“Detachment is not that you should own nothing, but that nothing should own you.” -Imam Ali Ra
Back then, when I thought of minimalism, I somehow always associated it with “own nothing”. Not specifically nothing, but the ideal idea is always having less. That perspective grew in me for a reason. Because if we search for “minimalism” on youtube for example, the video thumbnails that appear mostly show like an empty room (let say with less than 10 items) or anything with white color indicating a certain level of cleanliness of a place, anything like that–you know all that jazz.
While all of that is inspiring, it can sometimes be the opposite if we take it at face value, without a little understanding. The “minimalist aesthetic” sometimes makes people question their own minimalist journey, simply because it doesn’t exactly look the same way with that popular trend. Furthermore, it’s not even impossible to actually influence us to buy those “minimalist aesthetic” items to become certified minimalists let say. Isn’t it crazy?
Why does this happen? Perhaps because we see our own place too cluttered to be considered minimalist. So, we need to buy those minimalist drawers and such if we want a neat, clean, and minimalist-looking place. There's a difference between minimalism as a lifestyle and minimalism as a more appealing concept. Some influencers even make us believe that we need to have that “looks” to be a minimalist. Do you see.. it’s become more materialistic and increases consumerism after all.
But, we should know that detachment is not that you should own nothing, but that nothing should own you, as Imam Ali Ra said. I need to stop using the word we and us, because I’m probably just speaking to myself at this point. Perhaps all of you already have a healthy perspective on minimalism itself, so I’m just writing this as a self-reminder instead😁
That is a Quran reflection, but we don’t even need to look at it from a religious perspective. For me, it helps to (as simple as) detach myself from things. Not in a way that I don’t value or appreciate what I have, but rather to not be too attached to it. So, we might agree that minimalism itself is about intention–not really about how little we can live with, right? I think the intention is to help us avoid excessive spending and try not to value materialism over other things.
So, if that “minimalist aesthetic” actually makes us even more trapped in consumerism, shouldn't we need to ask ourselves one more time? Are we misinterpreting the “minimalist aesthetic” in the wrong way? what do you think?
This image belongs to millycf1976 and was manipulated using Canva.