Minimalism – What is It?

The opposite of love isn’t hate.  The opposite of love is indifference.  So, is hording the opposite of minimalism?  Or is the opposite of minimalism something else entirely?

Minimalism isn’t just about owning less stuff, so hording isn’t the opposite of minimalism.  Minimalism is an intentional effort of making your life less complicated.  Getting rid of stuff and not over-spending are only parts of the picture.  Minimalists also embrace humble dwellings, less elaborate cars (or the absence of a car), less commitments, and in many cases fewer yet closer friends.  Minimalism if not concerning yourself with what those around you are mumbling about.

If the opposite of minimum is maximum, then the opposite of minimalism must be maximalism (OK, I just made up a word).  However, the opposite of minimalism is pretentiousness.  The 1980’s were a time of maximalism.  Times were good and people spent money on stuff like money was going out of style.  While indulgence was at its peak in the United States in the 1980’s I believe that the start of pretentiousness began long before.   Pretentiousness began around 1940 at the onset of the recovery of the great depression.  After the 1980’s the economy slowed down and we came into the recession years, but our maximalism didn’t stop.  At that time, if we didn’t have cash, we used credit cards to buy stuff.  I’m sure that we all know the outcome of overspending using credit cards, so let’s just jump forward

In the time of pretentiousness we set a standard.  We told ourselves that more is better, or rather, if we had more we were better.  We needed to be known as being better than the other guys, you know, the infamous Jones’.  I recently wrote about buying that huge house where I mention the perils of keeping up with the Jones’.  Being minimal really means that you don’t mind what others mumble about you, which is anti-pretentious.

Being minimal means that you understand that those that support you in your life are the important ones.  Being minimal means that you are living your life for you, and not to impress others.  Being minimal is to unburden yourself from those things that do not add value to your quality of life.