BENGALURU: Coronavirus, catastrophe, clutter... While there’s nothing much that can be done about the first two, the third is in your hands. And at a time when anxiety levels are high, de-cluttering and eliminating items you don’t need can give you that peace of mind. Best-selling author and minimalist Joshua Becker, who rose to fame after four books on minimalism and intentional living, admitted to the online audience of the members of FICCI FLO that he never started out that way.
It happened about a decade ago when his neighbour caught sight of him cleaning his cluttered garage and his son’s repeated requests to play with him, and remarked that that’s why her daughter was a minimalist. “I had never heard of that term before. And it’s then that the thought of spending so much time with clutter instead of playing with my son came about,” he told the participants in a 10-day virtual workshop on ‘De-cluttering the Kon Mari Way’ organised by the FICCI FLO Bangalore chapter.
Over the next several months, Becker and his wife spent weeding out 60-70 per cent of what they owned. “I suddenly found a sense of happiness by giving away the items which I had previously thought made me happy,” he said, pointing out that the term minimalism could mean different things to different people. “For a single person in their 20s, who wants to move countries every three months, it could mean living out of a couple of backpacks, while for someone older with a family, it could mean something else. It depends on jobs, there’s really no hard and fast rule about it,” he said, adding,
“My life began to improve. I had more time to pursue my passions, and was able to avoid distractions.” He suggested starting with an easy room and then moving to the difficult ones. “Once the clutter is clear in one room, it’s easier to clear rooms that appear harder,” he says. According to Shruti Mittal, chairperson, FICCI FLO, Bangalore chapter, these sessions aim to help their members stay positively engaged during these trying times. “De-cluttering frees up your mental and physical space. It’s almost therapeutic. Minimalism is the need of the hour when everyone is worried about economy and cash flow. It helps realise how little is enough to sustain and be happy. The mindset against hoarding creates a sense of helplessness,” she says.