Minimalism: What You Own, Owns You
From an old idea to a 21st century lifestyle, a look at the online communities promoting a more minimal lifestyle
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▶️ Minimalism explained
The essence of minimalism remains the same despite its concept taking various forms over the years.
Our guests:
"The Simplicity Sisters" – Leah C. Prescott and Caroline C. Ganahl discuss the benefits of minimalism when prioritizing what matters in life: family and good mental health.
Mandeep Litt – an interior designer, explains how professionals work with minimalist clients or the enthusiasts who look for help getting started. Click on play below to check out the story.
Minimalism: making room for the essentials
The rise of social media built new communities around an old idea: minimalism.
Joshua Field Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus — popularly known as The Minimalists — define minimalism as “a lifestyle that helps people question what things add value to their lives. By clearing the clutter, we can all make room for the most important aspects of life: Health, relationships, passion, growth, and contribution.”
According to Business Insider, an average American spends six to eight hours every week to clean the house. Leah and Caroline, known on YouTube as The Simplicity Sisters, use that time with their families, creating content for YouTube and hustling between jobs.
Leah said she was inspired by blogger Allie Casazza’s post, where she talked about “how getting rid of stuff saved my motherhood.”
Caroline, who identifies herself as a beginner minimalist, shared how her family is going out more, hiking, and visiting grandparents, even though her house is reckless.
“I feel more at ease leaving the house. It has given me hope,” she said.
The Simplicity Sisters are truly living what Linda Breen Pierce, author of Choosing Simplicity, once described as “unburdening your life, and living more lightly with fewer distractions that interfere with a high-quality life, as defined uniquely by each individual.”
Mandeep Litt, a Vancouver-based interior designer — who said he is exactly what minimalists don’t want to be: a collector — agrees that “a decluttered space equals a decluttered mind.”
Litt has worked for different kinds of minimalists. He said, “You won’t find a huge dinosaur, a marble statue in front of the centre table. You’ll rather find a penholder in the centre of a table, used as an accessory; they [minimalists] will use the pens out of it.”
A minimalist’s house in today’s world can be bold, plain, full of texture, and so on, but the idea is to keep it functional and keep the things we use only. A person can now be a minimalist with their house representing their personalities.
However, the idea can be traced back about 150 years when designer, artist, and writer Francis Jourdain attacked the ostentatious typical-French luxury designs with his idea of simple luxury. He once said, “One can furnish a room very luxuriously by taking out furniture rather than putting it in.”
A study by the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology revealed that clutter negatively impacts our mental health and leads to cortisol secretion, a stress hormone.
Leah’s minimalist journey started seven years ago when she had her third child, a son. “I wish I started fourteen years ago. That’s when things started to go crazy, me trying to manage all of our stuff,” she said.
Her sister Caroline got inspired by her positive lifestyle, and they both now share their experience and tips as The Simplicity Sisters on YouTube.
Caroline is on her second or third bout of the journey and has already seen positive impacts on her mental health. It has helped her cope with her anxiety disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
These mothers say they are accomplishing their dreams by allowing themselves more time through a minimalist lifestyle choice.
“I wouldn’t have been able to do YouTube at all; I do a part-time job, I teach two days a week, I homeschool my three children, and do multiple works from home jobs for different people, ghostwriting. There is no way I could be doing this otherwise,” Leah said.
Related Reading:
The Unbearable Heaviness of Clutter — this piece by the New York Times outlines the importance of living in a manageable environment. The article pulls information from a 2010 study where researchers examined the patients' well-being concerning the level of clutter in their homes.
How minimalism Helped my ADHD — from The Simplicity Sisters' channel, Leah explains how her lifestyle can help her manage symptoms from her Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder.
How Getting Rid of Stuff Saved My Motherhood — minimalist blogger Allie Cazzaza shares a story about how letting go of things made her more carefree and improved at being a mother.
The Gurus of Tidiness — an article that goes into more detail about Marie Kondo and her fellow celebrity decluttering gurus.
Saloni Bhugra is a third-year journalism student at Humber College. Other than her passion for covering social-political news, she enjoys painting, dancing, debating, athletics, and coffee art. Follow her on Twitter: @BhugraSaloni or email: bhugrasaloni23@gmail.com
Thaïs Grandisoli is a third-year journalism student at Humber College. She has focused her efforts on learning about political coverage and hopes to pursue a career in international news. During her studies at Humber, she has found a passion for video and audio production. You can follow her on Twitter: @thaisgrandisoli. You can also reach out to her via email at thaismgrandisoli@me.com