...and why I don't identify as one now.
I wouldn't say that I have a definition of minimalism, per say, but I do have an ideal in my head. While a lot of people don't like the idea of an all white space, natural woods, plants, and cool metal colors, I would thrive in a workplace with that level of clean lines and colors. I also love the idea that there's no distractions (except, of course, the internet, and that can be fixed). But my space doesn't look like that. My laptop is black, I've got a host of colored pencils on my desk, which happens to be an awkward orange color. The printer and modem are black, the hole punch is pink, and my textbooks, highlighters, and binders are all color-coded by class (meaning, of course, eight different binders, ten shades of highlighters, and five textbooks), along with a hot pink scientific calculator and a black graphing calculator (yes, I need two- only one kind is allowed on standardized tests, and the other is required for classes).
You could say that I'll call myself a minimalist when I live out of a suitcase. Or when I own less than a hundred things. Or when I give up the coffee and the junk food, start working out for only eighteen minutes a day (instead of my usual sweaty hour to hour and a half). After all, I get to choose when I call myself a minimalist, right?
Even though one bag living is the "holy grail" for so many minimalists, I'm not about to define myself by what a whole bunch of people on the internet think or imply is minimalism. As lovely as I'm sure those people are- I know they're wonderful people- I have yet to find an article that quantifies minimalism. And while I'm glad to see that, I'm not glad to see people pushing themselves to live out of a single suitcase, especially if it's not feasible. Students here have an entire backpack of books and binders that they mustcarry at all times, 5 days a week. Most of us don't have room to add possessions to that.
I wouldn't say that I have a definition of minimalism, per say, but I do have an ideal in my head. While a lot of people don't like the idea of an all white space, natural woods, plants, and cool metal colors, I would thrive in a workplace with that level of clean lines and colors. I also love the idea that there's no distractions (except, of course, the internet, and that can be fixed). But my space doesn't look like that. My laptop is black, I've got a host of colored pencils on my desk, which happens to be an awkward orange color. The printer and modem are black, the hole punch is pink, and my textbooks, highlighters, and binders are all color-coded by class (meaning, of course, eight different binders, ten shades of highlighters, and five textbooks), along with a hot pink scientific calculator and a black graphing calculator (yes, I need two- only one kind is allowed on standardized tests, and the other is required for classes).
You could say that I'll call myself a minimalist when I live out of a suitcase. Or when I own less than a hundred things. Or when I give up the coffee and the junk food, start working out for only eighteen minutes a day (instead of my usual sweaty hour to hour and a half). After all, I get to choose when I call myself a minimalist, right?
Even though one bag living is the "holy grail" for so many minimalists, I'm not about to define myself by what a whole bunch of people on the internet think or imply is minimalism. As lovely as I'm sure those people are- I know they're wonderful people- I have yet to find an article that quantifies minimalism. And while I'm glad to see that, I'm not glad to see people pushing themselves to live out of a single suitcase, especially if it's not feasible. Students here have an entire backpack of books and binders that they mustcarry at all times, 5 days a week. Most of us don't have room to add possessions to that.