Any minimalists here?

[gambler2075]

I guess I should clarify something here... and bear in mind that I haven't been trying to be minimalistic for that long, so this definition may not be completely correct

I think the difference between just being organized or uncluttered, and a minimalist, is that the minimalist strives to really reduce the number of material possessions he or she has. Organized people take all their stuff, including (imo) some rarely used, or even useless things and file it away neatly. I also think that minimalists tend to probably be a bit less nostalgic about holding on to material possessions.

Minimalists think long and hard before buying or acquiring anything new, because they have had the experience where the actual benefit of that item was outweighed by the clutter it generated. Maybe not that one specific item, but cumulatively, all the purchases they made.

As an aspiring minimalist, I don't really feel I need much more in the way of material possessions than I already have. Sure, I could buy a PS3, or a better bike, or a 200$ knife set for the kitchen but I just don't feel the need to do so. There isn't much benefit for me to get those things.

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[gambler2075]

Leo Babauta, who is the blogger at zenhabits.net and my minimalist inspiration, put out his free ebook called "Focus" today...

http://focusmanifesto.s3.amazonaws.com/FocusFree.pdf

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[cypher1]

After reading these descriptions of lifestyles, in some ways it reflects how I display my home to myself and visitors. I have a roommate downstairs, with a basic guest room of bed/dresser (2nd roommate left them for staying shortly before going back to Japan. My living room only contains a sofa, comforter, ottomon, coffee table with a candle, rug,curtains, and book shelves (with a couple of board games and 2 books), thats it. Home theater would be setup downstairs in family room. My bedroom is literally bedframe/mattress, reading light, mirror, basic dresser with a couple books on top, rest of clothes in closet. The only room with pictures and white board on the wall is my office, and was re-painted an office type gray. All my workstations, laptops, parts cluttered on my desk with 3 LCD monitors, comic collection/toys in storage in the closet, paper work organized and filed in cabinets. There is a TV/DVD built into the wall for type of shelf with collections of DVDs and books everywhere. The point is, at first look my friends describe my home as very clean, modern style, cold, and unemotional (probably from lack of color and pictures). But then they see my office and they see my real personality; with the clutter, items/hobbies and realize thats where i devote all my interest and passion in(besides the garage). I guess what I'm trying to say is up until recently, you see inside my home and it appears simple, distant, or alone. But dig or look further (meaning the office) and you'll see not all things are as simple as they appear, cluttered or not