There is a small movement in parts of America today known as Minimalism. It has a very simple concept: reduce the amount of possessions that you own in order to gain freedom. As we own less, we become freer to use our time and possessions as we please, but we also gain the freedom to experience the presence of God in the here and now. Disconnecting from owning so much also frees our spirit to appreciate the little we do have; we become more thoughtful and awake in our daily life. This movement follows the example of Christ, who asked us to sell all that we own to the poor. We love, serve, and bless others with our excess and use our new found freedom to become present to other people as well. In an age that uses technology to mitigate loneliness, we expose ourselves to silence, loneliness, and empty time in order to focus on what and who matters most.
A good start for implementing minimalism is by using a one year litmus test, seeing how often a possession is used within a year and rethinking its possession if it is not touched once during the year. For instance, with clothing, a practical way to measure this test is by facing all the hangers in the same direction. After an outfit has been worn and washed, put it back on the hanger facing the opposite direction. After a year has passed, see which outfits have been worn and which ones have not and you will quickly find that many outfits don't meet the need they were originally intended to serve.
If you are well-off, minimalism might mean reconsidering the size of the estate you occupy. If you have more meager means, another approach would be to consider the little trinkets that take up most of your time from books and games to movies and clothing. The litmus test in these situations is an honest appraisal of what increases your joy and what does not. If some items bring meaning, depth, or fun to life, they can stay with the understanding that breaks will be taken from their use, otherwise known as fasts. Fasts are great practices that help us push into abstaining from even what we really do need for short periods of time. Oftentimes, fasts work in the opposite direction for me, with short-term fasts of an item or food turning into a realization that I wanted my life to stay the way it had during the fast, securing a piece of long-term freedom for my life and time with God.
If you have had any good experiences with minimalism or fasting, let me know and we'll have a good conversation.
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