Minimalism

Minimalism is a topic that has been on the forefront of social media for quite some time now, but I am now finally looking at it and watching the documentary about this topic with the same name; Minimalism. This isn't something I would have thought to describe myself or anyone in my family because I have noticed that we all just have a lot of "stuff". Growing up, I always knew my grandmother was a hoarder, not quite as bad as the ones you see on tv, but she was still pretty deep into it. She was a woman who liked to collect a lot of different things and find different hobbies, but once she found a hobby, she was all in for it and had to buy everything to do it. When she passed away about two and a half years ago, my household were the main people who were in charge of going through her things. While there was a lot of sentimental items and ones we decided to hold onto, but a lot of the items were truly just "stuff". While having a lot of items can mean different things about the person, from being financially well off to needing to fill a void in their life with this "stuff". I make it a point to put the word "stuff" in quotations because it has a different meaning for everyone, since some people find more meaning to the items than other people. So when I started to think of minimalism, this was the first thought that came to mind was growing up around someone who was the complete opposite. In the documentary, they discuss "fast fashion", because this is a very current problem, especially in America. People used to buy clothes because theirs were simply too torn and used to continue wearing. Now, people buy clothing to keep up with the fashion trends, instead of investing in clothing that will last them for a long time and are more staples in their wardrobe. I do not consider myself a minimalist by any means, but I do think that changing some of the ways you view things in your life, is beneficial for many people. In my opinion, people definitely do not have to go to the extreme and only own things they could fit into one box. I have known people who will say "I can fit my entire life into this one box", but I don't think this is necessarily something that needs to be done and going to the extreme level of minimalism. If there are things in your life that all have meaning and bring you joy, but is not in excess, then they are alright to own. The problem is when things are bought in excess and are bought for no reason because that is when they just become "stuff". My favorite sentence that was said in the entire documentary was "Imagine your life with less". This resonated with me because it caused me to imagine my life with less stuff than I have no, which was surprisingly not hard to imagine. Having too much in your life, can cause unnecessary stress and anxiety, because there is a certain amount of worrying that makes sense, and a certain amount that does not make sense. Just ask yourself "is this useful?". This was pointed out by a Good Morning America new anchor, who suffered an anxiety attack while on television. It is simple things that can be done to reduce the clutter in your life, and while this documentary shows a lot of different angles to the idea of minimalism, is creates a realistic lifestyle change for people. It is a personal choice if you want to go to extreme minimalism, or you can change little things in your life to reduce the clutter, but not throw out everything you own. Live deliberately instead and have meaning to everything in your life. I do highly recommend watching this documentary right now, especially while it is still on Netflix!