The Wealth of Less

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What are the biggest benefits of minimalist living?

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My father started each day with a cup of tea. The cup was huge. Not quite a mixing bowl, but close. On it were the words: I’m not greedy, but I want enough.

I never knew the story behind that cup, but I understood the joke. It was a large cup making a modest claim. Every morning, as far back as I can remember, he drank his fill before heading out the door. He was not rich. He was not poor. But he seemed content with what he had. In that sense, he had a lot.

I am not sure what effect that had on me as a child. But it must have had some. I have never had a great appetite for wealth. I have never needed a lot. I have usually had more than enough.

That word, enough, has been coming back to me.

I am trying to get my head around minimalist living. As I wrote a few days ago, I am starting the slow work of fitting my life into a two-bedroom apartment. I have about eighteen months to do it.

From the outside, minimalist living looks like subtraction. Fewer possessions. Fewer choices. Fewer things to store, clean, move, insure, and repair.

But less can feel like abundance. You own less, but notice more. You buy less, but enjoy more. You clear a table and can use the table. You empty a room and can live in the room. Minimalism is not about having nothing. It is about knowing what is enough.

That will involve some grief. There are books I meant to read, projects I meant to finish, and objects tied to the dreams of my younger years. Letting go can feel like admitting I cannot live every possible life.

But there is freedom in it too.

When my busy college days are over, I look forward to a quieter life. I want to ditch the car and walk. I want to sit in the sun with a pen or a good book. I want to solve fewer problems and listen more carefully to people’s lives.

That sounds like wealth to me. Not having more. Needing less.

My father’s cup was enormous, but its wisdom was modest. I’m not greedy, but I want enough.

Perhaps that is what I am trying to learn. Not how to live with nothing. How to live with enough.