Minimalist Living Maximally

I’ve been decluttering for over two years now. Shuttling between a couple of cities, and staying 2–3 months each time, makes it a huge incentive – no, imperative – to live with as little material possessions as possible.

As a minimalist, it’s like receiving a badge of honor when friends publicly joke about “the wardrobe with only 5 grey t-shirts, and the only pair of jeans you are wearing”.

I’ve been collecting badges.

“It’s not like I don’t want to…”

That said, I’ve found that it’s so easy to accumulate things – even with a minimalist wife who supports this lifestyle.

“… It’s all those gifts and free stuff…”

Well, it’s relatively easy to choose to buy less things. It’s hard when all the gifts and free stuff pile up. And they come in all forms – from the expensive, endearing gifts, to the free or cheap stuff – like conference stationery, Singapore Airline’s soft toys for the kids…

And while it’s so easy to acquire something, it’s so much harder to throw it away.

“… Stuff that other people need.”

Even when throwing a pen, or that free stuffed toy that’s branded “Singapore Airlines” – I can’t help but wish it were in the hands of someone who really needs it.

Half the pain comes from knowing that someone who needs it, doesn’t have it. And half comes from realising that it ended up where it’s not needed… … And as a result, time, effort and resources are now required to recycle or redistribute it.

I’ve been giving away all the physical books I’ve kept – to friends and strangers; and I’ve been giving away clothes I no longer need – to the construction workers at building sites near my home.

But other things are hard to redistribute – the piles of notepads and pens, the toys, the beautiful glass bottles and jars that used to contain premium foods sold in the stores… and the list goes on…

Collecting stuff to manage stuff.

In Melbourne, I’ve been giving away glass jars and bottles to residents in my condominium (through the residents’ Facebook group)… And herein lies the tragic irony – I’m accumulating ‘digital clutter’ – being on the residents’ group, just so that I can give away physical things. While it’s useful, it’s also a source of distraction at times (the random, unimportant news-feed).

It’s not just an effect of personal choice.

I’m utterly convinced, that as a society, we need to make less things.

We need to stop fuelling easy consumption – until we’ve perfected recycling and redistribution – ensuring that good quality, serviceable items are efficiently made available to those in need.

And it’s not just altruism… it’s freedom.

I’ve experienced a greater degree of personal freedom with less material possessions.

Most of my ‘things’ are in Singapore where I grew up, and spent most of my life. The last time I was away from Singapore for 9 months, I experienced such a sense of freedom in simple living (1 suitcase per family member – for 9 months on the road) – that I wanted to throw away everything in the apartment the moment I got home.

But it’s hard to be freed.

Well, I got home, and I didn’t. Because it was so hard. There’s always a reason to keep something. And “sentimental reasons” is the greatest cop-out for the struggling minimalist.

I ended up discarding / giving away only 20% of what I wanted to. I did – however – manage to digitalize a fair bit of paperwork, and shredded at least a 3-feet stack of documents.

…I’ve experienced that living with minimal material possessions can significantly maximise my experience of life and travel.

While most of this post is an ‘unwinding’ of separate thoughts about minimalist living, and material consumption, I hope that – as a society – we discover how liberating it is, to live lives of less material consumption.

And perhaps those personal motivations will cause us – as a society – to make less things. For those of us who have enough – to spend our time and energy on people and experiences; and for those of us who don’t have enough – to be given what’s needed.