Minimalist Living - To Sustain after Pandemic

Minimalist Living: A new normal to sustain peaceful living after the pandemic.

The year 2020 was a hostage year globally. Life came at a standstill as nations underwent health emergencies and took vital steps like lockdown multiple times to stall the marching virus. After the year-long ordeal, we entered 2021 with hope, but it has been no gift either.

The talking point that has been gathering momentum lately is how would we be able to sustain after the pandemic. The national economy and financial markets have felt one of the worst blows. We all are already down to bare essentials away from mindless consumerism.

With health and finance being on high priority, people worldwide are forced to survive with minimum resources.
Well, we have already tasted minimalist living but in a forced way. No one likes when things are forced down on us, leaving no other option but to bear the pressure

I am sure you would agree that these tough times did teach us all a valuable lesson. We all learnt to discriminate between our needs and wants. That’s what minimalist living is all about. Fulfil your needs and filter your wants.

Today is the right time to learn, practice and adopt the new form of living. A living that gives us fewer financial burdens like debt and unnecessary expenses. In return, it rewards us with some extra time to work on personal relationships.

Minimalist living after the pandemic. — *image source: Unsplash.co*m

Due to an extended lockdown, we have had to stay confined to our households for months. The regular functioning of our day to day lives has changed from what was happening for years. The Covid-19 has rocked everyone’s life. The lockdown restrictions laid to control the highly contagious virus have led to the closure of many businesses, layoffs, and salary cuts. With the virus still on its front foot, peoples agony is increasing with each passing day. Fear of losing financial stability is haunting every individual. The prolonged stress has led to anxiety and depression in many.

The need of the hour is to think on measures on how to bounce back to normal, get back our financial security. Meet the needs of the present while not compromising the future.
The key solution here is Minimalist Living.
To sustain, Minimalism has become a trend in every aspect of life. It has even become a lifestyle for some.

Why is Minimalist Living the way to sustain today?

A minimalist lifestyle is rapidly becoming a popular way of life as it proved to provide significant benefits to those living according to it. Minimalist living is a lifestyle that helps people differentiate between the things that they need and things that they want in their life.

To improve the financial stability- you may have thought of starting a new business or taking up an extra part-time job. In this scenario, let’s be honest about how likely is one to gain success in business or get a good job. Starting a completely new venture means investing more money, and getting an extra part-time job means more stress and less time in hand. Beginning a new business or job may be a good idea for some, but not for the masses.

A minimalist person has fewer things to worry about and faces fewer roadblocks in life. The chase for money is cured by buying only essential items and using them wisely. They are happier individuals because they know where to keep their focus.

Start minimalist living – Think like a minimalist:

1) Overcome functional fixedness:

We usually believe each item we own is to be used only for a particular set of purpose. We fail to see the creativity or multifaceted options of that object. Eventually, we end up buying separate entities to fulfil every purpose in our life. We need to see through a minimalist perspective and see how we can use objects in many different approaches. At times just upcycling a few items with creative DIY craft ideas can serve the purpose.

A minimalist repurposes individual items in new ways that add value and reduces our dependency on having all the single-use products. Instead of buying the new product, you can figure out new ways to work through your life without it.

Owning a showcase stand and a step ladder are two separate products; you need to pay for both, and both are going to use up space in your house. The purpose of the showcase stand is to display your beautiful art pieces and Step Ladder; you might not be using it every day. A minimalist mind says – Let’s use Step Ladder, to also serves as a showcase or a planter stand or a shoe rack. Bingo! You just saved some money and space. And does it look good, well see in the pictures yourself. Perfect right?

2) Redefining Luxury:

What, according to you, is luxurious?
As we hear the word luxury, we think of a big house, expensive clothes, luxurious cars, etc.
But who has marked them as luxurious? Not you! They are just societies perceptive of luxury and not yours. Then how are they luxury for you.

We need to redefine what luxury means to us.
We shouldn’t chase the societies metric of luxury because they got to be biased by the different brands with a stack in them.

Minimalist living influences us to create a guideline and design our luxury- things that give us ease, comfort and adds pleasure to our day-to-day life. These include inessential, desirable items which not necessarily be expensive and difficult to obtain
-Being able to enjoy the fragrance of mud in the first rain is so calming, and being able to witness that is luxurious enough.
-Wishing for some me-time, and actually getting it can be a luxury.

The societal messages that tell you what luxury is may not be in your price range and not necessarily make you happy.
The idea when following minimalist living, is not to be swayed by societies standards of luxury and defining your own.

3) Beware of Consumer games:

Companies try to change consumer perspective to gain more profits. People start thinking that the picture these business-minded companies have created is normal and the only option. And because of this, many of us end up buying it.

In the 1930s sale of diamond’s saw a considerable dip. There was just not much demand for that. The companies who had a lot of supply of diamonds marketed a message to boost the sale- which surprisingly became a huge hit. They tried to share the message in their marketing that if a man truly loved a woman, he could only express true love by gifting a diamond. They used this as their ad campaigns to market diamonds, and it was highly successful. It made people believe that giving a diamond was the only proof of true love.

As per statistics, only 10% of engagement rings bought in the 1940s had diamonds in them. But, after the jewellery companies started connecting diamonds with true love and foreverness. The result of which is today, 84% of the engagement rings bought have diamonds studded in them.

We fail to understand that there is inherently nothing necessarily unique about diamonds. It’s just a norm that has now become a part of our culture. A considerable investment that people are making because of a corporate game. I am sure you can find true love without involving diamonds.

Minimalist living guides us that when companies or society pressure us to own something, it is important to take a deeper dive, understand why we need to buy, what the purpose is, and consider other options.

Minimalism is not boring:

Minimalism doesn’t have to be boring. You can still achieve the desired aesthetic and poise by living life more with less.
Minimalist doesn’t mean that you live an elementary life and buy all cheap things. You don’t need to rob yourself of things that give you joy. It is about making room for more of what matters. Minimalism means focusing on the aspects of life that matter most to you, and you intentionally remove everything else.

Today, when we aim to control our expenses, a minimalist lifestyle can help us lead our lives to the fullest.
There are many characteristics of Minimalism. A teenager’s minimalist lifestyle may look different than a person in his mid-forties. Everyone has their unique approach to Minimalism. But, each path leads to the same goal- to live life MORE with less.

As we approach the mid of 2021, let’s pray for the souls who have fallen prey to the deadly virus. We believe we will see a ray of new bright sunshine soon.

As nations reconsider development models, Let’s prepare ourselves to adapt to this new lifestyle where we can focus on the next steps of growth without worrying about how we will sustain after the pandemic.
Stay Healthy – Stay Safe

Let me know your thoughts in the comments section.

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Minimalist Living: Start Now If You Want To Sustain After The Pandemic