I didn't know I was a minimalist until my wife told me I was. In fact, I didn't even know that minimalism was a thing until my wife told me. I've just always been a natural minimalist.
I can trace the roots of my minimalism back along my family tree and find the seed in growing up poor. Being impoverished meant my parents had no money to waste on buying me things that I didn't need. Hell, occasionally, they didn't have the money to buy me things that I did need (I'll never forget the winter in fourth grade during which I spent all my recesses inside because I didn't have coat). This spartan childhood seemed to stayed with me and helped shape my minimalist nature.
Another key factor, I think, in my being a minimalist is that I have
had a tough time with my career. I started out after undergrad in a job
in which I got to travel all over the US, which was great, until it
wasn't. A few months of 70+ hour work days and a mugging at gunpoint
later, and I quit that job.
I bounced around a couple
of part-time gigs until I landed in the field of higher education. I
worked doing recruiting and then became an advisor and that was great
-- until it wasn't. The economy recovered from the Great Recession and
people went back to work, which meant they weren't going to school. This
meant a drop in enrollment and downsizing and again I found myself unemployed.
It's a
traumatic event, being let go from a job when you've done nothing wrong.
It's even more traumatic when you can't seem to find another job that
matches your goals. Again, I bounced around a few part-time or
near-full-time jobs. I ate through my savings, but only very slowly. I
was under-employed or unemployed but able to afford my rent and other
bills much longer than many other people would have been able to in the same situation because of my innate minimalist
nature.
When I was working, it was easy to save money because I
didn't buy things that I didn't need. My savings saw me through my
graduate degree and lasted long enough for me to obtain my next full-time position
that matched my goals.
I find satisfaction in my life through experiences, and activities and not through things. For example, I was satisfied with my old box set
television even while everyone around me was buying up the latest LCD flatscreens. I didn't mind that my car had over 100K miles on it and
didn't look the best. It still ran fine and that was after all the
purpose of it. I don't needs stuff. I find happiness elsewhere.
I'm 33 now and have a steady job, a good education, no debt and money in the bank. My wife and I are firmly in the middle class with our combined incomes. I still don't buy things I don't need.
I guess growing up poor and then becoming middle class could have gone one of two ways in terms of buying stuff. I was either going to be as I am now, and continue being someone that just doesn't buy things, or, since I finally had the money to indulge, I was going to become a spendthrift lunatic. Luckily, I followed the minimalist route.
It wasn't until my wife dove into the deep end of the minimalism movement, a necessity when we moved in together into my one-bedroom apartment, that I learned about all of these minimalist pundits that were acting like they discovered something new but were actually just discovering something that I'd been living my entire life. So, I guess what I'm saying is that I probably have a few things that I can contribute to the discussion on minimalism, and that's the reason why I co-created Minimalism and More.
I hope that as my wife and I post more of our ideas, suggestions, and questions, that Minimalism and More becomes a place with a dynamic discussion on what minimalism is, other philosophies that align with minimalism (I'm particularly excited to begin a conversation on anti-consumerism) and how we these interconnected philosophies can lead us all to happier and healthier lives and improve the societies in which we live.
Regards,
-D
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