There is something about these three philosophies of life that go together so well, a synergistic blending that can’t help but shape the very way I see life, or experience it.
It might be the way I understand these three ways of being that makes them work, I don’t know. Basically,
Frugal: Valuing yourself and the things that come into your life. Being mindful of how much money you spend because you worked hard to get that money, so respecting your own hard work. This can look like only buying better quality items which will initially cost more, but last much, much longer than cheaply produced items that need replacing every couple of years, not buying if you can’t find exactly what you want and saving up to pay upfront, so you are not putting yourself to the burden of debt.
Minimalism: Valuing yourself and the environment. Unless you are someone who is inspired and energised by maximalism or lots and lots of stuff around you, having less in your home but every piece being something you love and value, helps create calm and peace to both the environment of your home and your mind. Valuing the environment because you are not demanding more of Earth’s resources in the manufacture or shipment of items and not being a burden when it comes time to move items on.
Wabi-Sabi: A beautiful Japanese philosophy about honouring and respecting that which is around you. I will not attempt to explain what it actually means, simply what it means to me. I have come to understand wabi-sabi as how I acquire, maintain and view the things I bring into my life. Each piece needs to be accepted and respected for its own beauty and that beauty can be deepened over time with the signs of wear. Each piece needs to be honoured by giving it its own home within my home and enough room around it to breathe and to allow its beauty to shine. It is about making peace with the nicks and chips that happen over a life time of use and make the item truly unique. Not just giving honour to each piece I own but also the spaces in the home I leave intentionally unadorned with items as these spaces allow the shelf, the table, the space and the room to breathe. It is the unadorned spaces that make it possible for the carefully selected items to thrive. For me, wabi-sabi is about selecting items with imperfections and age because these give the items more value and more to love.
When I think about my home, I think about how I want it to affect me, how I want to feel inside it. Peace, quiet and calm are three ways I want to feel inside my house. My mind requires stillness and quiet to unwind and feel rested. For me, I fulfill these best when I have few items in my home that reflect the silent wisdom that can only be gathered over years of experience. Have you ever held something that is old and wondered what stories it could tell? Ever felt that an old item seems to have a presence about it, an aura acquired over time? When I look at something brand new, I feel blankness from it, no impressions made upon it because it has not been around long enough to acquire any. It’s a form of silence but silence devoid of anything. Whereas, the silence that comes with well-loved items is a silence of wisdom, of experience. I don’t know about you but I can almost feel it when I hold the piece.
I want my home to have just enough items for it to be comfortable, that each item is of sufficient quality it rarely needs replacing and of sufficient age to be unique and wise. Not everything will be old, there will be new pieces I feel reflect my personality like the poster I’m getting that has a cat drinking coffee on it and says ‘coffee first people later’. I am not looking to live in a sacred temple, I still want this to be my home after all. I already have these pieces, I don’t need to rush out and buy anything, I simply need to edit what I have so the right amount of items remains.