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The joy of living with less
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If you’ve ever fantasised about selling everything you own and paring down your possessions to the bare essentials, you’re probably familiar with minimalism. But it’s about more than just de-cluttering—it’s about getting rid of all clutter, permanently. “Minimalism isn’t about empty white rooms with hardly any furniture,” said Chris Wray, who writes a UK blog about minimalism, TwoLessThings.co.uk. “It’s about removing all the things that distract us from what’s important in our lives.” For extreme minimalists, such as Andrew Hyde, who lives in Colorado in the US, it means owning only about 15 items. For others, it means getting rid of the excess until you are left with essentials — and your definition of essential might evolve. “A minimalist lifestyle entails being mindful about the things we own, the things we buy, and how we spend our time,” said Francine Jay, author of The Joy of Less. “It is a lifestyle that values experiences more than possessions.” Naturally, minimalism tends to flourish in countries that have embraced consumer culture, such as the US, UK and parts of Europe. It’s difficult to revolt against the get-more-stuff mentality if that isn’t your country’s way of life. But you can live a minimalist life anywhere and capture more money for savings and great experiences, and have less stuff to maintain and clean. Here’s how to get back to basics: What it will take: Mental fortitude. Getting rid of your things requires commitment. You have to make a decision about every item you own, and that can be mentally taxing — and it won’t happen overnight. “It almost certainly took you longer than one afternoon to collect all the possessions in your life, and it is going to take you longer than one afternoon to sort them out,” said Joshua Becker, a minimalist in Arizona and writer of the blog BecomingMinimalist.com. How long you need to prepare: Not long at all — you can start this process today by putting a box in every room. “When you come across something you haven’t used in a long time, or ever, throw it in,” said Rachel Jonat, who lives in the Isle of Man in the UK and writes the blog TheMinimalistMom.com. “If you are scared about wanting those items again, hold onto the box for six months and then donate everything.” Mentally, you may have to do some preparation to get into the right mindset — because, let’s face it, a lot of us like our things. But things have a catch. That big house and everything in it take time to clean and organise, and it takes money to maintain it all. “Look at an item and think about how many hours you had to work, or willhave to work, to pay for it,” Jonat said. Every