted to work for. And I could visit a seemingly endless amount of exhibitions, theatre plays and poetry slams.
Why am I telling you all of this? Because this experience changed my perception of life. Moving literally changed my personality by 180 degrees.
My flat in Vienna is small. I didn’t want to pack it full of stuff I wouldn’t use. So chose the objects I would take with me very carefully. This ended up in me leaving about 50 percent of my stuff at home. Even then, it quickly turned out that I still owned way too much unnecessary, unused objects. Soo, again, I sorted out about half of my stuff. Either I used it up, sold it or donated it.
This process of literally decluttering my life made me happier than ever. It made me realise what’s important for me – what makes life worth living.
What minimalism is really about
Some of you might have seen minimalists who live out of one bag or sleep on a mattress on the floor on Facebook or YouTube. Yes, this is minimalism. But there’s a reason why these persons get so much attention. It’s immensely unusual. For every person who takes minimalism to those extremes, there are tens if not hundreds people that follow the same values with a more moderate approach.
For me, minimalism is about focussing on the important things in life and cutting out unnecessary distractors. That’s the type of minimalism I want to promote on this blog.
Look for value
There’s so much stuff that just doesn’t add value to life. Take clothes for example. Nobody needs thirty different shirts. Nobody. Heck, there’s even a study which proves that most of us don’t wear 50 percent of our wardrobe. Nevertheless, shopping is a ritual for a lot of people. It has become a hobby, a social activity. H&M bags are like a statement on today’s shopping streets screaming “Hey! Look! I can afford this! I’m having fun”.
If we downsize our wardrobe by 50 percent or just don’t buy new clothes every month, we wouldn’t only save a ton of resources but also make our own lives simpler. Think about all the time you’ve spent putting together a perfect outfit. 4 pants and 8 shirts make 32 possible outfits. 8 pants and 15 shirts make 120. In which scenario do you think do you spend less time thinking about outfits? In this case, owning less not only helps with decision-making but also just makes you look better.
Minimalism is everywhere
Now take that wardrobe example and apply it to every other aspect of life. Your home, your food, your tech. Do you notice something? Your whole life becomes really simple all of a sudden.
For me, this simplicity was a key to happiness. You don’t need a thousand decoration objects. If you’re really having fun decorating your home – go ahead and keep it up. But otherwise, there’s no point spending time on that. Same story with food. If you love cooking – do it. But if not, a simple meal does the job too.
Simplicity makes life easier. It makes us spend less time and money on things we don’t need and makes room for more valuable actions. It makes us happier with what you have. It makes us more efficient. And it makes us a better human being for the environment.
This is what this blog is all about. So stay tuned for some in-depth content!