Minimalism is the idea of living with less.
Less stuff, less burdens, less events and less anxiety.
Throughout Covid-19 we have all become slightly more minimalistic and it is reducing stress.
We attend less functions, buy less materialistic items and care less about status marks.
So many have gone a little further by decluttering their closets and kitchens or even the entire house.
So why does this make us happier?
UCLA conducted a study on 32 families and found that the higher the density of household items we have the higher our levels of cortisol – the stress hormone.
There are three reasons for this.
First, more stuff means more mess. The more surfaces we have covered by items, the more we feel disorganized because we associate tidiness with success.
Second, when we have lots of stuff, we feel an innate sense of guilt for not interacting with it.
When we donate things or throw them out, we notice less things we are unintentionally holding on to.
Finally and perhaps most profoundly – we rethink what we find value in.
Discarding clothes, events and even associates that we have no strong feelings toward allow us to value what is actually important to us.
Being a minimalist is not owning one sweater or one saucepan, it is about unshackling ourselves from the trivial things we may have filled our lives with.
It helps us to learn to want less and to not look to material items or connection for happiness.
We don’t need more things to be happy, we need more time and mental and physical space.
Leaning into the minimalism that we inadvertently began creates a clearer path to mental freedom.
I bet you can find 10 things that you would be perfectly happy with donating today!
So what are some thing you could live without?
