Minimalism A Life of Art

Today, I thought I’d write about minimizing and what that means. Now don’t get me wrong we haven’t just done this or anything. We still have to much junk. This is more of a dream blog a sort of ‘Wouldn’t it be great to not have as much shit?’.

I think it sort of happens to everyone as they travel through life. You have experiences with others or just yourself and pick something up from the experience to remember. Life truly is a wonderful place.

According to the Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary minimalism is defined as: “the theory or practice in art or design of using the fewest and simplest elements to achieve the greatest effect”. I guess that means we have to look at our lives as art or design. I kinda like that idea.

My life as an art piece an act of minimalism.

What does that mean though? Do you have to get rid of everything and live with only the cloths on your back and what you have in your pockets? What about all the stuff? Where’s it going to go? You know it’s really to bad all the junk we buy and keep for a couple of days isn’t all like leaves at the end of Autumn. They fall down, you rake them up into a big pile fall in it then put the whole thing in the compost pile to help with next years flowers. I mean wouldn’t that be great for all the computers in the world to make plants, grass, food? I’m not to sure it would be as fun to jump into that pile though. It is a fun thought. What else? A giant size pile of beds might be nice, but not so much a bunch of statues. I mean where do statues go to? One time I saw this giant statue of a phallus in the sex museum in Amsterdam. What happens when they get rid of it and it doesn’t sell at a garage sale? Where’s it go?

Now I don’t want to get off track to much. I mean this is about minimalism and how lovely it would be. It’s seems like it would be cool to have less stuff on your mind to worry about or so I’ve been told. I am naturally a worrying sort of person anyway, so you can easily see how I could be intrigued by something like this.

I bet you’d have to define it yourself, but how do you do that?

Can’t you hear the arguments from couples?

    “Sweety, do we keep the band aids or not? One box or two how many is over indulgent?”

    “Geez, I don’t know.”

    “Well this was YOUR idea not mine!”

    “Oh okay here comes the attitude. The minute it gets tough you’re all about the attitude.”

Uffda!

I think we keep both boxes and be done with it.  You’d have to have a certain amount of self-restraint. What happens when the next cool gadget comes along? The things I’ve read about minimalists is that they tend to end up keeping the philosophy for life. It doesn’t end up a quick little jaunt into the minimalism forest and then back again. Nope, it’s a lifestyle choice just like the one you made when you decided to not eat fatty foods any longer.

**Naughty naughty**

Like everything a person can go as far as they want or feel comfortable with in this philosophy or any other. The important thing in my opinion is to go far enough to make it a little uncomfortable. That’s when you start to change. Change happens when you adapt to certain stressors, or that’s what I’ve heard anyway.

MInimalism. What if we redefined the word or added a definition.

MInimalism - Not buying shit you don’t need.

Minimalism- Freeing your mind/body/spirit from crap it doesn’t need.

Ooof, but what is need?

I guess that’s another entry for a different time.

Keep the shiny side up.

Trevor