A 7 Years Of minimalism in 1500 words or less.....

I haven’t talked about minimalism in a minute but here I am. It has been 7 years now since I am living the lifestyle and throughout my life many things change, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse, whichever it is; deep down, I was still a minimalist, in a sense. My first goal starting this lifestyle was to be mobile friendly, a nomad on the go without nothing but a backpack. I achieved that dream but overtime, my life requires change and these days is that point of change.

Minimalism has opened up my eyes on how freeing life is with little things and how consumerism is deeply ingrained into our lives. I remember life before Shopee, tiktok and when everyone around me didn’t even know what amazon or ebay was. Now, they do and even shop from there too. These days our lives are laced with product advertisement, product placement whether it’s inside K-dramas, movies and even our social media, it is everywhere. We are subtly told to consume, consume and consume.

I think we all have that moment during pandemic or even before that to get on to the train of minimalism. It was like a beautifully advertised lifestyle that somehow in hindsight was a counterproductive moment. It sparks consumerism too cause the influencers and youtubers somehow put a monochromatic colors to it. As the lifestyle being advertised more and more, I felt like I didn’t fit it anymore and the stuff I have won’t make me a minimalist based on the “ideal” common minimalist folks. In fact, I once fell into the trap of buying more just because my stuff wasn’t monochromatic and exuded minimalist living.

Minimalism was simply everywhere at one point. From fashion to even cafes, I remember those days whenever I stepped into a building, it would always be a minimalist one. It has a cookie cutter look and somehow, all the houses and spaces are made to be similar. Once it was the trend but as anything with being too many and too much, it fell apart and became distasteful. I suppose, everyone grew out of their minimalist life too, some stayed because it is simply for them. For me, I was the one that stayed.

The common minimalism movement out there placed a number of things we have to own. There are also things that are echoed all over about having more experience than things. This movement ironically was also popularized by two men who had it all, who then decided to ditch their stuff to have even more experience. Well, I was guilty of that too. I told everyone around me I cared more about experience than the things I owned. That was my first revelation of this lifestyle that sometimes, we need stuff too.

When I was moving into my house, I already had the urge to donate and throw away the junk. Well, I did and now it’s a lot more freeing than what it was. But there was also something that bothered me a bit, the lack of stuff that this house owns.

A part of my minimalist brain told me that I should not buy things because it would be a waste but another part of me told me that in order to live a convenient life and long-term, I have to make the space comfortable. My brain battled between spending my last penny on another adventure vs fixing the house and investing a bit on it. Even the moment I am writing this, I still struggled too but some experiences lately flashed before me.

When I was a minimalist through and through, I didn’t have that many friends or socialize. I was truly so out of touch with reality and just living whatever reality I believed in. When I started reconnecting with my friends though, my experience felt just another experience. It was more like a story to tell that could be a little hard to believe.

The other day, I was also thinking about that, it was also the moment when I traded experience for things. Instead of getting a chair for my balcony, I went out with my parents to a hot spring. While they were happy, I wasn’t really that happy. I thought that had I not gone there and experienced the hot springs, I could have bought the chair and even sped up the renovation process. The house needs a lot of re-work and even some areas needed to be sealed. I suppose, my new life needed more things than experience.

I also reflected the other day about how I complicated this minimalist lifestyle. Somehow these days though I don’t track apps that I consume, I find myself getting less and less attracted to phones. The only time I would really open my phone is when I have a text or a call. Otherwise, I am not spending time on it nor youtube nor any of the things on my phone. It was such a stark contrast when I kept track of everything and complicated life. The same happens with my laptop where by 10:00 PM it has to be shut down. I don’t struggle with it anymore and it has been something that I enjoy doing. I have to say, the less we complicate things, the easier things are. You could say that’s also the core message of minimalism too and overtime it becomes something automatic and sort of ordinary.

Not everyone can afford doing things at whim or simply taking life’s easier. I am saying this because minimalism often associates with slow living and not rushing things. More often than not, it is also about chasing a balanced life and from my experience can only be achieved if you already have money/a sugar daddy.

Some people have to work really hard from time to time and be a little greedy because they have needs. I am not saying that I don’t need money or any of that, I do but funnily enough I was more obsessed about money when I advertise myself as a minimalist. These days when I don’t even talk about it, my money obsession is a lot less and somehow I find myself being comfortable with spending less amount of money and make money whenever I have the need to. I don't force myself anymore to work the hardest. When I was preaching about minimalism, I was a lot less happy and was way more into money than I do today.

You know, with minimalism, they always have this thing about “ The things I stopped buying''. I do have a lot of it which is why I probably don’t talk much about it anymore because every aspect of my life is like that.

Just a tiny example is that back in the day cafes and coffee shops got into the tumbler trend where they would give discounts to those who bring their own tumbler. It got popular and everyone was on that train, these days not anymore. Funnily enough, these days I do that a lot and in some cafes when I forgot to bring my own tumbler, the barista would ask me if I forgot it. I think that these simple things have long been forgotten and was just a fad, it’s something I hope wasn’t though.

I am not all about “ my life better than thou” anymore. Whatever is your minimalist style/living be fine with it. Even for me, I don’t really wear monochromatic clothes but thanks to this lifestyle, I got to know the color palette that truly suits me. It’s not all patterned but rather anything minty or green. I also think minimalism has changed the way I shop. In the past, though I was a borderline shopaholic, I didn’t really pick things because of their quality. These days, quality is something I strive for which is why I haven’t bought a new shirt for the past 2 years. I got mine from reputable distro and fashion stores that I know will last me for more than a year or two and would still be in style. That is why, my choice of fashion is something more of a timeless option rather than something “trendy” and hip on the market.

Another thing that I noticed lately is something called “ Revenge savings”. I came across an article by CNBC this morning about how youth in China is now living a lot more frugally and saving up. Some of them are taking the lifestyle to an extreme.

I love how saving is the current trends and started seeping into our culture. I do hope Yolo living will be out of fashion and people will save up more. Given how I was someone who’s terrible at saving, I do have my own ways. These days I save on gold and if I can save up pennies. Another thing that I stopped doing to do this revenge saving thing is basically avoiding big chain supermarkets. These days, I’d rather walk to the traditional market and get everything fresher than from the big store which typically has another price marked up for their goods. I found myself saving a lot more than in the past where I basically bought convenience more than the stuff. Well, life is a learning curve, isn’t it?

I think the lesson learned is truly about talking less,doing more and stop complicating things. So, despite not talking about it as much as before or not sharing about it, I am truly living the lifestyle without the need to validate this lifestyle. I might be compelled to share it or two but it really is a life journey and something a lot of us have to experience in order to know if the lifestyle truly fits you personally or your life.

In any case you’re curious more about how I came to these conclusion, these are the things I wrote from the last 7 years about minimalism.