MINIMALISM might best be described as a state of mind more than an organized approach to thinking about happiness. It encompasses a bunch of diverse approaches to being happy, all of which involve simplifying your life. They include the "tidying up" approach made famous by Marianne Kondo, the tiny house movement, as well as other approaches that focus on streamlining our material possessions to make psychological space for activities and relationships that will, hopefully, reduce stress and bring more joy.
Minimalism isn't a coherent movement because it doesn't have one founder, or a single well-articulated set of ideals. Instead, these ideas have arisen in many minds independent of one another, in response to a pervasive set of ideas that run through American society: that we can shop our way to happiness.
I was surprised to learn that retail therapy (also known as therapeutic discourse in social-scientific circles) has a history that goes back more than a century. It is based on the message – propagated by advertisers, and then perpetuated by consumers – that your life will be incomplete unless you buy certain things to escape the flaws in your character. As a result, many people end up feeling pressured to buy, thinking they need things that an objective look at their lives would suggest they don't.
Eventually, this consumerist cure for unhappiness can lead to its own forms of misery, as people come to think of themselves as flawed in ways that the right makeup can't hide and the best chocolate chip cookies and bath bombs won't lead you to forget.
Throughout history there have been a number of responses to the pressure consumerism places on people – the most recent is Minimalism.
Instead of seeking happiness through buying and owning things, minimalists try to find it by cutting down and scaling back. For the most part, they aren't just rejecting consumerism – they are also rejecting the identities that come with being an "early adopter" or committed Mac user.
Reducing your clutter of possessions, or, taking this a step further, moving into a tiny house that can only hold so much, or giving up a lucrative job in the rat race, can all be considered Minimalist techniques. If you can free yourself from the demands of modern life, the thought goes, you are more able to choose your own values and focus your life on interests you value instead of chores you have to do.
All-out minimalism isn't possible for everyone – it helps to be healthy and unencumbered with debt or family obligations. But some people find small gestures, like cleaning out a closet or two, can provide at least a little boost to happiness.
The underlying message of most minimalist thought, though, is that freedom from the demands of consumerism is a good thing – and this is a value that anyone with an interest in the topic can pursue.
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