THE MORE OF LESS Joshua Becker

It has been a week since the last update. As a tutorial teacher at a private company, I have been thorough extensive winter school for a week. I worked more than 11 hours for 5 consecutive days. My focus was on work. A realization came to me through the rough days. Focusing on what you need to do is much healthier and less stressful than attending to various tasks that you do not have to do now. I would like to introduce you a recent trend of mine: Minimalism.
The More of Less: Finding the Life You Want Under Everything You Own - For me, Minimalist or Minimalism have become so well-recognized in the world and I happened to see a book written by a advocate for minimalism. The period of possessing more stuff than you need is beginning to be a old fashion. As people of young generation (10-30) around me seem to have less stuff than people of older generation. I totally agree with the author's argument that with less possession, you are more likely to focus on your passion and get energy to realize your goals in our lives. I actually felt in that way during my stay in America as an exchange student in 2014-2015. I brought only my laptop and a few clothes with me to America. In America, I purchased something I need such as detergent, toothbrush, and trashcan. I spent a year there and felt that I didn't have to buy a lot of things. So, I just want to share what I really true about minimalism in the book.

What is "Minimalism" and What you can get from it?

As the book says minimalism is " the intentional promotion of the things we most value and the removal of anything that distracts us from them." p18 You might be thinking that minimalism is about giving up as many stuff as possible. That is wrong. "minimalism is about living with less, and as I often say, less is not the same as none." p20 What I understand is that what you buy varies from one person to another depending on their occupations, ages, personalities, hobbies and so forth. For me, I need a computer, desk, books, calendar, and so on. I feel less stress and more contentment for some reasons. The book articulates the two outcomes of the less. ・Less stress-Every added possession increase the worry in our lives. In your mind, imagine two rooms: one that is cluttered and messy, and another that is tidy and sparse. Which one makes you feel anxious? Which one makes you feel calm? Mess＋excess=stress ・More contentment-We tend to think that we can resolve our discontentment by getting the item whose lack is seemingly making us unhappy. Your material possessions will never fully satisfy the desires of our hearts. (That's why discontentment always returns after a purchase.) Only after we intentionally break the cycle of accumulating more, more ,more can we begin to discern the true causes of discontentment in our lives. I woud like to add one more thing here, friends or someone with you would reduce the desire of possession. This is just my experience but it sounds true. If the possession is connected to a kind of desire, being with others could be something meet the desire. I had always someone to talk with once you go out from my room. I would like to research the relationship between the number of study and levels of sociability.

What is the goal of minimalism?

Why you want to be minimalism? Why do you have to? This book has dear purpose of becoming a minimalist. It says, " the goal of minimalism, let's remember, is not just to own less stuff. The goal of minimalism is to unburden our lives so we can accomplish more." p40 This is a strong argument of the book. Possession is somewhat connected to clarity of your goal and simplicity for the way to achieve the goal. A minimalists have a focus on their passion and carefully choose what they need to have for realizing the goal. I hope you find the book interested and take the book for your lives.