Transitioning into minimalism from consumerism is like parachuting lazily down from a cliff towards the tree tops of a rainforest aiming for a small but available clearing. Only to then reach the trees slightly to the left of the opening you aimed for. Then proceeding to be hooked and unhooked by your shoe laces, parachute, limbs and belt loops all at once until eventually landing on the forest floor simply happy to be there instead of still hanging from your backpack noose... Yea, pretty much like that.
Now don’t get me wrong the philosophy I can truly get behind; truly. But it’s hard to break the buying cycle, that is set so deep in the recess of many of our brains. The freedom of not being owned by my objects is something I desperately want to feel. Being able to choose how and when money and time get spent on the priorities of our ever changing lives, having the luxury of time to make good decisions, focus on my health, my body, and my growth, Separate from the speed and manner in which those things are dictated to me.
When you start to boil life down to the simple basic things, (the teachings of minimalism) you realize that your time is one of the first things that looks like a chaotic mess on a the pages of a planner. The first step of minimalism is putting your purpose into your time. Because your time is your time. In fact if you're willing to get a little philosophical for a second; Time with a capital "T" is in no ones control. The minutes the hours the seconds were invented to simply keep track of things, estimate ages, and be more organized. YOUR time with a lower case “t” is the particular set of hours and minutes and seconds that you were automatically awarded with upon being born. You get less than 100 years to do with what you will. Your time is not a luxury, you’re here you were given it. It is yours and you have the right to spend how you choose. If not the right then, then the destiny because we don't all get handed the same amount of time due to illness, famine, war etc. So if you have even close to 100 years, be grateful for it.
Ever since terrible economic times have caused workaholism, the advertising industry has been right there to tell us that over working is "cool" "good for your future" "anything less then 40 hours isn't getting you anywhere". We’ve been consistently sold that time is a "luxury" and that one's time is a manipulatable commodity. Everything is related to time. “ Hey you, buy this watch phone thing for 400 bucks so you can better manage your time, you can talk to your wrist! It’s great for people on the go.” People going off the deep end that is.
That concept of selling a product to increase a consumers time was perhaps the most ingenious and massively culturally destructive concept to ever come out of advertising. Its endless, the products sold which allow you to increase quality time, change how you spend your time, reduce your time spent doing X, making time for yourself, making time for others, spend time with your kids,…(trails off in an endless trance of examples) I’m a victim of this time prison. Everyone is. The American economy as a whole, is set up for the working class to work their lives away harder, faster, better, smarter.
This rant is not promoting laziness, actually the complete opposite. Heres the options before us lumbering sentient flesh blobs. A) You spend your 100 years doing what you're told by society and culture and advertising and live a life created by things and only influenced by you. OR B) you take back your time, say fuck the things, and kick ass for 100 years by working WITH PURPOSE and getting things done your way and live a life CREATED by you and not defined by the obtainment of things.
So next time you’re, “on-the-go” as we’re all told to be at least 70 times of day, think about what purpose your time is serving. If it placates the pointless cogs of our society, that only take from us working folks and never giving. Then maybe it's time to shake things up, spin the bottle and take a new direction that is called to you.
