Minimalism. When less is more!

We believe that the more we have, the happier we are. That's how most people think, but more and more people are wanting to have less, to be truly happy.

 

We live in a consumer society. We go to the shops every season to look for material goods that we do not need, we fill the house with objects like books, CDs, photographs and decorative candies ... all following a logic of the more the better, the newer the better.

 

While there are those who try to buy more, other people have to buy the indispensable minimum. And they even sell or give what they have the most at home. They are said to be minimalists. I spoke with Rita Domingues, an example of this exception to the rule: a professional scientist, she lives in the Algarve with her husband and two sons, boys, 11 and 12 years old. Seven years ago he stopped wanting to be like most.

 

It all started with some free time, says Rita, 38. "In 2010, when I finished my PhD, and since I had the most time, I decided to redecorate the house." He began to search the internet on various blogs and found journalist Leo Babauta, author of "most famous blog of minimalism," Zen Habits . The reading aroused the feeling that "minimalists seemed to be much happier people." And he remembers the day he decided that he wanted it for himself, too. "It was in 2011, I was in Greece at a working congress and I was reading one of Leo Babauta's books and that's when I stopped and thought, 'I'm going to be minimalist.'"

But what is this about minimalism? Rita explains. "Going to identify the essentials and eliminate the rest, but not only material things, but everything in life - in our responsibilities and in the things that occupy us with time."

 

The transformation:

 

Rita realized that she did not need to have so much, and began the process of "breaking up", as it is called in the minimalist slang, by the furniture. And so, coldly, he began to look at what he had at home. In the living room, there was a coffee table and a side table beside the sofa. "But do I really need two tables? For what? Just to have stuff on top to collect dust and have to clean? "She asked. He had only one, and he also got rid of the dresser in the living room, "full of crockery he did not use."

 

The next step was clothing. It was more difficult, but ended up only with a dresser, when before there was a chest of drawers and two blouses. "It's just that I got rid of so much clothing that I did not need the blouses anymore," he explains.

As for books, the logic is the same: less is more and they have to fit on the bookshelf of the room. "If they do not fit, it's because they are too many books and it's time to break up," says Rita.

 

This whole process of "bleaching" life has only brought advantages, says Rita. "I got a lot of time, because I stopped having shit and trash at home to clean, tidy and organize and appointments that no longer interested me and I stopped having." And minimalism also helped Rita to save money. "I do not waste it anymore," he says.

 

As for other family members, the trick is to set boundaries. "Me and my husband have a small wardrobe and a dresser. So our clothes have to fit there. I do not want bags with clothes under the bed or in the basement, what we have got to fit into the space that is available. "

 

The children share the bedroom. "They have a built-in wardrobe for the clothes. Besides, they can have whatever they want, but they have to fit in the space available. " From time to time, children also have the task of tearing up their bedroom. "They get it right," says the mother.

 

A "clean" house:

 

Today, Rita's main goal is to keep a house with the essential and tidy. But note: "my house is not one that has nothing, but it has only the essentials". The color palette is clear throughout the house - a feature that contributes to the idea of ​​tidying up and cleaning.

 

In the bedroom, Rita has the bed - which is just a bed with the mattress -, the dresser, the built-in wardrobe, a mirror on the wall and curtains. He finds the bedside tables unnecessary, especially since he realized that "mostly in that first drawer, only trash and medicines are stored - a very bad thing to have there at the foot of the bed," he says. He also had a white rug, but recently he got rid of it because he had to always wash it. It was a waste of time.

 

In the living room there is only a sofa, a small coffee table, a television set, a fish tank, shelves on the wall, a large antique furniture - "where I keep CDs, DVDs, board games and two towels. table I have "- and a small dining table with four chairs (the number of people living there at home). You do not feel the need to have more chairs because you rarely get visitors. When he gets it, he is most often family, and if necessary put the kitchen table and the four chairs next to the living room, or join the chairs of the children's secretaries or office. "I do not want to have chairs piled up waiting for visitors, the things we have are used," he says.Broomsticks are also very few, all over the house.

 

In the kitchen, everything is also up to the bill. Six cups, four mugs, ten plates - were, until recently, only four, but Rita bought a set of six - three frying pans, a pot, a pressure cooker, a casserole. In addition, in addition to the normal equipment, a table and four chairs. And, in the same way, here is the criterion of using what you have. "I had a set of cutlery and there was no shortage of cutlery, so I put the cutlery for use, instead of using it for the very rare special occasions."

 

In the children's room, in addition to the beds, there is a bookcase with toys, a closet, the built-in wardrobe and two desks.

 

Contrary to what happens in most houses, in this household linen does not multiply. "I have only two sets of sheets for each bed - when one is washing, the other is for use, two sets of bath for each person, two hand towels in each bathroom."

 

Rita also has an office, with a piano, a bookcase with a built-in desk and a table. But why a table besides the desk? "Because the secretary is not enough for me to work, but my dream was that it was."

 

Who wants to be minimalist?

 

Rita gives advice to anyone wishing to venture on this journey of liberation. It is necessary first of all to practice detachment. "It is fundamental to realize that happiness is not in things," he says. "It depends on our experiences, the people we surround ourselves with." A lesson worth learning while it's time. "When we die we do not take anything material with us to the grave, so we'd better invest in some other kind of thing."

 

Rita recognizes, for example, that people find it very difficult to get rid of the things they have been offered or inherited, but believes that "memories are not in things" are within each one. "I do not need to have an object from my grandmother to remind me of my grandmother," she says. However, for the most nostalgic, the minimalist has a solution: taking pictures to save the image. "Life is much easier if you do not have it. If things are not used, if we do not like things, it becomes a mess, we do not need any and it only disturbs us ", he finishes.