Is Minimalism The Way Forward?

I just have this feeling that Minimalism is on the rise or it's either been this way for a while and due to be immersed in so much shit, I would never of noticed it. That clean way of living - it's not even that it just looks spacious and organised, it's the fact that I feel we are conditioned in so many ways to think, we WANT this item, we NEED this to survive, we HAVE to have this because our life would be incomplete without it. Yet we still managed to of lived before knowing about said items. One would think Minimalism's roots lie in Buddhism and after hearing it from friends and also researching, it very may well be true as Buddhist monks were only allowed to own 8 possession - their robe (3 pieces of fabric), a begging bowl, girdle, water-filter, a needle to repair their robe, and a razor to shave their head. Christianity also has minimalist roots. Luke 12:15, “…Watch out! Be on guard for all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions..” Others may have adapted from religion and made it a way of life.

The ultimate goal is to shed those things that don’t matter in order to more fully pursue the things that DO.

A few weeks ago I came across this one channel on YouTube, Ambrosia Malbrough, I sat and watched her videos even skimmed through her really old ones but I've never had a YouTube channel inspire me before. I immediately subscribed, followed her on Instagram, Twitter (where she followed me back, hey girl! lol!) & her blog xoxo- Brosia. Ambrosia has a playlist on Minimalist Living, check it out. It is quite insightful as even if you're not a blogger it's still an easy job to become a hoarder of items. We tend to hang onto EVERYTHING! I've still got Barbie's in the shed, that have no clothes, my 7 year old inspired hairdresser wannabe haircuts, I wonder if any have legs but these aren't items I'd want to play with or even pass down to my children, they'll look at me like, are times this hard? Do we need a herd of items to feel we are living in riches.

Simplifying your life can be more than just removing physical belongings.
If minimalism is the intentional promotion of the things that I most value, it is also about deciding what is more important in my life and removing the things that distract me from it.
It is about removing the urgent for the sake of the important.

 - Simplify by Becker, Joshua

I think, how easy is it to become a minimalist, I look at my wardrobe and drawers stuffed with clothes yet I stick to a carousel of clothing items. It would save more time looking for the items I continuously wear than always having to shift through piles and hangers of things that, still have yet to be worn cos I've purchased them on impulse. It would probably be easier to just give items away, the reward in that is I've given a pre-loved item to someone who now can continue to love it too. You've also given opportunity for something new to come into your life by freeing up space, whatever that new thing could be.

Minimalism Mantra

Stop buying the unnecessary.

Toss half your stuff, learn contentedness.

Reduce half again.

List 3 essentials things in your life, do these things first, stop doing the non-essential.

Clear distractions, focus on each moment.

Let go of attachment to doing, having more.

Fall in love with less.

One practice I've got into is that of giving away my samples, as bloggers at times we are so influxed with items, we never know what to do with them, we test things for a period of time and before we know it we're excepting things and have to leave that item behind. Before that item is unable to be used, I give it the church, friends and family members to use. What else am I going to do with it? I'd only have to throw it away after the expiry. I think heading into 2015 I'd love to explore Minimalism more deeply.

Have you ever thought about Minimalism or do you practice it?