minimalism: the process of eliminating excess and non-essentials from your life so you can focus on what makes you happy.



This time in May last year, I began to have a desire within me to eliminate excess. Six months ago, I chronicled this experience. I have six more months of experience now, and would like to take a second look.



At the end of spring semester 2013, I began getting rid of clothing, knick knacks, other things that I had little attachment with. It was easy, it was freeing, it was even fun. My dorm room was like a bomb: it exploded, and suddenly my clothes and possessions flew all over campus, into friend's closets, rooms, and cars. At this point, I was packing up to go home anyway, and it simply felt like an opportunity to trim the edges. Yet by the end of that week at university, I had a new goal: get home and clean my room.



I destroyed my room. I'm going to let pictures speak:





Spring 2013

Summer 2013

These pictures essentially show my state of mind over the past year. Up until Spring 2013, I was living a cluttered, consumeristic lifestyle. It was unhealthy and mentally choking. I'd never seen my room as somewhere to relax or spend time- it was simply a storage closet for things I never touched, and a hotel for a bed that I slept in.



The mental progression related to this process is interesting. Like a teenage boy who hasn't yet grown into his lanky limbs, I had not yet mentally grown into my minimalism. I started exercising my muscle. I moved things; I donated probably 10 banana boxes of clothing, knick knacks, and toys. I threw out just as much (my one regret through this process; not finding ways to reuse/recycle. I was simply so focused on elimination at this point that I saw no other way), and gave away more to friends. My room was clean by Summer 2013. But it wasn't yet clear, focused, or thoughtfully arranged. Like the awkward teenage boy, I had grown- but I had to catch up my new physical advance. I had created a new room, but it was still awkward to me.



By Fall 2013, after a summer in Europe, I left for university with most of my possessions:





Fall 2013; the remainder of my possessions.

At this point, an existential crisis began. I had spent the past six months reducing, minimizing, and turning myself into an all around radically minimal young man (in comparison to my former lifestyle). But this fall semester at university proved troubling. I was, for the first time, seeing areas where I did have a need for new possessions, and felt comfortable buying and consuming. So much of my wardrobe had been donated that I was in need of new clothes, and at my age, saw the value of beginning the process of developing a young professional's wardrobe. Furthermore, minimalism allowed me to see the advantage of embracing a "buy it for life" mindset- that is, look for quality, not quantity.





But I struggled. I had been so keen to eliminate and seek simplicity. I clung to the concept of removing excess, but hadn't slowed down to think about what it actually does: it allows you to focus on what matters.





Throughout that fall semester at school, I grew into my lifestyle, just like that lanky teenage boy grows into his body. I found substance; my metaphorical muscles filled in, and the awkwardness that accompanies a teenage boy disappeared. I had achieved holistic growth, and I finally understood: Minimalism allows me to handle life well through both reduction and addition.





This existential crisis defeated, I realized I had entered a new realm in my quest for a simple lifestyle. Having conquered this ambivalent issue, I emerged with an understanding of "ecosystemic minimalism". I understood the ebb and flow of physical need in even the most ascetic minimalist's life.





Physically, mentally, and spiritually, I had found a way to live "in the world, but not of it".



Physically, I had found a loophole against the self-defeating consumerism I was born into.



Mentally, I began to find joy in the simple, pure things- a good meal with friends or the beauty of the ocean at dawn. My mind was opened to the idea that the only thing keeping me from being happy was myself.



Spiritually, my conviction to live a simple life of caring for others came into focus. I gained a better understanding of the "big picture"- how my minimalism effected the large choices I had made in my life over the past year- and helped me to gain a new thankfulness for the blessings in my life.





In this trifecta of identity, I felt that I had found a way to embrace the positives of my culture and environment, while humbly rejecting what hurts myself, others, and our home, the earth.





This clarity of mind led me to the decision that I should quit university and pursue what I was interested in- nonprofit work- so I packed up all of my possessions at university (after giving away another handful, of course), and headed home for a brief while:





My dorm room packed up.









I got home, rearranged my room one more time, reduced some more, and began using my room for reflection, study, relaxation, and lastly, personal storage. This is what my room looks like today. I'll adjust as soon as I am home again, because I am always changing, and am finally comfortable with that.









Winter 2014 After a brief stint at home, I returned to the area where I attended university and began interning at a non profit:





Everything I took to the non-profit (minus bedding and 5 articles of clothing)