These are great. My mother has severe obsessive compulsive disorder, like, it drives this woman bonkers whenever something is out of place. It meant that our house was always spick-and-span when I was growing up. Now that I'm on my own, I'm starting to realize that I've taken some of that with me, and it gets worse as time goes on. It never interferes with my life or anything, but my apartment is spotless and everything is in a certain order the way I intended it to be. I've wondered for a while if I've just simply taken after my mother's sense of order and cleanliness or it's been passed on to me genetically...
Y'know, that's actually kind of funny. All my life my mom had always been very clean and organized. Even to the point where she cleaned my room. All the time, she would say I live in a pigsty and was doomed to live a messy life forever. Later on in life I realized that she may have been on to something. I keep my room clean and everything has a specific place. It isn't limited to just my room. My whole lifestyle is neat and clean, and especially minimalist. Part of the problem of why I was so messy was because I had so much stuff! Too much stuff! I've downsized a bit. and find my life a little more manageable. I think I may have picked up some of my moms OCD; she cleans when she's bored lol.
I think as a whole, our society places undue emphasis on acquiring 'stuff'. But what do you do with all this stuff? Being a minimalist isn't being strange, it's a rejection of societal pressure to be something that has no logical or moral resolution: an impulsive consumer. You're not the only one. It's difficult to be a minimalist in a society that finds a distinct lack of material lust to be a defect of character. But like the article says, most of society doesn't live up to it's own definition of normal.
Part of the problem is: what does the average person do to pass time? I wish shopping wasn't considered a hobby in North America, but it is...groceries, clothing, electronics, books, music, entertainment - all these things we have to shop to obtain. It feels weird to buy less.
It's not buying less but buying things you need. When I got my job I went out and spent my first paycheck on a new wardrobe. I planned it all out. How many shirts and skirts and dresses and mixing and matching. I didn't go to the mall for 4 straight months and it felt good. I had exactly what I needed and I didn't have to worry. Now I find myself going to the mall occasionally after work and buying things on sale or super cute. Unfortunately I have 5 summer dresses and 2 shirts that don't go with any skirts I own. I'm shopping more now but shopping worse.
Yeah, I guess I should've said shop less. I actually really don't enjoy shopping and try go as little as possible. I do a lot more window shopping, where I'm at the mall because I'm bored but purposely don't have my wallet/credit card with me to spend money. It's fortunate and mistfortunate at the same time that I don't fit into most clothing, so I can't walk into a store with nice clothes and buy stuff on the whim. It takes me hours to find 1 thing that might fit me properly. Now that I've thought about it, most of the clutter in my house is art that needs storage space, my pottery, and some memorabilia.
What do you do with it? Sell it! Re-purpose it! Get rid of it, and never buy unnecessary things again. This is one of the reasons I prefer the modern architecture and design -- it places an emphasis on minimalism, without seeming too 'off' to the rest of the world.
That was an interesting bit of reflection. I don't have a disorder, but I have experienced way more anxiety in my life than I had thought. Some of those photos conjured up streams of memories I had long forgotten. Those photos were intensely familiar, but the others I could only appreciate vaguely on an intellectual level. One or two I didn't even get. I could really feel myself sitting just off screen crying in the shot of the door with the keys or trying to stop the glass of milk from spilling. I always thought I started taking the bull by the horns, because I was tired of being afraid. I suspect my fight or flight reaction just started swinging the other way. Maybe a bit of both.