I’m sure you have heard of the grass-is-always-greener phenomenon, or “keeping up with the Joneses'”. I want to talk about how these relate to minimalism and mental health, and hopefully give another perspective. To start, a story about my minimizing journey: Over the past few years, my view of consumerism has moved from one of a deep need for more; more clothes, new shoes, more make up, fancy furniture, etc. To a view from the outside, one where all the things I had would keep me happy for a few months until I found something better to buy. And I never noticed just how many things I had that I never even used (let alone needed) until I moved from my own apartment to a much smaller, shared space.
I have always been a thrifter, and felt happy with my shopping habits because I was avoiding contributing to the fast fashion industry, sweatshops, and overall environmental destruction with things. I felt I was voting consciously with my dollars. And although this is still true, I used this excuse to buy more as a mask to cover up the fact that nothing I was buying actually made me FEEL happy.
Enter Minimalism
The concept of only having the things you need, things that you use and things that bring you joy. I am by no means a minimalist by internet standards, I still have more items than I need, but what reading about minimalism has taught me includes: Understanding why less is more, to avoid connection to objects, to forget about social standards and MOST IMPORTANTLY, how to be grateful for what I have and live in complete abundance.
Why Less is More
- By having less square footage to your house: you have less to clean, to heat, to furnish, to pay for, to work for and in turn, you have more time and more money. The absolute top things people want more of.
- By having less clothes, you only have quality items that you truly love to wear, and every time you wear them you will have more happiness, etc.
"I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it's not the answer." Jim Carrey
Connection to Objects
Objects are not permanent, just like us. We are all brief here. When we create a connection to an object, when we identify with it, we will always lose because nothing is ever permanent. If you want to find true happiness, you have to look deeper inside of yourself, the only reliable happiness that will always stay. Cars get into crashes, clothes get torn, furniture fades, but your happiness does not deserve to be lost when an object is.
Goodbye Social Standards
In the past, the biggest source of pressure to buy new things came from seeing things that other people had that I didn’t. Instead of choosing things that I liked, I chose things that society liked. And to some extent, I still do this, but now I get a much bigger say. And best of all, I’m conscious of how my mind works. Now when I see a new style of shirt that I like, instead of thinking “wow I like that, I should go get a shirt in that style for (this) reason.”, now I recognize my consumer-trained brain, and I change it to be grateful for the shirt I am currently wearing and that I love! With this, I am happy, I am grateful and I am not over consuming.
How to Live in Abundance
The greatest thing I learned of all, is how to be happy by living in abundance. Being grateful for a big warm sweater, a super squishy bed, and vibrant plates opened my eyes. I don’t even need these things, these are luxuries that many people don’t have an opportunity to own, and here I am wanting more. And that’s when it all stopped. Now I save more money, create more time, and feel an incredibly overwhelming sense of gratitude, so strong it can bring me to tears knowing that my life is full of everything that I need.
And of course, this is not to say NEVER BUY ANYTHING AGAINNNN. It is to say BE AWARE of the consumerist voices in your head, BE GRATEFUL for what you already have, and BREAK FREE from the never ending cycle of looking for new things to buy to bring you happiness. Because if happiness is what you are looking for, you’re looking in the wrong place.
