“Too many people spend money they haven’t earned, to buy things they don’t want, to impress people they don’t like.”
—Will Rogers
In recent years, our attention has been riveted towards minimalism— living with nothing but absolutely necessary. But not all of us understand what minimalistic living stands for. And our views turn out to be reiterating what’s already been told rather than establishing a unique idea that inspires, educates, and engages.
Why repeat the idea in a redundant manner, if you ask— there is nothing but a specific mentioning of “being simple is the new cool.”
However, is it “being cool fostering a simplistic lifestyle” keeping us glued to the idea? Or is there something else? What if we are masking our ability with a “minimalistic” label? What if….
Let me get this straight.
Will you trade, for instance, your brand new Mac for an i3 4th gen laptop even if you don’t have any use of such high-end computer devices? You can afford both of them, but, will you do that just because you are fascinated by the minimalist lifestyle?
Just an example.
Although the comparison can be questioned, I think you got the gist, right?
Photo by Paul Hanaoka on Unsplash
The idea of minimalistic living lies in living with nothing but absolutely necessary and can conflict with our hobbies. While a part of us yearns for a hassle-free simple life, the ambitious part cries for all the luxury in the world— a dilemma forcing us to dwell in both realms. And this is where our minimalistic sense of life kicks in. Sometimes, we try to mask our inability to afford things with a layer of lies— to represent ourselves as a living example of “simplism.” But deep down, we want everything that we see glittering and shining.
We don’t have to do that. We must surrender to the universality of “not-entitled-to-have-everything.”
But how to do that?
It’s our free will that can overpower our hungry self and prevent the mind from clouding with the influence of our lavishly-living neighbour.
Hard to do, though. But it’s doable.
This is how we can come to a resolution. We can do that by controlling our greed. Hobbies are our natural instinct but we tend to get poisoned by our greed. So, if we can muzzle the infinite desire inside us, there is a possibility we can lead a minimalist life— a mental state of feeling bountiful amidst scarcity; a sense of contentment.
Happy minimalist living!
