Minimalism Essay

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Art 101

19 November 2018

Research Essay: Minimalism

In the twenty-first century era, a lot of different innovations have taken place including the creation of many ideologies. One such ideology is minimalism. Minimalism, just like many other ideologies of the twenty-first century, is very hard to objectively define. Most definitions that you will find are entirely subjective. Anyhow minimalism is essentially the idea of living with the least amount of physical possessions possible. Many people adopt this lifestyle as they see it as an antidote to stress. Usually, it is also marketed in the way that if you are having a stressful life then minimalism is the solution when in reality, it is just an illusion.

The presupposition that the idea holds is that all kinds of stress and depression originate from the abundance of material goods. This presupposition cannot be termed as more than a subjective assertion. When the people claiming the truth of this lifestyle are questioned on it, they give an emotionally loaded explanation to justify their lifestyle. I do not claim that human emotions should not play a part in the decision-making process of an individual when considering which lifestyle to adopt, but one should keep a balance between the logical as well as the emotional ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"izOBjUgn","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Shallard, 2013)","plainCitation":"(Shallard, 2013)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":284,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/DTmO0ro3/items/RCRB9B38"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/DTmO0ro3/items/RCRB9B38"],"itemData":{"id":284,"type":"webpage","abstract":"Minimalism is downright harmful to you, your ambition and your business. I’ll tell you why I believe this in just a moment, but first, let me say that I’ve allowed minimalism to grind my gears for such a long time that I just have to vent. And blogging allows me to rant away. You also …","container-title":"Peter Shallard","language":"en","title":"Why minimalism is toxic for you and your business","URL":"https://www.petershallard.com/why-minimalism-is-toxic-for-you-and-your-business/","author":[{"family":"Shallard","given":"Peter"}],"accessed":{"date-parts":[["2020",1,29]]},"issued":{"date-parts":[["2013",1,28]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Shallard, 2013). Doing what you want at all times can lead to a hedonistic lifestyle which can cause imbalanced levels of dopamine, one more reason for depression. Another thing that makes its followers a little confused from a logical perspective is that it does not have a fixed thesis which naturally implies that They end up, either selling all their belongings to adopt a minimalist lifestyle or only focusing on what concerns you. This approach can make you very self-centered and I don’t think this needs to be said that no one likes a self-centered individual.

Minimalism is a lifestyle based on human need of simplicity and it preys on individuals who are generally facing depression and anxiety issues. While saying that, I do not want to suggest that an extremely materialistic approach is helpful and is part of a healthy lifestyle. What needs to be understood is that there is always a balance between being too materialistic and being too minimalistic ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"gDd3INXn","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(\\uc0\\u8220{}Why I Hate Minimalism,\\uc0\\u8221{} 2017)","plainCitation":"(“Why I Hate Minimalism,” 2017)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":280,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/DTmO0ro3/items/9P5VNM5U"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/DTmO0ro3/items/9P5VNM5U"],"itemData":{"id":280,"type":"post-weblog","abstract":"Minimalism is the answer to happiness - at least that's what a minimalist would say. I disagree. I tried it, hated it, don't recommend it, and here's why.","container-title":"Get Green Be Well","language":"en-US","title":"Why I Hate Minimalism","URL":"https://www.getgreenbewell.com/minimalist-drop-out-why-i-hate-minimalism/","accessed":{"date-parts":[["2020",1,29]]},"issued":{"date-parts":[["2017",10,6]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (“Why I Hate Minimalism,” 2017). If one can find the right balance, life will be an easy ordeal but if you tend to move towards any extreme, things can very easily get out of hand. Another thing that distinguishes minimalism from other ideologues is its idea of joy. The point is that any stuff that you do not need and is there only to make you feel better should be thrown out. You should only own the essentials and be less involved with things and more involved with people.

There are a few things, however which should be adopted in daily life that are similar in nature to the minimalist approach but these ideas should not be taken to the very extreme. One such general idea is simplicity. In the twenty-first century, when the fever of materialism is on the very high, we should take time out of our lives to ponder on the struggles that other people face and we don’t. The element of thankfulness should be a part of our lives as it can be helpful in relieving the stress that one might face.

Minimalism is an idea originated in the concrete cities of the west and is designed to fulfill the need of contentment of a human being. The problem with it, however, is that it has a lot of loopholes. One such loophole is the subjectivity that can be used to, essentially, do what you want while implementing the minimalistic lifestyle. In a nutshell, it creates more problem than it solves.

Works cited:

ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {"uncited":[],"omitted":[],"custom":[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY Shallard, P. (2013, January 28). Why minimalism is toxic for you and your business. Peter Shallard. https://www.petershallard.com/why-minimalism-is-toxic-for-you-and-your-business/

Why I Hate Minimalism. (2017, October 6). Get Green Be Well. https://www.getgreenbewell.com/minimalist-drop-out-why-i-hate-minimalism/