So you got this whole minimalism thing down. You know all about how to sift through the junk in order that treasures will remain, treasures which you will actually use and appreciate. You’ve read a number of books on the topic, maybe even my book, The Radical Minimalist.

But as life starts to get busy, throwing you harrowing situations which you find yourself in from time to time, you start to forget. You start to forget why you wanted to be a minimalist in the first place. You start to forget what the purpose is all about. If there even is a purpose at all.

Life ought to have meaning for you, and if it does not, please turn your computer off now and do some serious self-reflection and soul-searching. I mean it. Reading about how other people’s lives are so much more amazing, fun and adventurous than yours won’t make your life more amazing, fun or adventurous. By getting out there and doing the things which you love, the by-product of a beautiful and fruitful life will ensue.

But I digress.

Radical minimalism is a concept I coined back in October 2010 with the official launch of my first eBook, The Radical Minimalist. There, I defined what being a radical is, what being a minimalist is, but more importantly for that book’s purposes, what being a radical minimalist is.

Radical Minimalist Defined

Noun
1. An advocate of beyond the norm minimalism.
2. A person who holds or follows strong convictions or extreme principles of a minimalist lifestyle.

There are myriad ways to be a radical minimalist. Truly, the number of ways reaches beyond our finite measure. And that is because we each are so very different from one another. What one person does one day will never be repeated in the exact same fashion as that of another person on the other side of the world. Even if you’re both taking out the trash, the act of taking out the trash is individualized, by our steps, our lifting and swinging of the trash bag into the bin, of closing the lid, of walking back into one’s home. And for some parts of the world, the streets are the garbage bin. There are no trash receptacles around, nor is the concept even thought of.

Though I’ve just described how there are many ways to be a radical minimalist by the unchangeable fact that you and I are quite different, I’ll share with you a few ways below.

As always, take what you can with a grain of salt. Nothing I write or say will always be ‘this is the ONLY way.’ It may sound like that from time to time, but that is only due to my passion inevitably leaking out from the words I write and through the screen which you read it from.

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How to Be a Radical Minimalist

1. Listen to no one but yourself.

Those who are trying to be funny or find a loophole through people’s writing will then remark, “But if I listen to your point, aren’t I listening to someone besides myself?”

Yes, technically, you are. But then again, all ideas are unoriginal. They all stem from somewhere, whether we like it or not.

Our thoughts can be our own, that is for certain. But are they truly thought up in a vaccum-like habitat, with which nothing goes in nor goes out? Certainly not.

So as it pertains to radical minimalism, you do whatever the hell you want to do.

You want to count all your things, make a list, take pictures of it? Go right ahead; no one’s stopping you.

You want to throw everything away and start over on a clean slate because you can’t be bothered to even sift through decades worth of moldy, dusty boxes filled with junk? Go right ahead; no one’s stopping you.

You want to wear the same outfit day in, day out, for as long as humanly possible? Go right ahead; no one’s stopping you. (Except maybe your boss at work if after the 5th week of wearing the same shirt and pants, he finds you quite disagreeable.)

Do your own thing. And don’t worry about what others have to say.

2. Do exactly that which you have often feared most.

How does this relate to radical minimalism, you ask? I’ll explain.

Say you have been collecting bottle caps ever since you were 8 years old. When you were a child, it was fun, like a hobby or activity which you looked forward to. You put your hands in that shoe box filled with colorful bottle caps from all sorts of drinks long gone by then, and you hear the clitter-clatter of the caps clinking against one another. Maybe you even made a bottle cap lunchbox at one point, straight from your own collection. This was really quite a fun thing for you when you were young.

But now you’re 58 years old. You’ve long forgotten about the bottle cap collection, and in fact, could care less about it. The only thought that even crosses your mind regarding it is how much damn space it’s taking up in your closet. And how heavy and rusty it all is.

You want to get rid of it but you fear that by tossing it out, you’re actually tossing out your childhood memories. As if the memories are literally manifested within the caps themselves.

But here’s the thing: memories are intangible; bottle caps aren’t. What you hold within you is the most cherished, the most beloved, the most wonderful thing ever. And that can never be thrown out. That can never be taken away from you. That can — and will — always be yours.

So fear not. Toss it out. In the end, what you hold within you is the most important ‘thing’ of all.

3. Embrace and practice the lost art of solitude.

In the incredibly fast-paced society which we live in, notice we are all walking around in chains. No, you won’t see actual metal chains clasped around our wrists and ankles. The chains you see are the unseen ones, the digital ones.

These chains are also that with which we find ourselves in constant chatter about nonsense, oftentimes with nonsensical people. If you don’t have anything worthwhile to say or add to a conversation, it’s okay to not say anything at all, and instead, let the silence be the conversation.

Chains are a bitch to walk around the world with. Remove them, and embrace the lost art of solitude now and again.

You can do this by not reading every single blog post out there on minimalism. Instead, create your own minimalism as a lifestyle and philosophy, adapted to fit you and you alone.

Quiet reflection is a rejuvenating time. If you’ve ever had even just 5 minutes rest from chasing your kids all around the house, you know how precious this alone time is to you.

Though you may not be able to fully drop everything and get away from it all, you can integrate it slowly into your life, bit by bit.

An earlier rise, perhaps. Where it’s just you, your waking thoughts, and some nice, fresh coffee brewing. Or during your lunch break where you have a picnic at the forest preserve near your work instead of eating at your desk — again. Or after dinner, where instead of turning on your TV, you write in your almost forgotten journal, the one you gave to yourself as a gift in order to pour your thoughts out onto paper. Or traveling on your own, even if it’s only in your home state/province, and seeing with new eyes the place with which you dwell.

There are so many ways to be in quiet solitude. Find one of your own and make it a habit to always practice it, as much as possible.

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A radical minimalist makes no excuses. And the only person she is responsible for is herself.

That is, above all, the trademark of not only a radical minimalist, but of a person with liberty and freedom emblazened within.