piece you own is a chance to regain time and/or money if you sell it or give it away. Once you’re ready to start purging, dive in. Do it now: Think about the places in your life where you feel anxiety or frustration, said Cristin Frank, US author of Living Simple, Free & Happy. “Too many decisions? Is your closet so crowded that things get lost or easily wrinkled?” Pinpoint those areas and deal with them first. Name brand clothes and household goods in good condition are perfect for eBay — check recent sales of similar items to help you set a price. Your first 50 listings every month are free; if you sell it, the site takes 10% of the final sales price. Start small. You aren’t going to be able to declutter your life in a day, or even a week. And the process may seem really daunting. If you are feeling anxious about change, “try one thing for 30 days, starting with the easiest things to get rid of,” said Joshua Fields Millburn, a minimalist who lives in Montana and writes at TheMinimalists.com blog. Another strategy: Spend 15 minutes a day de-cluttering. Set a timer — you can make great progress when you race the clock. Ditch the obvious things. Get some forward momentum by starting your giveaway pile with the items you clearly do not need—the mugs you never use, that ugly thing you received as a gift. Start a pile for a car boot sale or yard sale. List furniture and larger household goods on classified-ad site Craigslist, which is available in more than 80 countries. You can also make it easier to part with things by passing them along to someone else who can use them via local charities. “Throwing it all in the garbage can make you feel guilty or wasteful,” Frank said. Do it later: Once you’ve started selling your stuff and not buying new knick-knacks, repurpose the money you’re saving. “My husband and I paid off our home in less than seven years with our minimalist lifestyle,” Frank said. “I was then able to quit my job and be a blogger and author full time.” For Francine Jay, living minimally allowed her and her husband to travel. “We lived in London for two years, and travelled throughout much of Europe and Asia during that time,” Jay said. Rachel Jonat and her husband paid off $80,000 in non-mortgage debt in less than three years. When you don’t fritter money away on junk, you have more to put toward the essentials — house payment, debt, retirement, and experiences. Reassess after a few weeks and see how you feel. “Decluttering isn’t something you just do once,” Jay said. “It’s an ongoing process.” You may find it difficult to let go of certain items in the first or second round of purging, but on the third round it could end up on the giveaway pile. “It took me eight months to slowly pare down my possessions while constantly