Why I'm Choosing Minimalism

Minimalism is daunting. For something so simple it can be a huge undertaking.
Minimalism means being thoughtful with your life, careful with how you spend your money, and introspective about what you do with your time. However, practicing minimalism does not have to be an impossible undertaking. Minimalism can be as simple as paring down your wardrobe or as expansive as re-examining your life and your purpose.


I'm choosing minimalism because I'm constantly being chased by the nagging feeling of wanting more but never being able to grasp it, no matter how many cute sweaters I own or how up to date my iPhone is. Every purchase, everything I consume, somehow misses the bar. I am searching for a way to find more, to squeeze every drop of life I can get out of each day. This is never going to happen by being complacent, by accepting my life as it is, by sitting around watching netflix and online shopping. I want to be deliberate in everything I do. This takes a high level of energy and diligence and is something I am still very much in the beginning stages of learning but I'm hoping it will lead to some sort of semblance of inner peace or happiness. And maybe it won't, but I sure as hell want to try.

I'm choosing minimalism because I was raised by a woman who grew up poor on a farm in central Minnesota by my grandparents who were products of the Great Depression. I've always been taught that less is more. Growing up a Millennial, however, has gone against all of those teachings because Capitalism thrives on consumption so what better way to make us all consume more than to remind us constantly every day from birth that we will not be happy until we have thing y and thing x. The internet makes it impossible to avoid the push of consumerism. I think that's where a lot of my yearning comes from - my desire for fulfillment has been placed from a very young age in the hands of giant corporations who know how to manipulate that desire.

I'm choosing minimalism because I'm sick of being a cog in the consumerist machine.

I'm choosing minimalism because I want to thoughtfully build my life and my existence around my ideals and my dreams, not around when society has decided for me.

And yet there's that nagging voice inside of me too that's trying to convince me that it's all unrealistic. That going against the grain is against my best interest. It's the fear of failure or rejection or of ridicule or of being "different" trying to take over. But I won't let her. Because there's a lot of things I want to do with my life but being afraid of everything is not on the agenda.

For me minimalism is a source of freedom. Freedom from being bogged down by societal expectations of consumption and perfection. Freedom from debt. Freedom from needing things to bring you joy and fulfillment. I'm choosing minimalism because I want to live an examined life that's untethered to modern expectations of how someone is supposed to live. I want to live for myself.

Have you chosen a minimalist lifestyle? Why? Why not?