Minimalist Culture

 ‘The less you own, the less owns you’. Read this power statement today, and I believe it will help us to re-wire ourselves and get rid of the ‘problem of plenty’. The overpowering burden that we carry. 

We somehow celebrate consumption, accumulation and acquisition. We hoard assets, handicrafts, clothes, accessories, books, pens…what not. We get some sort of high from going on a shopping spree, whether we require them or not. As a result, our home feels like a museum or a junkyard.

Let us try ‘minimalism’. A tool that may help us find freedom from fear, worry, being overwhelmed, the trappings of consumer culture that we get pulled into. Lets go back to basics..the original Indian lifestyle which was always been minimalistic. Most of us have grown up in homes where reduce, reuse, recycle was not just some new found mantra, it was a way of life. We use to have reasonably spacious rooms, a generous open sit-out or a varendah, minimal furnitures and beds (often sleeping on the floor on a jute mat). Everything was natural. Everything was fashioned by hand and nothing was mass produced. Every little object was made with care, and with a sense of innate aesthetics. 

However, today we cannot imagine being this minimalist, but we must take a long hard look at our own lifestyle. Let’s be a conscious consumer, mindful of our accumulation and realize the need to de-clutter. 

Maybe the erstwhile culture of minimalism is not out of choice, maybe given an option, our ancestors would have chosen consumerism. Maybe it is a lifestyle thrust upon them by tradition and lack of opportunities. 

Maybe! But the contentment we may feel by having a ‘minimalistic’ lifestyle is going to be real. 

Let’s try from today onwards!

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