Frameworks of extreme minimalism
When I stepped on the path of extreme minimalism, I did not have any frameworks. The only tool I had was a playful "sufficiency list". All the frameworks that I will write about below were a result of contemplations, navigating living with less, lived experiences, asking myself how I felt. In other words, they came after I stepped on the path of growth. It was not so that I outlined these frameworks first and then fit my life into and around them. I had no particular number of objects I wanted to live with in mind. I wanted to see how my relationship with objects unfolds naturally, and I would accept any number of objects I would end up with. In fact, for a long time I was not even counting my objects. I did it more recently because my fellow humans started asking me about the number.
Sufficiency list
It was a list of objects that I sketched many years ago that I felt I needed in my life to live well and comfortably. They were my basic needs. They were not survival needs though, as one surely can survive without, e.g., headphones and a notebook. I shared my sufficiency list many times in this autoethnography, but here is, for example, the one from August 2022:
- Laptop
- Phone
- Headphones
- Passport and other documents
- Notebook
- Pen
- Shoes
- Backpack
- Bank card
- Personal care items
- Towel
- Sweatshirts/t-shirts
- Trousers/shorts
- Bowl
- Fork
- Spoon
- Knife
- Stockpot
- Dish brush
- Tote bag
- Jacket
- Handkerchief
- Scissors
- Blanket
- Lunch box
- Mug
- Scarf
- Mittens
Since August 2022, the list has changed, but it did not change too much. In 2022 I lived in northern Sweden, so mittens were necessary. Since then, I moved to southern Finland, and then to Denmark. I also decided to use my laptop and phone to take notes.
Sketching the sufficiency list and then living mostly with these possessions was one of the most liberating things I have ever done. I realised that I could live a fulfilling, meaningful life with very few objects. I was free from society's idea of success and progress.
Living with less than 50 items
Because I was living mostly with the objects in my sufficiency list, I lived with less than 50 items. I lived without furniture. That changed when my partner and I moved in together. I don't know how many objects we live with, but we practise minimalism. We live in a small space (40 or so sq. m.), don't have storage at home. We live with minimal furniture and kitchen items that he brought from his previous apartment. My partner says we have much less than an average Danish household. Yet, if I count my personal possessions, I still have less than 50 items.
Space that is lagom for me
In my life, I have lived in large spaces. I did not like them. I felt that I was spending time on looking after spaces I was not using, that were not serving me. It felt like a burden. It felt like many more humans could live in those spaces. I did not find them cosy either. When I moved to northern Sweden, I lived in a 20 sq. m. studio apartment that remains to this day one of the most wonderful apartments I have lived in. It was well designed and had everything I needed. That space was lagom to me. The windows faced south-west, so I lived with much light. In southern Finland I lived in a 29 sq. m. studio apartment on an island. In that expensive area, anything bigger than that would be very expensive. Living in a small space allowed me to save some money. It was important to me at that time because I always had a feeling that I would be leaving Finland soon. 29 sq. m. was too big for me, as at the same time I lived with very few possessions. In Copenhagen, my partner and I live in a 40 or so sq. m. studio apartment. It feels lagom for two people practising minimalism.
Less than 20 items of clothing
I live with 16 items of clothing. I wear the same outfit every day. I wear only basics, only off-white, beige, and grey. I wear only natural materials. The other day my partner said jokingly that I could live with less, and I believe I could. What makes me choose to live with 16 items and not, say, 5, is me not wanting to do my laundry too often for ecological reasons. And clothes age when they are washed.
5 items of personal care
Personal care was the first category of consumption that I minimised many years ago. Some of those items my partner and I share.
Saying no
To owning a car, flying, far-away travels, jewellery, home décor, seasonal décor, makeup, physical books, and many other objects and services. There are so many things that are normal to consume or expected to be owned in our society. My family decided to get my ears pierced when I was 3. It feels unethical as at that time I could not give any consent to this. The expectation was that I would wear jewellery in my life, which I never wanted to wear. When I was in my teenage years, my well-meaning mother and grandmother asked what makeup I wanted to have. They did not ask whether I even wanted to try it. It took many years for me to set boundaries with society (including family) and capitalism, to outline a safe space for myself and eliminate the rest of categories of consumption. Many years ago, I would say that I didn't know when I would get a driver's license. These days I openly say that I never intend to get it. I do not intend to own a car. At times, fellow humans give home décor objects to me or clothing items. I do not keep them. I give them away because I already have enough.
