Minimalism in the modern day

Minimalism in the day and age of Netflix, AI, home theatres, and home gyms, how do we apply the concept? This episode deep dives into that

Transcript

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Hello everyone, welcome back to another episode on my channel, Life, Health, Happiness, and Beyond. Thank you once again for all the listeners and subscribers over various platforms for extending your support, listening to me, and important more importantly, your patience because I know it's been a while. Today's episode is something that is being talked about a lot: minimalism. And I want to answer one simple question. Can minimalism help you maximize your well-being? So, what is minimalism? When I first heard the word, I perceived it, perceived it as a concept of living without spending, without things that others might discern as a display of vanity or display of one's quirks or likings, or even display of one's wealth and social status. I perceived it as a concept of trying to live like a monk, no smartphones, no social media accounts, no Netflix, no good surround system, even if one loves music. And then my wife and I started talking about minimalism, and I realized that I got my basics wrong here. So I looked into her research and did my own. If you Google what is minimalism, you will see a list of websites, a lot of podcasts, YouTube videos, and even popular documentaries on video streaming media. But this is what I've boiled it down to for myself. The way I understand and intend to apply minimalism is as a tool to keep my body, my mind, and my soul clear, clean, and uncluttered, allowing me to be happy, stay happy, and make people I love happy. And this isn't a goal that I want to achieve, but a journey that I want to embark upon. A few statistics here. An average American household, according to a recent LA Times report, has about 300,000 items. An OLEX survey from 2016 showed Indian homes stocked unused goods worth about 78,000 crores in Indian rupees, which is approximately 9.8 billion dollars. Seems pretty steep, doesn't it? I've used the word uncluttered before, which helps me segue into the word decluttering. Decluttering is another word that comes up very frequently in conversations about minimalism. So what is decluttering? In many articles or blogs, sometimes the words decluttering and minimalism are used synonymously. But decluttering is the first step towards minimalism. And the easiest way to declutter is to get rid of things that are not being used anymore. Helping your eyes to see things around you clean and organized, and the mind to perceive your site clearly. Physical decluttering is a first step towards minimalism, starting to get rid, get rid of, or recycle, or donate things that you're not using anymore. There are many ways of physical decluttering, and we will get into that in another episode. But one of the easiest ways of decluttering is, of course, physical. But a physical uh decluttering is just one type of decluttering when we talk about embarking upon a journey of a minimalistic lifestyle. There is physical decluttering, as I've mentioned before, there is emotional decluttering, there is decluttering on social media, there is digital decluttering, decluttering of your time, sentimental decluttering, financial decluttering, and many more ways. The intent is not to lead a detached lifestyle where you might end up needing something that you've donated or thrown away and now need to spend more money to get. The goal is to have a physical and emotional surrounding where you feel safe, happy, comfortable, and calm. One of the motivations for this might be to be more productive at work and grow professionally. Another could be to have a better relationship with a loved one. Another could also be that you want to mend a relationship that has cracks or has already broken. But to achieve any of these, a clear and calm mind is the strongest foundation one can build on for a sustainable achievement of what is needed. Minimalism is a very strong tool that can be wielded to achieve a sense of calm and peace, to improve the kind of people you surround yourself with and start becoming a better version of yourself. Now, the counterpoint as a listener that you might say is if it's not broken, why mend it? Well, we are we're not talking about mending ourselves here. The point of minimalism and decluttering is to better oneself and enhance one's capabilities. Now, let's say you're a writer and you have an essay to submit before the end of a given day. Would your essay be better if you had lesser things to do and think about and a clean workplace that you're working and writing your essay on? Or would your essay be better if you're suppressing something at the back of your mind that someone has said on, say, your Twitter account or your X account as it's called now, or Facebook account, or sitting on a laptop with a table which is dusty and stacked with books that you've not used in a very long time? A minimalistic approach to life helps feel lighter and not weighed down, not just physically but mentally and emotionally. Decluttering is a step towards this, and it will help you manage your time better, utilize the same 24 hours all of us have more efficiently, giving yourself more knee time to simply relax or do what you wanted to do for ages, but have not been able to because things got in the way. You can get more time for exercise, you can have a better sleep quality, you can focus on cooking your own food instead of ordering from outside, all of which have shown to reduce your metabolic age and improve your health, both physical and mental. Minimalism can also help structure one's life in taking care of oneself or a family member who has been diagnosed with chronic disease condition. This can include avoiding stocking unhealthy foods, creating a streamlined routine to improve adherence to medications and lifestyle modifications that your physician has suggested as an example. Practicing minimalism also hones self-awareness of what is working for you or your loved one if you're a caregiver and what isn't, so that you can let go of what is not working and foster a positive and calm environment that will help you manage your condition better. I would suggest watching The Minimalist. That's number one, a documentary on Netflix, and second, tidying up with Mary Counto on Netflix as a starter. And let's talk about this uh more in future episodes. Thank you once again for tuning in. I know it's been a while, but we will meet sooner. As always, may the force be with you. Have a great day.