Minimalism 2023 – a New Year Filled With More Simplicity
Many want 2023 to be a much better year than 2022 has been. It wouldn’t be surprising if more people than ever turn to minimalism in the new year.
As I think about the news and events that we’ve all witnessed, I think we’ve learned a lot of things. When so much freedom is taken away, we realize more what matters the most.
The past year has maybe given us lessons to take our minimalism to the next level. I’ll share with you a few of mine.
We really don’t need to know everything
So much news can just be a drag on our minds. Just yesterday I was on social media, and I saw a story trending that was a little disturbing.
It ended up staying stuck in my mind most of the day. It was a bit of hindrance to my productivity and just focusing on the present.
I’d much rather consistently go on websites like ScienceDaily rather than social media. I can learn new studies on improving my mind and my well-being.
New information that can make me better, rather than distract my attention from what’s important.
We need to live more now
The beginning of this year, maybe many people were operating on auto-pilot with their lives. Moving with no particular urgency towards their dreams and goals in life.
Then a once in a lifetime crisis came, and it’s kind of woke us all up. We may have realized we’ve just been wasting time for a while.
We just don’t know what major changes will happen in the future. Anything can suddenly shift our ability to pursue what we deeply desire in life.
Now more than ever, our pursuit of greater fulfillment should be high on our priority list.
Life is short. Even if you don’t ultimately get what you want, it can be a beautiful adventure to have at least tried.
Our well-being is essential
Maybe the most obvious of lessons is how much our wellness needs to matter. It’s harder to go after what you want if you don’t feel your best.
Doing what you need to do take care of yourself isn’t always easy. Many don’t like exercising, many have trouble sleeping, and eating the right foods can be a challenge.
But aren’t we worth it? Aren’t our hopes and dreams that require us to have maximum energy worth it?
Taking care of ourselves goes beyond just being mentally and physically well. It’s essential to just being able to pursue and achieve happiness.
Our money should no longer be wasted
Similar to the housing crisis in 08, these times have helped us recognize how much we waste our money. Spending on things we don’t need just to look good to others.
We’re seeing more how valuable saving is. The importance of spending wisely never knowing what could change tomorrow.
Money is a tool that can help us have peace through having things like a home. We see that that house or apartment really doesn’t have to be big.
It just has to give us the protection and privacy to be alone with ourselves.
Those cars never needed those big rims or fancy gadgets. It just needed to safely take us from point A to point B.
All of our gadgets and clothes didn’t need to be so extravagant. The gadgets just needed to assist us with simplifying our lives, and the clothes just needed to cloth us.
We see what real value there needs to be in the choices of our purchase. We also recognize the artificial values in our purchases that were not really valuable at all.
Outside > inside
We take nature and all her beauty for granted so often. And then our ability to enjoy it as much became limited. Breathing in the fresh air isn’t as easy with a mask on.
Being forced to be inside so often, we suddenly realize how amazing those trees outside are. We understand how wonderful those birds singing sound.
We spent so much time inside before everything happened. But once we were forced into a marriage with the inside, we quickly realized we wanted a separation.
Our minds and bodies yearned for the outside. Our true love was never walls and computers. She was but just a lust in our lives. Our real true love us was nature and humanity. For some, even spirituality.
Technology will NEVER replace physical relationships
Being forced to text and FaceTime more, our eyes opened to seeing how little warmth there is in these things.
We can’t hug our computer and feel the same love. We can’t kiss our screen and feel the same magic. The human touch is something technology can’t recreate.
Hard as our brightest engineers and scientists may try, real human connection will always remain necessary.
People matter. All the stuff we put before our relationships; those things suddenly don’t matter as much.
It’s been revealed to us how interconnected we all are, and how much we really need each other to live well.
Everything should help maximize our happiness
In this fresh start, we can take our intentional lifestyle to the next level. Let us re-evaluate everything around us and ask ourselves, “Does this help increase my happiness?”
I look around my own room right now and see so much that doesn’t maximize my happiness. At best, it has no impact on me, at worst, it lowers my mood.
Everything around us can be a tool to increase our feelings of satisfaction. The TV that I watch, I only allow it on certain channels that are meaningful to me.
Channels that educate me on history. Show me beautiful images of nature around the world or give me the joy of watching my favorite sport.
We can take a deeper look at everything else around us and ask how it helps our life. Does it serve a function in leading us closer to where we want to be, or who we want to be?
This can be the time we really eliminate the clutter getting in the way of our path to greater contentment.
I’m inspired as we look ahead and move forward to new beginnings. Be inspired even more now to live a life decluttered from distractions.
Create the happiness that you have the power to make happen.