asking myself, ‘Does this thing add value to my life?’” Millburn said. Be smart about future purchases. Shop only when you need something, not for fun or entertainment, Jay said. Before you buy, “make an inventory of what you already have,” Jay said. “Counting just how many shirts or kitchen gadgets you own will likely discourage you from purchasing anything new.” When you do add to your home, seek out versatile, multipurpose items. Consider a big change. Moving into a smaller space isn’t for everyone. But if you are a renter and your lease is coming up, or you’re really struggling to manage your home payment each month, downsizing accomplishes a few things: It encourages less stuff, less time cleaning, and of course, smaller bills. Do it smarter: Avoid comparisons. Your minimalism is yours alone—it’s what works for you, in your life, at this time. If you want to keep every book you’ve ever read but cut your wardrobe down to 12 items, that is what you should do. “Comparing your progress to someone else is rarely helpful,” Becker said. |
“所有的物品全部賣(mài)掉,只保留最基本的必需品,越簡(jiǎn)單越好。”如果你曾有過(guò)這種幻想,那么簡(jiǎn)約主義對(duì)你來(lái)說(shuō)應(yīng)該并不陌生。 但是簡(jiǎn)約生活的含義不只是把眼前的凌亂收拾整齊,而是要永久性擺脫凌亂的生活方式。英國(guó)的極簡(jiǎn)主義博客TwoLess Things.co.uk的作者克里斯·雷(Chris Wray)說(shuō):“極簡(jiǎn)派生活并不是提倡房間里空蕩得沒(méi)有什么家具,四周只見(jiàn)白墻。極簡(jiǎn)主義強(qiáng)調(diào)生活空間里要擺脫那些分散注意力的五花八門(mén)的東西,只保留生活里最需要的即可。” 對(duì)于像美國(guó)科羅拉多的安德魯·海德這樣比較極端的極簡(jiǎn)主義者們來(lái)說(shuō),簡(jiǎn)約可以意味著只擁有15件東西。而對(duì)于其他人來(lái)說(shuō),簡(jiǎn)約是不斷擺脫多余的物品,簡(jiǎn)約到只剩下基本必需品的程度就可以了,另外,必需品的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)對(duì)你而言可能也不是一成不變的。 《簡(jiǎn)單的快樂(lè)》作者一書(shū)弗朗辛·杰(Francine Jay)說(shuō):“簡(jiǎn)約主義生活方式需要人們留心對(duì)待自己所擁有的物品,所購(gòu)買(mǎi)的物品,以及對(duì)時(shí)間的利用。這種生活方式重視生活體驗(yàn)而不是擁有的物品。” 在一些包容消費(fèi)文化的國(guó)家,比如美國(guó)、英國(guó)、以及歐洲一些國(guó)家,極簡(jiǎn)主義自然而然會(huì)走向繁榮。但是如果一個(gè)國(guó)家的大部分人沒(méi)有簡(jiǎn)約主義的生活理念,那么想要突破“擁有更多”的思維模式就困難了。但是無(wú)論在哪里,只要你想,都可以實(shí)現(xiàn)簡(jiǎn)約的生活,這樣的生活方式可以讓你擁有更多的積蓄,以及更加舒適的生活體驗(yàn),更少的物品需要打理。 這里教你如何讓生活返璞歸真: 思想上的準(zhǔn)備——要內(nèi)心堅(jiān)定。對(duì)你的東西說(shuō)再見(jiàn)需要有堅(jiān)定信念。你需要對(duì)每一件東西的去留做出決定,這個(gè)過(guò)程可能很費(fèi)神,而且也不是一晚上的功夫就能解決的事情。 BecomingMinimalist.com網(wǎng)絡(luò)日志的作者,美國(guó)亞利桑那州的極簡(jiǎn)主義者約書(shū)亞·貝克爾表示:要一次性收集你所有東西,當(dāng)然是要花比一個(gè)下午還要多的時(shí)間,然后還要騰出差不多的功夫集中把它們分類(lèi)。 其實(shí),用不了很久的。你可以從今天開(kāi)始行動(dòng),在每個(gè)房間里放置一個(gè)箱子。住在英國(guó)曼島的雷切爾·德古斯曼(Rachel Jonat)是"TheMinimalistMom.com"網(wǎng)絡(luò)日志的作者,他說(shuō):“當(dāng)你偶然發(fā)現(xiàn)某樣?xùn)|西很長(zhǎng)時(shí)間沒(méi)使用過(guò)了,覺(jué)得可能用不著了,你就可以把它放進(jìn)箱子里。”他還提到::“如果你害怕某天又需要那些東西的話,你可以先把箱子保留六個(gè)月,然后把它們送出去。” 在思想上,你可能需要為獲得正確的簡(jiǎn)約生活理念做些思想準(zhǔn)備。事實(shí)上,我們不得不承認(rèn)的是,我們當(dāng)中有許多人會(huì)留戀自己的東西,但事物如同雙刃劍,偌大的房間和里面的物品是需要清潔和打理的,也要有經(jīng)濟(jì)上的支出用于維護(hù)。 