Is There a 'Wrong Way' to Live Simply?
Because I think there is (and I think you might agree)
Some of you may have seen a story I recently wrote on Medium called ‘My Mum Tried Minimalism in Her 70s for All the Wrong Reasons.
Since publishing, I’ve been mulling over the question:
Is there a wrong way to live simply?
In the story, I suggest that no, there isn’t because everyone has their own way of approaching simple living. Even someone as batshit crazy as my mother.
Who am I to say what is right and wrong?
But the more I think about it, the more I realize that actually, there is a wrong way…
If you craft a life that doesn’t work for you, you’re doing it wrong
It happens more often than you think.
Regardless of where you are on your simple living journey, how many of you have created a life for yourself that just doesn’t work?
For a long time, my life looked like someone else had designed it for me. I had the mortgage, the suburban life, the job that kept me tied to one location, the cat. Cat aside, no part of my life worked for me. I love to travel, I love irregular and spontaneous working hours.
And I fricking hate suburbia.
So why was I there? It’s because I listened to society that told me crafting a stable life, complete with a 9-5 job, house, and all the trimmings of consumerism like cars, gadgets, and clothes - whether you want it all or not - is What You Do.
The thing is, exactly the same can happen when you choose to live simply.
You can go online and stare long and hard at #minimalism on Instagram and think about painting your bedroom walls white, even though you like your bright blue walls. You can stop spending in every aspect of your life - including areas that you love - and make yourself thoroughly miserable.
But, just as I shouldn’t have listened to society telling me there is only one way to live sensibly, you shouldn’t listen to what society tells you constitutes a simple life. Only you can determine that.
It seems people agree. This was the top highlight on my mother-minimalism story:
My mother doesn’t read very much. She’s never been on Twitter. She Googles ‘Hotmail’ to log into her email account. So all the noise about whether minimalism is good or bad has completely passed her by. She has been free to make her own decisions based on what she feels, not what she reads or hears.
You’ve got to listen to your gut on this one.
When you craft a simple life that works for you, there is no sacrifice
There is no deprivation.
Instead, there is less stress.
There is more contentment.
There is more money.
You might see my life with my 100 items - enough to fill just one suitcase - and my life of nomadism and think it looks totally deprived.
Whereas I may look in your fridge and see you have no wine and no cheese in there and I will think you look totally deprived.
And yet, if we’re both crafting lives that work for us, neither of us will feel anything other than satisfaction and contentment.
It’s different suits for different fruits my friend.
So yeah, there is a wrong way to craft a simple life. It’s the version that makes you miserable because you’ve listened to other people and not to yourself.
What do you want from your simple life? What’s the end goal? How do you want to feel every day?
Your answers are what you should be listening to. Not what Bob’s answers are next door.
Let’s get to work.
Thanks for reading! As always, email me at charlotte.emma.brown@gmail.com if you have any questions, comments or just want to shoot the breeze.
And If you want more ramblings from me, check me out on Medium. If you’re not yet a member, I’d seriously suggest you sign up. You can do so via my referral link to give me a small portion of your membership fee, at no extra cost to you. It’s the best $5 a month I spend.