Minimalism?

The topic of this week: Minimalism!

I feel that during COVID, people have been thinking about their home interior and maybe overindulging on Amazon Prime. So the question I want to ask is, what happened to the minimalist trend?

Mari Kondo took over the world with her clean and tidy trend. Fumio Sasaki showed us that less stuff gives us freedom. But what about now? We can't really just have the things we 'need' at home purely because we can't go out and refill our fridges on a daily basis.

So can it be that right now 'minimalism' is a bit unrealistic?

Well, that might not be the case. At least that's what I have found.

As you already know, I have moved quite a lot. As a result, I don't really own a lot of things because all of my 'stuff' is spread around the world. So basically, I just naturally became a minimalist. But over the past few months, things have just piled up around the house.

My bedroom now has three games consoles, a stack of books, and my phone is full of apps that I have used once or twice and never opened up again. Does this make me a 'maximalist'? Maybe.

But not really. Why? Well because minimalism takes many forms. You don't necessarily have to stick to emptiness, what you have to make sure is that you are using the things you have. You have to make sure that the things around you give you a spark, just as Marie Kondo has told so many of.

My room remains simple as always, sure there are a few more things lying around the room, but they all have a place they belong in. I have more time to enjoy my games without feeling like I'm being unproductive. Better yet, they have become a place of comfort for me whenever I am not writing my dissertation, and allowed me to escape from my daily (now very boring) life.

So the one thing I would like to recommend to you (and to myself) is 'compartmentalization'.

I certainly don't have a designated room for a home office. Neither do I have the luxury of going out to create a remote office. So my resolution has been to designate one corner of my room as the 'serious corner'.

My serious corner is for answering emails, writing my dissertation, studying, and so on. Really, the corner is a 1m2 space where I have set up a chair on the floor by the window and laid out a pillow as a seat. Mentally telling myself that this is a focus zone has really helped me to deal with working from home even in small spaces.

It might work for you as well. So if you are struggling with working from home. Give it a try. Make your own 'serious corner' and see how you feel.

Probably, the second most important thing to consider is our mental well-being. Not everyone, unfortunately, has the luxury of being where they want to be at the moment. Although most things have gone back to 'normal' there are people like me who are stuck abroad, stuck at home, and stuck just in general.

Our gears have been stopped by travel restrictions, entry bans, and what have you. For me, I have been stuck in the UK since February and have been unable to return home to Mongolia. During this time, I have lived in my apartment in Leeds, UK up until June and had bought a ticket to go back in August, only to find out that the border restrictions have been extended indefinitely. Note that I had already resigned from my part-time position with my intended plans to move out of the UK.

I also received a job offer back in January to go work in Tokyo once I graduated from my master's degree. But with still 4-5 months of no certainty as to when I can go back home, or if Japan will ever ease restrictions for its foreign workforce. I am stuck. Stuck at my parent's home (whom I'm not all that close with).

So the plan as of today:

1. Study Japanese level N1

2. Complete my dissertation in time for my deadline

3. Start meditating

Hopefully, while I am working towards these goals, my circumstances will change for the better. Hopefully, if I create a daily routine around these goals, my brain will think 'hey we have obligations and strict deadlines to meet' and actually let me sleep.

I think its always important to realize the situation you are in, understand your own difficulties, and never ignore your hardships.

As my grandmother always told me:

"Fix your mind to fix your body, only then can you fix the state".

I feel that this sentence resonates more with me now than every before.

You can always think "oh there are people out there who have it much worse than me" and belittle your own sufferings. But know that your experiences are just as real, your pain and struggle is just as hard, your own challenges are yours to fight.

If you would like to keep up to date with my 'pandemic' journey please check out my other Instagram account: @minimalist.in.tokyo and my personal IG @wolfy.on.tour

Of course, if you have questions or want me to write about a specific topic let me know via my IG DMs on either account. You can write in any language, I will try my best to respond.