Minimalism

Since returning home form university I have spent far too much time thinking. In particular about the contrast between these two places. One thing that on this occasion seems to be bothering more than anything else is how I have managed to live in a room where I could describe almost everything as an essential and now there’s a house full of things that seem either pointless or obsolete. Hence I seem to be increasingly advocating a minimalist way of living.

We are living in the transition to digital media – CDs are a classic example of old technology now taking up vast amounts of space in the home. A single portable hard drive can replace the entire CD rack. And the same thing is happening with video and perhaps with books sometime in the near future. There are other things too that seem to have their days numbered – there is no place for the stapler in a digital world, for example. Yet these things still make the trip to university - for now. There’s far too much more, however, that’s just been bought. It’s not outdated technology or ornamental and is now just cluttering up the place, often in boxes, but kept for sentimental value or forgotten about.

Its nice to live in a society where we can afford to keep and continue buying all of this junk, but our lives should be more measured on how we spend our time than on what we own. Managing large collections of personal belongings requires much time and a large house and hence more maintenance. I feel that perhaps some of the university style living principles should be applied at home – keeping essentials and focusing on how time is spent. Besides, rather than buying an item individually, we should look to share with neighbours where possible (and probably gain a better purchase). That’s another fundamental aspect of student life that seems to have been forgotten at home
All of this would also, of course, be great for the environment with less emissions and less waste. Yet in today’s Britain this seems incredibly difficult when people measure personal wealth and try to compete with neighbours rather than work with them.