Will minimalism make you happy?

For about a year and a half now, i’ve been dealing with the movement of minimalism. Or hype. But does it help you? Does it make you happy?

Photo by Glen Carrie on Unsplash

It all started when I saw the film Minimalism on Netflix. Areally good film, which I can highly recommend. Here two men travel through the USA and talk about minimalism and how happy and free it is. They show again and again how little they own and what a great feeling it is.

That’s what gripped me now, and I thought I could do that too. that makes me happy.

So I started now and misted out. I threw away two or three moving boxes to things, gave them away and sold them.

At the first moment it felt free and lighter. But somehow the flat was still very quickly untidy and not very minimalistic.

So round 2. this time more has to go. so it happened that I could fill several moving boxes with things that I liked somehow, but didn’t really need. Half a year later I moved and was glad that I had less things. but somehow it was still not much.

Now I tested different games to get rid of things. I put everything in boxes and only get out what you need. And every day just use one more thing and so on.

And now, after one and a half years, I still have more than I need, but i’m getting closer and closer to minimalism.

But here are the things that have really changed, which really makes me happier.

1. I don’t have so much stuff anymore → so I have to clean up less
2. I always think about whether I really need it or whether i’ll just throw it away in a few months anyway.
3. I have the feeling not to produce so much garbage anymore.

For me, minimalism doesn’t make me happy, but what makes me happy is not having to throw away so many things. Having more money left at the end of the month. And, most importantly, to live a little more sustainably and produce a smaller mountain of garbage.

I only really noticed what I needed when I started my current job as a consultant. I am on the road every week for at least 4 days with a small suitcase and it is enough for me. I don’t need any more to be happy or have a fulfilling live.
Everything else is nice to have, but not necessary. What I really miss is only my coffee machine. Unfortunately I can’t take it with me 😅 (There will be an following post)

I can recommend the documentation on netflix to everyone. Also I think the youtube channel of Matt D’Avella is really great.

In the end everyone has to find a middle way for themselves. A change to minimalism doesn’t go from one day to the next for me. it’s a process that takes months or years and has a lot to do with the mindset. In my opinion, however, it can make you happy and help you to better understand what you need.

Thanks for reading. If you have any questions about my process or me, feel free to ask. ☺️