A Journey Towards Minimalism

I Want Those Memories! "Why do you seem happy most of the time and what do you do when you feel sad?" I still remember this is the question I asked my happy-go-lucky friend, Kenneth. "I will think about those happy moments in my life and forget about those sad ones!" exclaimed Kenneth, who is always generous in sharing his thoughts. Most of us are being "trapped in thought" that physical items bring fond memories to us.  However the truth is, it is the memories behind those items that brought us happiness rather than the item itself. As I was writing and sharing this post, the items that you see on the above pictures are already in the trash bin but already in the digital format. So why do I decided to throw them away? These are the things that my loved ones gave it to me! The decision to throw them away is not an immediate one. They have been lying on the table and pinboard for quite some times........... Weeks...

Physical Clutter Gone, What's Next? Well done! You have already got rid many of your non-essential physical stuffs. "So, what's next?" You ask yourself. I'm still not feeling happy and fulfilled!  Worse still, I feel emptiness!  Well, I can connect with you! That's why we have a community ! For those working adults, you might be constantly worrying about your unstable job. For kids, they still have worries about their endless tests and exams. For the elderly, they consistently worry about their health, children or even grandchildren. Getting Rid of Mental Clutter "Didn't you promise that minimalism will bring in more time freedom and happiness?" You wondered...... Yes! Life is a marathon and not a sprint. If you need to train for a marathon, how would you do it? Would you straight away run a 42km and get yourself injure, or would you gradually improve your physical strength weeks by weeks, months by months...

How would you celebrate CNY as a chinese minimalist? Same as everyone else, I still buy new clothes, do my spring cleaning, buy CNY's goodies etc. So what's the different as a chinese minimalist who also celebrate CNY the same as others? As I shared in my previous blog post regarding how my life has changed after a year of minimalism , this year during the spring cleaning, we really can feel the effect of it.  My wife feels less stress in cleaning and tidying up (because we have much lesser stuffs now than before), for CNY's food stuffs, we don't really buy much as we are just a family of four and not many people gather in our house for celebration. We tend to gather at someone's place who is more senior. We only buy what we think we are able to finish up such as bak kwa, boxes of chocolates, some packet of drinks (pretty much nothing else, except some other stuffs for steamboat). Even for new year clothes, I only restrict myself in just g...

One year after minimalism I still remember the first time when I was being introduced minimalism was around August 2016. As I couldn't find much videos about minimalism on YouTube, I started posting about become minimalist in Singapore on YouTube in August last year. And because of that, I was connected with like-minded minimalists and most of us are now in a Facebook Group (This is a closed group as we want to keep it minimalist!), it keeps growing bigger day by day though! So how's life for me after a year of minimalism? Well, below are some of my thoughts and practices: I no longer buy physical books but rather loan or buy online (we do have digital library which we circulate books around) I own lesser clothes than a year before (worn and torn clothes are being use as rags instead) I still listen to The Minimalist's Podcast to learn more about minimalism Those who knows that I'm a minimalist stopped buying stuffs for me (in...

Its a noisy world out there! If you had embarked on your minimalism world, you would notice that it's not an easy or smooth journey after all! Why is that so? Because we are all living in a noisy world . Different people define minimalism differently and do it differently. However, ultimately minimalism at it's core means " less is more ". People tends to want others agree with them and likely they will tell you that as a minimalist, you should do this or that. In fact, the real minimalism should comes from the inside rather that the outside . Do you feel happier, more peaceful or lighter? If you do, probably you are on the right track. Just ignore the noises. How should a minimalist get away from all the noises? So, usually, when I bring stuffs into my life, usually I will ask myself some questions: Does this item makes my life simpler? Does it helps to save money or time? Does it makes me happier? Do I need to spend a lot of time or m...