About two months ago, we posted an
apartment tour video, and you may have
noticed that we use the term "minimalist"
in the title of that video. When we used
that term, we were mainly referring to
the design aspect of our home; as in it
has a minimalist aesthetic. We didn't
intend for it to refer to a minimalist
lifestyle. But in this video, we want to
talk about the "minimalist lifestyle" side
of things. What is our relationship with
living minimally, why we choose to live
the way we do, and if we even consider
ourselves minimalist. Let's start by
answering the big question. Are we
minimalists? Believe it or not, prior to
making this video, we've never even
considered ourselves as indisputably
"Minimalists". Or more accurately, we just
did not give it much thought at all.
People may embark on a journey towards
minimalism because of a variety of
reasons. So, different people may have a
different interpretation or practice of
such lifestyle, and these different
journeys tend to be philosophical to some
degree. That's why we're not
particularly concerned with, or attached
to the label. The planning of this video
was the first time we sat down and
discussed our relationship with living
minimally, and asked ourselves if we are,
in fact, minimalists. Our short answer is
"Yes", perhaps we are. But we didn't decide
to live a minimal life, but rather, the
intentionality towards how we want to
live our lives, may have by default,
classified us as minimalists, if that makes
any sense. Let's talk about what that
means, and why we choose to live the way
we do.
We've known each other for close to 17
years now, and we've been together for 10.
As a couple that frankly spends too much
time living and working together, we make
extra effort to communicate and align
our outlook on life, so that we can
always be on the same page. Three
principles that we strive to live by,
which have influenced us to live simply,
are our intentions to live consciously,
sensibly, and contentedly. Living
consciously is a huge part of our
identity. We are particularly committed
to being more thoughtful about how we're
treating our bodies, our minds, and the
environment. Which is why we've allocated the largest space in our apartment, our
living room, to be a spot where we can
play and keep our bodies active, and we
also put more thought into our kitchen
because that's where we prepare the
meals that nourish our bodies. When it
comes to treating dear planet Earth more
thoughtfully, we're nowhere near doing a
perfect job, but owning fewer things is
just one effect of us exercising a
little more thoughtfulness. We're
definitely not against buying or owning
stuff, we just leave shopping for when it's
absolutely necessary, so that we can make more conscious decisions.
We had the luxury of starting with an
empty apartment, and instead of having to
think about what we don't want in our home, we thought more about populating the space
with the stuff that we would need or love,
stuff that would add value to our lives.
We don't watch a whole lot of TV, but we
do enjoy an occasional movie night, so
instead of a bulky permanent screen, we
use a projector on a trolley instead.
Then, we need a place to sit and relax, so
we have bean bags, which we prefer to a
couch both in terms of comfort and
versatility. We knew we wanted a space
for us to move and be active, so we made
sure to leave lots of room, and we hung
some gymnastics rings. We're also bound
to have guests, so we also have a dining
table and some chairs to go with it.
Obviously, we don't have an upper limit
to the number of things we can own. If
we need something, we won't hesitate to
go and buy it as long as it's the
sensible thing to do. It's all a matter of needs,
and if our apartment feels bare and
empty, then maybe it's because we simply
need very little. Living contentedly and
just being happy is the last, but
certainly not the least. Culture and
history have a strong influence on
people's opinions of how a home should
look or be, or what needs to be done to
make a home feel complete. Some common
opinions may be to paint the walls with
some color, add some art or decor on
the walls as a finishing touch, or have a
nice big TV. And that's completely fair;
everyone can, and should have their own
opinions, no matter if they are random
commenters on the internet or family. But
we were not interested in building our
home to make them happy, or earn their
approval and validation. There's the saying
"We buy stuff we don't need, with money we
don't have, to impress people we don't
like." Yeah, we try to avoid falling into
that trap. So I'm sure that although many
will be left utterly unimpressed, because
certainly didn't spend the money, which
we really don't have, to buy stuff that
we didn't need — we're perfectly happy
with that. And that about sums up our
relationship with living simply. What
about your journey? Why are you
interested in a more minimal lifestyle?
And what do you find makes you happy?
