How minimalism brings freedom

I have a garment bag, a backpack in which I carry my laptop, iPad, mobile phone – and nothing more.

Today I have no permanent residence. At the moment I'm sitting in the restaurant. Tonight I'm going to look for a place where you can spend the night. If I stay there longer than one night? Probably not.

Minimalist I? I do not know. I don't care. I don't like that word. I live the way I want, and no matter how newfangled term called my way of life.

You are always where you want it to be, for better or worse. Many people become confused when talking about minimalism.

It may not be the best way of life, but I really like to live.

I love to travel, not knowing where you'll be next. To explore the world without a purpose. To love without expectations.

Now. Not later, not yesterday.



 

"Minimalism means to have little things?"

Not really. I think that minimalism means having only what You really need. A list of important things, each person will be different.

For me to have a little not to think about what I own.

My brain is not so great. Now I have the opportunity to think about more important things. I can with incredible ease to explore other kinds of lifestyles.

Some people don't like it. I know many who likes to find the root cause to be sentimental in respect to the details. This is normal. But, in fact, who am I to judge them?

The other day I threw away my diploma, and kept it so long. And not only him. I got rid of everything that was left in my life.

I'm 48 years old, and I have nothing. Unlike other people, I like it.

My friend asked me: "You put so much time and effort invested in this thesis. Are you sure you want to throw it away?"

Yes. Since then I have had a lot of other things. I can't keep them all. They should stay in the past.

Society is telling us that the diploma is a special achievement in life. No. It's the last day. I don't hold all those things that society imposes on me.

 

"What about the children, if You are a minimalist?"

I'm divorced, like 50% of Americans, if not more. From marriage with the first wife I have two beautiful children. I love them both very much.

I always miss them. I am not a minimalist, if minimalism means having zero attachment. I'm tied to my children.

I try to see them as often as possible. Sometimes they come to me (wherever I was), sometimes I to them. They always try to stay with me longer.

I hope that I will have the opportunity to at least chat with them every day for the rest of my life. If they lived with me, I would not have been able to live the kind of life which I conduct now, and may even not would like.

But the river of life brought me to this shore, so I now explore the jungle on a new island.

 

"Do I need to give up the Internet to become a minimalist?"

Sometimes. We have over four million years had access to the Internet, which appeared only a few decades ago.

In my e-mailbox – 238795 unread emails. Email is an offer, not an obligation.

Love, spirituality, and gratitude is acquired through a personal connection, not through a response to the email.

Sometimes I can answer an e-mail ten years later. It's so funny. I'm pretending to have received a letter for a couple seconds and answered, "of Course! I'll meet you tomorrow for coffee". I get pretty funny responses.

I never answer the phone. I have no voice mail. My phone number is 1-203-512-2161. Type it and see for yourself.

I go to Twitter only once a week. Every Thursday from 15:30 to 16:30 I'm having a heading "Question-Answer". I've been doing it for six years. I post articles on his page in Facebook, but don't use it for any other purpose.

I installed the iPad app "Kindle app" and read it e-books.

I realize that printed books are much better. Sometimes I spend hours wandering around bookstores, to enjoy reading these books. However, I don't want to own them because they won't fit in my one bag.

I never read random articles on the Internet, unless they're written by people I know. Mostly I read books that I like.

On hearing this, my friend asked me: "aren't you afraid that you will miss some important information?"

I asked him a question: "like What?"

99% of the read information, we still forget. The best way to remember is "DO".

The Internet is nothing special. The experience You get when you are offline. And I choose the experience, not products and information.

 

"Minimalism means to have little emotional attachments?"

I love my friends. I love my children. I love to communicate with people at a party or during a lunch and learn from them something new.

Love is the minimalism. Desire, possession and control of him does not belong.

Minimalism things? No. The minimalism of fear, anxiety, stress and sadness.

I do not like intrigues. I don't like to gossip about people.

When I do, I feel like my backpack is filled with heaviness. The more I gossip, the harder it becomes my Luggage.

I don't like the unpleasant feeling that occurs when someone whom I don't like. This is also the Luggage. I try to leave it in the past.

In addition, we are all different. You will never understand why man acts one way or another.

"Why he(a) did(a)?" or "Why is this happening to me?" – no place in my backpack.

If I check my Luggage for the presence of physical and emotional health, creativity and compassion?

No, these are things I also don't carry. They disappear by the end of the day. But I'll find them again tomorrow.

How to get rid of attachment to what is in Your Luggage? I really don't know because I carry extra weight.

 

"Minimalism means no achievements?"

No. If anything, the more You achieve, the better. Thus, You can afford to get rid of things that You imposed on society.

Or Vice versa.

 

"Minimalism is healthy?"

Yes. Sometimes. For example, I don't like eating more than I need. When You go to extremes, it becomes the responsibility of that burden falls on Your shoulders. I don't like to experience unhealthy experience.

I think the experience is much more important than material goods. The story is more important than the gift.

Things are not going to fit in my bag, and joyful experience easier atom.

But what if the experience is not so happy?

One thing I do know:joy is an internal choice, not the target emotion.

Sometimes I make the wrong choice. There's nothing I can do about it. But sometimes I do the right thing. Hopefully today it will.

 

"What are the minimalist emotions?"

Love, joy, surprise, curiosity, friendship. This is what You give and not receive from others.

Emotions are useless: possession, control, excitement and fear.

I have not included in this list is anger. Anger is a form of fear. When I feel anger, I try to find the cause of fear and to say goodbye to him.

How well do I do it? Not really. But I'm trying.

Minimalism is to not judge yourself and other people, what would You or they did.

 

"To succeed, we need goals! How can you be a minimalist with the order?"

Target is one of the ways in which the mind tries to control You. "I need X to be happy".

When I feel that I need something from the outside world to be happy, I have to make room in my bag for this.

And free space in it is very small. There You will find a couple of shirts and pants, toothpaste and a few other things. The goal in my bag will not fit.

I have interests and things I love to do. If I every day get to do them better, I feel great.

The less things in my bag, the freer I feel.

When I spend time with my friends, I find joy in communication. Serious Dating is not the goal. Sometimes the only thing we have in life is not to reach the goal, and the arm support around.

These three things help me achieve goals that I never had.

It's magic!

 

"Should I sell my house to buy a smaller one?"

No. Or... I don't know. Don't do it just for the sake of it. If You like Your home, not sell it. If You like Your job, don't dismiss it.

Leave in the bag of 10-15 of the most important things for You.

 

"What is the first step you need to take on the road to minimalism? I have to throw out all your things?"

I have no idea.

This is the problem of self-help books. It seems that they are written by the perfect man who stands on the pedestal and gives everyone advice.

I've got too much flaws, so I am not giving anyone advice. I have no home and no possessions. My life consists of successes and failures.

However, there is one thing I can do always is to help people. It's make my life brighter.

Every life can be full of wonders. Miracles don't happen, give.

 

See also: the 48 questions that will help You to make awkward conversation easier

 

"If You're a follower of minimalism, then why sometimes You get very long articles?"

Because I don't care what You think of me.published

 

Author: James Altucher

 

P. S. And remember, only by changing their consumption — together we change the world! ©

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Source: muz4in.net/news/sovremennaja_amerikanskaja_mechta_kak_minimalizm_prinosit_svobodu/2016-04-15-40839

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