Fiscal health isn't the only benefit, now my house is clean. Not just clean, but the kind of clean that when I come home I can't remember it being this clean when I left. Everything is where it is supposed to be or else its just gone. I don't lose tools or pieces of paper in piles, there isn't hardly enough stuff to make a pile. Keeping with rigid new policy, that if an object isn't used once a year it has to be removed from my possession, I have sent many old hobbies on to the thrift store. Occasionally I regret this personal rule when I go looking for an item of former interest, but it passes. Another related benefit is being organized. I am a trustee for my condominium and neighbors are amazed that I have obscure records so readily at hand and sad that I literally threaten them if they suggest "borrowing" anything.
Cleaner and wealthier I anticipated but one benefit I had not planned for was - more time. Having fewer clothes to launder and put away and fewer possessions that require parts and maintenance has freed up a surplus of time to read, spend with family or otherwise pursue leisure arts. I feel bad for my contemporaries who burden to keep up failing automobiles or struggle to maintain appearances.
Let's be clear, minimalism isn't what I thought it would be when I first started doing it. I had this belief that I would live this pure way and set up hard rules for conduct that did not allow much room for bargaining; for example, no colors and no patterns are allowed. I did this because color forces mood whereas shades are interpreted only as depth. Crazy stuff, but that was what I needed. Discipline. Perspective, it turned out, was the very essence of minimalism. A minor shift in perspective made me inspect seams in garments and put back items that were overly processed or had too much packaging. I began to question life cycles, recyclability and even asked a bewildered clerk about phantom power consumption (she thought I was making it up).
So what have been the drawbacks to minimalism? Well, so far its just me. I haven't converted a single person away from the work and consume lifestyle, there is no national movement, no peer group to take guidance from. There is the parallel green movement but they lack introspection and guidance too and frankly, they are kind of pussies. I just don't see them studying life in prison, blind people or the tragically poor to find out how to conserve resources and live better. Mostly they are gullible consumers who will buy a prius instead of ride a bike or environmentally friendly unbleached paper napkins instead of using a rag. Its a pretty lonely path. There are times I have to consciously stop myself from ridiculing consumers who are caught up in thinking about a handbag that will magically bestow class or a chocolate bar that is "good for you." Its for the best really, that I don't have an opposing opinion to tempt me away from my new belief system.
In the end I will just say, the longer I do this the easier it will become. A lot of progress has been made already and the failing dollar, resources that require full scale invasions to harvest (OIL) and an uncertain global future will only make it easier.
