A note from Charlie: Guest post, essay originally drafted in April 2020 by Ben.
Hi, I’m Ben Redford, guest blogger and minimalist.
Charlie and I have been very close friends for nearly 25 years and the man has taught me some invaluable lessons in life. His friendship and support have aided me through some of the darkest and uncertain periods of my life. However, there is one notable thing that he introduced me to which has changed my life completely; minimalism.
It was several years ago that Charlie first introduced me to minimalism. Through watching clips of Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus, this crazy concept was revealed. And it was exactly that; crazy as hell.
Boxing up EVERYTHING you own and only taking items out when you needed them?! Only wearing 33 items of clothing for 3 months?! Sell everything and live with just two bags?! You must be joking? Turns out, they were not. Fast forward to 2020 and minimalism has done wonders in my life. Through pairing down my material possessions, I have been able to simplify other areas of my life.
Here are 4 reasons why minimalism has made my life easier and why it will make yours easier too.
- Material Possessions
Of course, minimalising one’s material possessions forms the very foundations of minimalism as a concept, so giving it a mention was a no-brainer.
Going through my possessions was the first thing I did when I initially came across minimalism. I started with my clothes and up to now have managed to dwindle down my clothing to fit in just one chest of drawers (as opposed to 2.)
The result of this process is that I now feel like all the clothes I own are clothes that I wear. I consciously monitor items that enter my life and do not hold on to unused items that I partially like. And I never keep junk in my wardrobe because so and so bought it for me; clothes that were never or hardly worn. I don’t feel like I’m offering storage space to things that don’t have any personal worth to me anymore. This has not only allowed for space to be freed up in my surroundings, but also to be freed up in my mind, which leads me perfectly on to point number 2.
- Mentality
One effect of being a minimalist that I did not anticipate was the impact it would have on my mind and mental health.
A categorical minimalisation of my physical surroundings has led to the manifestation of a similar process in my mental surroundings. The simplicity of minimalism, through stripping down unnecessary excess, has allowed me to sharpen my focus. It has had an unexpected domino effect, driving me to simplify my mindset on life in addition to questioning material ownership.
I’m not ashamed to admit that I have experienced problems with depression and anxiety in previous years. However, I feel like I have come out on the other side with many mental tools at my disposal to fight future battles. Minimalism has a major hand in this process in that through cutting down on material possessions, I was able to apply similar sentiments when it came to thought processes.
After all, if I could dispose of unwanted clothes and junk, surely, I could dispose of unwanted thoughts as well. My very existence feels simplified; I no longer need to entertain any of the thoughts that previously compromised my mental wellbeing.
- Travel
Minimalism is not the only mutual interest that Charlie and I share, for we are also both keen travellers. (Charlie has travelled a lot more than I, though he has the unfair advantage of working in aviation.)
With great confidence, I can say that minimalism has made travel an easier passion for both of us.
I know we’ve all been there, that irritating moment when we are forced to sit on our suitcases to zip up them up. That moment where we decide not to buy that unique bottle of wine because we know it won’t fit in our suitcase. Well thanks to minimalism, gone are the days when the pre-holiday fiasco of packing brought such a feeling of tedium to my existence. I don’t need to spend so much time contemplating what to take with me and can instead apply my focus to how I want to make the most of my travels.
Such is the usefulness of minimalism for easy travel; Charlie and I will be collaborating on this topic in future posts. We plan of creating an ultimate travel list for those of you who want to do it all in one bag!
Stayed tuned!
- Spending
The wonderful thing about minimalism is that its sentiments can be applied to multiple other areas of your life.
After all, if it can apply to your possessions, why can’t it apply to your wallet? If you can free up space in your house for the items you truly value, why can’t you free up space on your bank statement for those transactions that really bring something of personal worth to your life?
Well you can.
You may be thinking that the concept of “saving money” is not a new fad – correct.
But a vast amount of my hard-earned money has been spent on things that I have since purged from my life. For having not used them at all. Charlie was the same when he started his journey. So are many other minimalists. It’s something many of us realise once we escape the material trap.
This puts a fundamental question into place – why I even bought these items in the first place. And for me, this revelation is essential in allowing me to carve my path in life in both productive mindful manner.
There is no doubt of the correlation between minimalism and saving money.
I mean, it’s bloody obvious really but sometimes the bloody obvious isn’t so bloody obvious.
The final word
Ultimately, my key message is that minimalism, whilst initially appearing to revolve around material consumption, has sentiments that can be applied to all areas of your life: cutting out junk, growing for the better through simplicity and making space and time for the things you truly value.
If these values can apply to your physical surroundings, why can’t they apply to anything else in your life? Well they can and by doing so they can make your existence easier too.
About:
Ben Redford is a childhood friend, born in Surrey UK, now living in York. A fellow minimalist and nature freak, Ben studied at the University of Brighton in Geography, has a passion for the outdoors and is, by all accounts, a man of the world.
