I, and many other people who consider themselves to be minimalist often discuss how living with less and the concept of minimalism in it’s entirety is ‘freeing’. A simplistic life helps to clear the mind and keep us focused and over the past few months this was something I’d forgotten, well maybe not so much forgotten as let it lapse slightly as the business of day to day life got in the way.
Of late I’ve had trouble writing, trouble finding inspiration and general thought. What I eventually realised was that a great deal of my difficulty came from the fact I’d let my writing desk ‘go’ whereby it was somewhat cluttered. It’s a concept I covered here in a previous article entitle ‘dumping grounds‘. Sitting at this desk made it difficult to focus, difficult to find inspiration. It wasn’t until I gave it a second round super harsh clear off that I was finally able to find my focus. Sitting here now not only do I have a clear mind, but I don’t seem to be experiencing writers block like I once was. All the open space on my desk is now so genuinely freeing that I look forward to sitting here and writing. It’s although there being space on my desk leaves space in my mind for inspiration to come.
Following on from these thoughts, I’ve started to realise that this is true in other physical areas of my life. I sleep better now my bedside tables are not covered in dust and clutter, I’m not filled with complete dread at the thought of having to look for an item as usually it’s fairly accessible now and importantly I feel relaxed when I’m at home. Which, is the way it should be.
These are often things we don’t give a great deal of consequence to until we become mindful of our space and the way it affects us. My ability to write more easily at my desk (it’s intended purpose) now makes me far more mindful of my actions and how my minimalism journey is positively impacting areas of my life that I don’t generally think about at all. Maybe that’s because I now have the clear mind to be able to give consideration to such thoughts in the first place.
As a side note, when I think about having a clear mind it often reminds me of a scene in the third Harry Potter move where Professor Trelawney says in their divination class “open your minds”. I often liken becoming minimalist with this concept, as to live with less it’s important to live with an open mind.
How does minimalism clear your mind?
This is Minimalism 