Tyler Durden from Fight Club reminds us in that salty Brad Pitt soliloquy, "this is your life, and it's ending one minute at a time". A bit fatalist, perhaps, but factual. How do you want to spend those days?
One of the reasons minimalism is both functional and attractive is that it distills what's meaningful in your life. We all find ways to earn money to buy shelter and food and with any luck, fast passes at Disney. But our life's meaning can really get lost in the clutter.
Consider this: you have an income which mathematically supports your mortgage, car payments, credit card bills and entertainment budget. You save for a vacation or a big ticket item, and float yourself a MasterCard loan for what you lack when it's time to buy. According to CNBC, 78 percent of full time workers live paycheck to paycheck. 58 percent said they were in over their heads with debt. Is servicing that debt every month, year after year, really how you want to spend your minutes of life as they tick away?
Your life isn't always full of value-added events. People die, hurricanes destroy, and jobs evaporate. These things are nightmares and drain energy from our beings. When you eliminate the excess and the debt you have to service to maintain an appearance of success, life's ass whippings have considerably less power over you.
Friends and family (and some non-participant observers) often will comment to me "Oh yeah, you're a minimalist so you want to throw everything away!" No, not EVERYthing. Just that which does not add value to my life. The minutes I have left, be it 15 more after I hit "publish" or 525,600 x 30 years, aren't going to be wasted paying for some Halloween decor I bought at Target and put on the credit card. To me, minimalism means I like and enjoy what surrounds me. Something doesn't get to stay in my house or my life just because its tenure has guaranteed it a spot, like old books or the coat I bought on sale for 65% off.
Live your life with that which adds value. If it is your Precious Moments collection (I personally can't see how those creepy figurines add value to ANYone's existence, but I digress), or your grandfather's briefcase, then keep and enjoy. Don't store in a dusty attic in a box labeled "keepsakes". All our lives may be ending minute by minute, but our story is being written. Don't let your story be cluttered with stuff.
