“When you are discontent, you always want more, more, more. Your desire can never be satisfied. But when you practice contentment, you can say to yourself, ‘Oh yes — I already have everything that I really need.’”
— Dalai Lama
It feels like nobody can go a day anymore without thinking of something they think they need to buy. We’re all one kitchen gadget away from happiness, it seems. It has the quality of an addiction; we exhaust ourselves spending day after day shopping, always convinced the next purchase will be the one that makes us happy and yet never satisfied.
Generations of marketers incentivized by no-holds-barred capitalism have succeeded in convincing us that we need way more than we think we need to be happy. In 2020, 54% of Americans felt overwhelmed by clutter in their home. In 2021, 38% of Americans had a self-storage unit. And in 2022, 36% of garage-owning Americans could not park in their garage. Any country where one-third to one-half of the population can feel overwhelmed by owning too much stuff is a wealthy country indeed.
They have convinced us we need so much stuff that I would wager even most minimalists have more than we need. Very few people need more than one swimsuit, baseball cap, or pair of hiking shoes — the rest of us only own multiples for variety.
Excess Isn’t Capitalism’s Fault
Most people will blame capitalism for our misbeliefs and excess. But greed isn’t unique to capitalism — stories about greed are as old as humanity itself. So while it’s fun to pile on complaints about our consumerist society, I don’t think that’s intellectually honest.
What is unique about the present moment (in developed nations) is how many people have access to excess. In centuries past, only aristocrats could accumulate excess, and they could afford the staff to take care of it. Now, in developed nations, even the poorest can pile clutter up to their ceilings. 18th-century aristocrats might have believed they were special, and that’s why they deserved excess, but the consumerism of the 21st century demonstrates incontrovertibly that this is simply a part of human nature.
But being part of human nature doesn’t make it good. One of the central themes of spiritual practices all over the world is learning to overcome the harmful aspects of human nature through the development of virtue. Religions may disagree about where this virtue comes from or exactly what rituals sustain it, but they all agree that practicing gratitude and only acquiring what you need brings happiness while stoking the flames of your desire brings only disappointment.
“Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.”
— Lao Tzu
Take Responsibility for Your Clutter
Even if you disagree with me and think it’s capitalist marketing’s fault—which I don’t necessarily disagree with—the fact remains that it’s your responsibility. Regardless of the psychological pressures you are under, you are the one who keeps choosing to buy this stuff and bring it into your home.
It’s okay. Believe me, I understand. One lesson about minimalism that took me too long to learn is that it isn’t about maintaining a certain number of possessions. Any YouTuber will tell you not to compare yourself and to keep the number of items that’s right for you, but it’s also not enough to merely maintain a certain number of possessions, regardless of what that number is. Minimalism is at its best when you learn to bring new items into your life only with extreme care.
For the past few decades, I’ve had an on-and-off shopping habit. I’ve switched from mall shopping to yard sales, which has saved me a little bit of money, but I’m still spending far more than I need to. For months at a time, my primary hobby will be moving things in and out of my house like a conveyor belt. Sure, I call myself a minimalist because I never own too much at a time, but this kind of minimalism isn’t a solution, just a pressure-release valve.
Lately, I’ve gotten into being frugal. I’ve set spending goals for myself, and I’ve learned to make do with what I have instead of buying something every time I feel an impulse. It was shockingly easy; all I had to do was learn to set time limits with myself and ask myself some questions before making any purchase.
And you know what? What they say is true. A lot of impulse spending has its roots in an attempt to solve an emotion. My justifications were valid — it is reasonable to want one’s home to look nice when one spends all their time in it, and it is reasonable to want quality gear when one is a working creative professional — but instead of thinking through purchases, doing comparison research, and taking my time to decide, I was letting temporary fascinations rule my spending choices and using “valid” reasons to justify it to myself.
In fact, I’ve discovered a nearly perfectly linear relationship between the amount of time and consideration I give to a purchase decision and whether or not I feel regret, and how much, in the wake of that purchase.
How to Cut the Excess From Your Life
There are so many books and YouTube videos about decluttering. I don’t need to tell you how to do it if you want to take the big plunge.
Chances are, you aren’t ready for a big plunge. You can work up to it by decluttering just one thing a day. It’s not a lot, but it trains the mental habits you need for identifying whether something belongs in your life or not.
It really is liberating to let go of possessions you don’t need. To someone who’s not decluttered much, it doesn’t make sense, but letting go of possessions you don’t need feels really good (once you get past the purchase regret). It feels like ropes tying you down are being cut, and you don’t even know they are there until you feel free.
But it isn’t enough to declutter your life. You also have to overcome your bad shopping habits, or you will keep bringing items in. You will keep having to declutter, over and over, confronting huge amounts of wasted money in the process.
In Conclusion
In the end, we don’t need all that much to be happy. Learning to let go of excess stuff can feel surprisingly freeing. Minimalism isn’t about a magic number of possessions; it’s about being mindful of what we really need and finding joy in simplicity. So, whether you’re ready to declutter your whole life or just start small, remember: happiness comes from within, not from more stuff. Embrace having less and enjoy the freedom it brings.