To me simple living means decluttering and frugality. It is synonymous with contenment. It means having less, not in a minimaliste sense of having empty space, but having carefully and purposefully chosen items that are fewer and suits our life better…
Which means simple living is also deeply linked to anticonsumption, at the antipodes of a life style where we always want more of things we don’t really understand and where we don’t really enjoy what we have.
“Less but better”. Don’t buy what I don’t need, but when I do need something, buy the best I can afford.
To take my time.
Don’t rush anything. Be it a purchase, or me saying something.
That is why I prefer writing longhand, pen on paper: it’s slower, it helps me think a little more.
And why I keep the vast majority of whatever it is I’m writing inside a drawer too. I don’t feel any impulse to rush on social media to instantly share my latest (obviously, groundbreaking) ideas and creations with the rest of the world.
That is how I read too: without any hurry. I’m not interested in reading as many books as I can in a year, or in a week, or in a day. I don’t obsess about reading whatever is the latest hyped success either.
I do read every single day, that is true, but I can read as little as a few lines and decide it’s enough (even more so when reading poetry). And I read the books I think I should be reading at that moment, not what is hyped. I mean, are older books less valuable because they’re not fresh out of the press? Quite the contrary, as they have already stood the test of time.That is also how I do shopping. Before I purchase anything I will write it down on a list and… wait. After a while, I will check that list and if I still feel I need to buy things on it I will start considering my options (even more waiting):
- use something else I already own instead,
- craft it,
- borrow, or rent it,
- If none of that is doable I will see if I can buy the thing used if at all possible.
And so on for almost everything. It’s not perfect and I often fails at doing it too, but even not perfect it helps in keeping things simple.
I extend time in situations that don’t require “stuff”, such as walking, good company, tidying. That way there’s not much time or space left for things. But because I focus on those situation I dont feel like I’m consciously depriving myself of anything. It feels joyful actually.
It’s like nutritionist the way they advise adding healthy things into your diet rather than trying to exclude unhealthy things.
Your ways jive with mine.
I just follow Matt D’Avella: https://www.youtube.com/@mattdavella/videos
I’m not great on minimalism or simple living myself, it’s something I need to get better with.
Don’t try to immediately reduce a lot, if you want to own less, go through perhaps one drawer, take out everything, think about what you want to keep and what not. Once you’ve considered every object, just start over. You’ll probably notice even more things you don’t actually want or need that you did not consider giving away before. (I at first wanted to write “get rid of”, but I don’t want to imply throwing things away. I give most things away that might still be useful to someone else. Eiher to friends, family or at the hackerspace. Some smaller objects often don’t get new owners. Often people don’t want a lanyard, pen, pin, old magazines — especially if I don’t know anyone that can read the language or is into that very obscure topic — or other objects. But at least I try to not throw it all away. It’s better to give something away for free, than throw it in trash. We’ve got a planet to save.)
Oops, that turned out longer than I thought.
