Living With Less

Last weekend, we gave away our broken old upright piano that no one plays. I don’t miss it, except it was a great clutter holder and dust collector. It was good for that!

I was happy to give it to someone who will get it repaired and use it. 

All this stuff that we’ve accumulated has become a burden taking up space, getting in the way and needing to be maintained. How did that happen?

I came across an article about Minimalism, a movement that two American guys, Joshua Fields Milburn and Ryan Nicodemus are promoting. By their late twenties, Joshua and Ryan were were living the American dream, making six figure income,s living the good life with fancy cars and houses. They also worked eighty hour work weeks, were totally stressed, and had no time to enjoy life.

For Joshua, it took the death of his mother and a divorce to force him to take stock. He decided to downsize to a simpler life and his friend, Ryan joined him. He started the minimalism movement and has even written a book that he is promoting on a book tour. The site is http://www.theminimalists.com/

I love this whole idea of minimalism. Of course I still like my comforts, but I do like the whole philosophy of being content with less and not always buying new things.

We are bogged down by our materialism and consumerism. Wouldn’t it be great to have less stuff and less stress? What a freeing feeling.

These days the cost of living is always rising, squeezing us tighter and tighter. It certainly makes a person think twice before splurging on something. Is it a need or just a want? 

Or is it just those clever marketers making us think we need this stuff? It’s easy to be brainwashed into thinking there is something wrong with you if you don’t have the latest and the greatest. I see that a lot with people always upgrading to the newest cell phone or laptop. Our obsession with buying new stuff consumes all our time and makes us want more and more. Where does it end? Have we lost sight of what’s really important? What about more important values like sharing and caring for each other? What about giving back to the community?

It makes sense to get rid of excess possessions and not buy so much in the first place. Appreciate what you have and be content with less. It’s good for your health, good for the community and the environment, too.