德古茲曼說(shuō):“看著每一件物品時(shí)候,想著為了購(gòu)買(mǎi)它,你曾經(jīng),或是將要辛苦工作多少時(shí)間。”一旦你準(zhǔn)備好對(duì)自己的生活進(jìn)行一次徹底的凈化,開(kāi)始行動(dòng)吧。 立即行動(dòng):《簡(jiǎn)單的生活——自由而快樂(lè)》的美國(guó)作家克里斯丁·弗蘭克說(shuō):“考慮一下,你的生活里有哪些地方的不好打理,讓你感到焦慮或者挫敗?”“需要做出太多的決定嗎?那么你想一下你的衣柜是否東西太多,以至于會(huì)有衣服找不到或者變皺的情況出現(xiàn)?瞄準(zhǔn)這些區(qū)域然,首先著手處理它們。對(duì)于名牌服裝和性能良好的家庭用品來(lái)說(shuō),通過(guò)易趣網(wǎng)站(e-Bay)進(jìn)行拍賣(mài)是個(gè)理想的選擇。查看一下近期類(lèi)似物品的銷(xiāo)售情況來(lái)幫助定價(jià)。你在每月在該網(wǎng)站拍賣(mài)的前50件物品是免費(fèi)的。如果商品交易成功,網(wǎng)站將獲取成交價(jià)的10%。 從小事做起:你不可能在一天之內(nèi)甚至是一周之內(nèi)就把自己的所有東西打理得井井有條,過(guò)上簡(jiǎn)約式生活,而這個(gè)看似漫長(zhǎng)的準(zhǔn)備過(guò)程有點(diǎn)令人沒(méi)有勇氣和決心堅(jiān)持下去了。面對(duì)這樣的情形,可能這個(gè)生活上的改變讓你感到有點(diǎn)焦慮不安,不知道怎么著手開(kāi)始。對(duì)此,美國(guó)蒙大拿州的極簡(jiǎn)主義者,TheMinimalists.com網(wǎng)絡(luò)雜志的文章作者約書(shū)亞·菲兒茲·米爾本(Joshua Fields Millburn)建議:“先嘗試堅(jiān)持30天,從最容易處理的東西開(kāi)始著手。”另一個(gè)辦法就是:每天花15分鐘清理。設(shè)置一個(gè)計(jì)時(shí)器,當(dāng)你爭(zhēng)分奪秒的時(shí)候,往往會(huì)取得很大的進(jìn)展。 丟棄那些用處不大的擺設(shè)。 從丟掉用處不大的贈(zèng)送品開(kāi)始著手,比如從來(lái)不用的杯子,不好看的禮物等,在這個(gè)過(guò)程中獲得些前進(jìn)的動(dòng)力。可以把一堆物品放在跳蚤市場(chǎng)或者庭院舊貨市場(chǎng)出售。針對(duì)一些家具和大型家用物品列成一個(gè)清單,投放到克雷格列表(Craigslist)網(wǎng)站上,此網(wǎng)站的使用范圍涵蓋世界上80多個(gè)國(guó)家。你還可以采取更簡(jiǎn)單的做法,把物品通過(guò)當(dāng)?shù)卮壬茩C(jī)構(gòu)分發(fā)給那些需要的人,同時(shí)實(shí)現(xiàn)了物品的使用價(jià)值。 弗蘭克說(shuō):“把物品全部丟進(jìn)垃圾箱會(huì)讓你有負(fù)罪感或是覺(jué)得太浪費(fèi)了。” 之后要做的事:一旦你已經(jīng)開(kāi)始賣(mài)掉你的一部分東西,并且不再購(gòu)買(mǎi)新的小擺設(shè),重新對(duì)節(jié)省下來(lái)的錢(qián)進(jìn)行用途規(guī)劃。 弗蘭克說(shuō):“通過(guò)極簡(jiǎn)理念的生活方式,我的丈夫和我在七年之內(nèi)就還清了房子的貸款。后來(lái),我得到機(jī)會(huì)辭去了之前的工作,成為了全職博客寫(xiě)稿人和作家。” 對(duì)于弗朗辛·杰來(lái)說(shuō),簡(jiǎn)約式生活給她和丈夫帶來(lái)了旅行。“我們住在倫敦兩年了,在此期間,我們游歷過(guò)歐洲和亞洲的許多地方。”杰說(shuō)。雷切爾·德古茲曼和她的丈夫用了不到三年的時(shí)間還清了非抵押債務(wù)。如果你不在毫無(wú)使用價(jià)值的東西上浪費(fèi)錢(qián)的話,你就可以有更多的資金用于生活的基本需求上,比如房款、貸款、養(yǎng)老保險(xiǎn)以及各種生活體驗(yàn)。 幾周之后,再重新評(píng)估一下,看自己感受如何。“清理工作不是只做一次。”杰說(shuō)。“這是一個(gè)不斷進(jìn)行的過(guò)程。”你在前一兩輪清理工作中可能會(huì)感到難以放棄一些東西,但是等到第三周的時(shí)候,你可能還徘徊在如何處理那些贈(zèng)品上。“我用了八個(gè)月的時(shí)間才把物品減少了一些。在此期間,我一直不斷問(wèn)自己一個(gè)問(wèn)題‘這件東西為我的生活來(lái)增添價(jià)值嗎?’”米爾本說(shuō)。 “在未來(lái)買(mǎi)東西的時(shí)候動(dòng)動(dòng)腦子。記住只在需要某樣?xùn)|西的時(shí)候再去購(gòu)物,而不是出于有趣或是娛樂(lè)的原因而購(gòu)物。”杰說(shuō)。在買(mǎi)東西前,要像杰說(shuō)的那樣,“要先盤(pán)算一下已有的家當(dāng)。數(shù)一數(shù)自己已經(jīng)擁有多少件襯衫,多少件廚房用品可能會(huì)阻止你再買(mǎi)任何新東西”。然而當(dāng)你真正要添置新家當(dāng)?shù)臅r(shí)候,盡量挑那些有多種用途的商品。 考慮一個(gè)大的改變。搬進(jìn)相對(duì)狹小的空間并不適用于每個(gè)人。但是如果你作為一個(gè)房東,租賃要開(kāi)始了,或者你非常努力地支付每月的房款,精簡(jiǎn)可以實(shí)現(xiàn)以下幾個(gè)目的:這樣做可以讓你東西變得少一些,節(jié)省打掃的時(shí)間。當(dāng)然,還可以幫你減少開(kāi)銷(xiāo)。 明智一點(diǎn),不要比較。你的極簡(jiǎn)生活是屬于你自己的,也就是說(shuō),它只對(duì)你自己起作用,對(duì)你當(dāng)時(shí)的生活有效。如果你想保留你讀過(guò)的所有書(shū)籍,但是把衣柜里衣服減到12件,那也是你應(yīng)該做的事。 “把你在簡(jiǎn)約生活上的進(jìn)展情況與他人的情況相比較往往沒(méi)什么益處。”貝克爾說(shuō)。 (譯者 櫻小朵 編輯 丹妮) |
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