By first limiting what you need to have in order to survive, you realize you actually don’t need much at all. – Nina Yau, The Radical Minimalist

So, you’ve told yourself you want to live a more minimalist life.

You have your areas of attack all planned out. You’re going to start with your closet, sorting through and eliminating all those raggedy clothes, shoes, and everything else you don’t wear.

But then, you freeze. You get caught up in your busy schedule. You somehow can’t find the time.

“Oh, I’ll just get to that next weekend,” you say to yourself, making a promise you know you won’t keep.

And so then next weekend becomes next month. Then another month passes. And (... read more)

The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the green earth, dwelling deeply in the present moment and feeling truly alive. - Thich Nhat Hanh

There are countless ways we can live a minimalist life. Some prefer to live without a car, thereby, having a car-free existence. It’s not for everyone. But for them, this works. I’ll be car-free in the next coming months, right before I head overseas to Asia for a period of time.

Some prefer to live with under 100 things. It’s not for everyone. But for them, this works. I live with under 100 things, 51 as of now to be exact. And I’ll have an upcoming post (... read more)

Take your TV up on your roof, and drop it off. Trust me, you’ll feel much better after that. – Everett Bogue

Everett Bogue is controversial. He’s outspoken. He speaks the truth with no regard to being “politically correct.” And that’s why I, along with thousands of other people, really respect him.

As a 25-year-old minimalist blogger at Far Beyond the Stars, an A-List Blog that in just 13 months has attracted over 70,000 unique monthly visitors, Everett is paving the way to minimalist freedom.

From topics ranging from Yoga and eating healthfully (e.g., stop eating processed junk like chicken nuggets from McDonald’s) to burning your crap and destroying your TV (he encourages going up to your rooftop and (... read more)

Nobody can give you freedom. Nobody can give you equality or justice or anything. If you’re a man, you take it. – Malcolm X

Minimalism and simple living has always been more than just a passing curiosity. It’s almost as if those folks who have never thought about reducing their excess stuff view minimalists or those who live a very simple life as an anomaly. Not necessarily as freakish, though some do think it’s a pretty crazy and “radical” lifestyle.

What I tell them is that consumerism is crazy and unsustainable. Over time, it will do more harm than good.

And we’re trying to combat the harm. The harm we inflict upon ourselves when we hoard that which can (... read more)

In the end, we will all die. But have we ever really lived?

In my journey as a radical minimalist, living an unconventional lifestyle, choosing simplicity rather than consumerism, and making my own rules set for my own life, I’ve had discussions, debates, and debacles regarding what minimalism means and why it is a worthy pursuit.

Here are just some of the criticisms regarding minimalism and my counter to it.

I hope it helps broaden your viewpoints and allows you to define what minimalism means to you in your life.

After all, it is your life. What it means to you is far more important than what you read in blogs, books, news articles, and Twitter feeds about what it (... read more)