Long story short: What minimalism taught me

The most important question used to be – what is the meaning of this life? – but during the last ten years it changed to – what is my mission in life? – finally followed by – who am I? Have you noticed this change? It tells a lot about us people and the direction we are headed to and I can’t find a reason why this change in our perception, attention and intention is not a good thing and why we should not celebrate it. It is a sign of people moving closer to the truth, people taking responsibility of their life’s reality and turning inwards.

I was one of those people who for the last few years have struggled with the question – who am I? I watched Ted talks that shared great ideas but didn’t stick with me, read books and for a moment there I thought I got it, but that was also a moment when I lost it - the feeling of stability, peace and self-awareness faded. Later on I came across the concept of minimalism.

In an instant I fell in love with it, with an aesthetical side of it and a promise that it helps to uncover all that is meaningful and truthful. I started my journey with decluttering and truly enjoyed it even though there were bumps along the way as I hesitated to throw out stuff I didn’t need or use. I mourned over the money I spent on the useless stuff and over the assumptions and expectations regarding my future life and future me. At some point I realized that those expectations were dead long time ago, but the useless stuff had become my lifebuoy, my lonely island where I dreamed about mastering the waves of Life. So I plunged into the deep. Too deep.

I crossed the line where the need to remove the clutter became a form of OCD. I was obsessed with clearing out the clutter and caught myself again and again looking around and searching for something to throw out. As a guest I would scan my friends’ and family’s members house and silently judge the level of clutter in their homes and hope that one day I would have a chance to help them with it. I was stuck and still concerned about the material stuff, although minimalism teaches to liberate oneself from it. As the time went by the frustration built up until I exhausted myself. I could not take the worry anymore and finally let the chips fall where they may.

Have you noticed that every thought, ideal for life undergoes the same life cycle as do humans? There is a birth of it or the phase when we learn about it, but later on people fall into extremes and during the discussions try to find any argument possible to justify the idea and the decisions that are made accordingly. Just like teenagers tend to be rebels and think that the world is only black and white. Later on the idea matures, rose-tinted glasses fell and the person is finally able to see the truth and able to speak truthfully about the particular idea. A person becomes wiser and understands that life cannot be built on one man-thought ideal, life cannot be shaped according to that ideal. It will fall apart for the idea will exhaust itself eventually.

As the chips fell, tension and stress slowly disappeared, the waters of my mind calmed and an important conclusion surfaced – the creative spark in my life wasn’t there anymore. Along the way the environment had become somewhat sterile and any creative process became a process of creating clutter, a process full of guilt. I wasn’t a happy person anymore, rather boring and the one who was slowly dying inside. How was this observation important? I realized then and there that creativity for me was the answer to all the big questions, such as – who am I? what is my mission in life? I had to let the creativity come through again.

Most of us are searching for the answers to these questions, and now I can tell from my experience and understanding that we will know ourselves only by experiencing ourselves, just like love can be known only when experienced. We simply must find a way that fills our hearts with joy and sense of abundance. Then you will have found both yourself and your mission, cause at the at the end of the day isn’t our true mission to be ourselves?

P.S. At the end minimalism helped me to find what is important in my life, although the road was not something I anticipated. I would encourage you to take all the best any concept can give you and play with it. Adjust and incorporate it into your life, because only the experience of your own life and your own self can give you true fulfillment. Cheers!