Benefits Of Minimalism

Samrat Baral

I   have hard time whenever I need to clean my rented apartment or move to a different place,” shares one of my friends. His fury with himself compounded when I shared that the mover was surprised to see how minimal objects I had with me when I relocated to the current place. Though some may assume how cunning I am as I don’t even have the beds, let alone the sofas and dining table.  It’s not about whether I can afford them or not; rather it is about the approach I have been following for years, though out of compulsion when I was a child but now as I have already internalised the minimalism into every bit of my life. Some may have hard time when they have a few objects of their presumed daily needs, but as one calculates the utility each of the object has provided then he could conclude that the best utility is generated out of a small folding table, for instance.

Life is so easy when you have fewer possessions. As I don’t have beds, there is no dust underneath. The minimum number of dishes mean I am not holding onto too many of them in anticipation of many visitors who would never show up at once. As I have a small number of objects, I try to leverage maximum utility out of them. The small table I use to put on my laptops serves meals to my visitors. Not owning a vehicle is a blessing. I usually thank the ride-hailing guys for coming to my rescue. With my own vehicle, I would miss the bus-talks. As the public bus navigate its way along the heavy traffic, I take note of people talking the politics and how hard their life is becoming with the recession. These talks are the informal polls to predict the next election result. 

As some rightfully complain how tough it is to travel in public buses in Kathmandu, I find owning a private vehicle is nowhere less painful. As I walk in the alleys of Asan Bazaar, I feel sorry for those who always travel in their cars making their ways into the market. As the cars wait in queue to park before they get into Patan Durbar Square, I would already finish a cup of coffee there. Summing this, having a scant number of things would mean freed up space at home, freedom of choice and a bit of freedom of mind. 

Getting rid of things out of utility is critically important. In the past, I used to get emotionally so close to the clothes and shoes that I wore that I always thought I would wear them sometime in the future and didn’t throw away. But that time never came. However, I had to invest time and energy to place them secured. Learning from that once I stop wearing something, it leaves the wardrobe and the shoe rack the following week. This leaves me with limited option to choose from making my choice prompt and freeing up my limited space in the rented apartment. Back home too, I encourage my mom to get rid of old furniture, dishes, and clothes and she has peace of mind these days for not having to maintain them for no use.