How to take control of your Space and Design — a way of life, minimalism. Part I
Recently I’ve been exposed to some books about the minimalist lifestyle and quickly realized that my values are perfectly aligned with the minimalist principles and that I have actually been applying them in my life and design work without consciously knowing it. You don’t add White space, you just get rid of stuff. Removing or excluding elements from a design necessarily leaves empty space. So that space is not an action that you do, but a result that you get through throwing unnecessary elements out because you don’t need more space. but you need less stuff.
Minimalism is a tool that can assist you in finding freedom. Freedom from fear. Freedom from worry. Freedom from overwhelming. Freedom from guilt. Freedom from depression. Freedom from the trappings of the consumer culture we’ve built our lives around. Real freedom.
Our world runs at a feverish pace. We are too hurried, too rushed, and too stressed. We work long, passionate hours to pay the bills, but fall deeper into debt every day. We rush from one activity to another — even multitasking along the way — but never seem to get anything done. We remain in constant connection with others through our cell phones, but true life-changing relationships continue to elude us. Becoming a minimalist slows down life and frees us from this modern hysteria to live faster. It offers freedom to disengage. It seeks to keep only the essentials. It aims to remove the frivolous and keep significant. It values the intentional endeavors that add value to life.
Minimalism is one of those concepts, much like simple living where it can mean different things to different people. And that’s ok. Minimalism is something that should be personal and unique to the person living it. There is no single set of rules or standards that you must follow and meet to be a minimalist.
But much like simple living, it’s important to have a clear vision of what a simple, minimalist lifestyle means to you. Although minimalism is as much about the journey as it is the end goal, without having a clear goal of what you want minimalism to look like in your life, it’s hard to stay focused and on track.
