Taking into account that being a minimalist consists of living a life apart from the exhibitions imposed by society and enhancing our inner peace by giving importance to the small details and being content with what we have, many have fallen into the error of confusing minimalism with conformism and misery. It is not the same to be content with what I have because that is what my circumstances allow me to be, as it is to deny myself a better quality of life by being stingy.
For example, if I have a two-burner stove because that is what I can afford, I will be happy, but if I see that I can make the effort to save and buy a four-burner stove, I am going to do it, not because I let myself be led by society, but because this brings me more comfort and this comfort will allow me to make my meals in less time, which in turn will lead me to have more free time for myself. I am not going to stop buying something of better quality if it is within my means, even if I have to take a little time to save, I am going to do it. I consider that not doing so would be conformism or resignation and this has nothing to do with minimalism.
From my point of view, all extremes are bad, hence minimalists always try to seek balance in every aspect of our lives. Balance gives me emotional stability and sound judgment, sometimes it is easy to lose it and go to extremes but these do not bring anything good. Minimalists are practical but also very reasonable, so we take into account many factors to avoid reaching the decision and then say that we are minimalists.
We all like good things, so I am a believer that if we are well organized we can have and lead a decent life, of course, the true minimalist will always have the right reason when buying something, he will never do it to compete with anyone and much less to show off, but because he needs what he is going to buy and there will also be occasions to treat himself with a little something for ourselves, that's fine, as long as we do not resort to unnecessary debts.
Regarding our free spaces at home, there is no doubt that these bring a lot of welfare, however, the true minimalist will not try to impose his point of view to anyone regarding this or any other aspect, the reason is that we understand that everyone has the right to choose how to lead his life; we can make a suggestion but at no time we will impose our opinion or treat anyone who has many ornaments contemptuously.
Just as we want them to respect us, we also respect others even if we do not share their point of view. For no reason do we enter into arguments with people because of how they manage their lives. The minimalist is empathetic, is always looking for peace and is not a fanatic, so we always treat people with kindness and cordiality regardless of how they decide to decorate their house or how many unnecessary things they decide to buy. In short, the purpose of a true minimalist is to have peace, this is achieved by maintaining balance in all senses.
All photos are my own, taken with a Realme 7i.
