Minimalism; A Nigerian's Pursuit

"MINIMALISM IS INTENTIONALITY. It is marked by clarity, purpose, and intentionality. At its core, minimalism is the intentional promotion of the things we most value and the removal of everything that distracts us from it. It is a life that forces intentionality."- Becoming A Minimalist

This definition couldn't be more apt as it focuses on de-clutter and value which are the essential phrases that are common when talking about and preaching minimalism. Minimalism, a Japanese honed practice of living which demonstrate their imbibed reticence focuses on little with very little. In a bid to maximize the use of their small island with the amount of people that live there, The Japanese live in shack up house that is built to be small "apato" as they are called, with rooms are meant mostly to serve dual purpose of living room, dining room, and bedroom, the use of sliding doors, living rooms without couches, fold easy futons for sleeping and planting of trees and shrubs in open spaces and balconies, It posits living life with very little as it stems from ascetic, reticent and modest way of thinking buttressed by a nihilistic and traveler’s approach towards life. it has therefore created a trend in dynamism that have resonate with me personally and other people in the world today, who do this in a bid to tackle the growing insatiable nature of modern day consumerism. Where the motto now is: Live Life by buying what you need and that only, Everything else is junk.

In recent years, the population explosion and technological advancement have relegated the strongest of bones and quickest of mind to codes on computer who program tireless robots to do said job twice as fast without sick days. So the little menial jobs are worth the best of all us as we chase after crumbs to survive with create a bigger chasm between the "poor" and the rich

"Does money make you rich?" - Bob Marley

Money is a social implant to be frank, but if you are not sane until the society says you are the normalcy will require you to chase after the infinitesimal of this colored paper. And to the man who owns many of this colored paper the power of the world’s moral is given, He then decides how the world turns and what goes, The people with the reins of this power are only interested in subjugation and creating a society where we have to keep chasing after worthless money that buys so few with so much, even though it takes an arm, leg and our conscience to make. In our damnation we can only run to control the one thing that has been indoctrinated and conditioned to chase after this illusion of success and endless wealth - Ourselves. Luckily we have a body that is built to adapt to situations, challenges, and hardship if only we can be disciplined enough to want to train it. And build our minds to be fortified enough to withstand the jars of society by killing the ego that craves insatiably with minimalism

Minimalism will help us to be able to find a way out of this contrived web that is designed to choke and string us, and find an affordable form of happiness so that we don’t long after their illusion and advertisement of perfect and find fulfillment in whatever reality we find ourselves. Mind you I am not against man being ambitious or chasing after a better life, but when do we draw the line, and count our blessings, knowing when it is enough and what is. Minimalism will teach us to live fully with the little that we have so that we can learn how to be happy with having less and experiencing more,

Why is this so important in Nigeria, Nigerian is a country that is blessed with natural and human resources so it is only fitting if a head of state posits our only problem being how we can spend the money we have, Politicians siphon money that when calculated can benefit over 1.2 million graduates a hundred thousand naira a month salary for 35 years and are given a judicial slap on the wrist or a don't do that again. Because of this belief there are no protest towards corruption by youth who dream of one day going to enjoy from the abyss of black gold deposit in Nigeria that is tagged “national cake” Be that as it may, as we can’t blame a drowning scorpion for stinging us when we rescue it, let us focus now on ourselves, The little you are getting from the so called corrupt officers what are you doing with it. Many executives prefer to build statues at the expense of dilapidated structure and nature of their education building and system, some prefer to buy expensive cars and buy houses abroad, living accursed life of inflated egos, and insatiable pangs of gross neediness And add insult to injury by advertising them to the poor to increase their greed and revenge and continue the accursed circle.

Nigeria as a country unlike others do not have a clear cut taxation system, it might be on paper, but an average person could become an un-taxed millionaire tomorrow just by singing a song or two with the lack of clear cut taxation on things which creates waste will go on to drive the greed into others who feel they have the same dream, goal and talent to chase “Success", Why then do many of these people end up begging for money in the latter days of their careers riddled with one disease or the other and begging the same people for money they once had?, it is a lack of discipline, modesty and ultimately the knowledge of minimalism

Nigerians are quite wasteful, envisaging this is the evaluation of state executives by the number of capital project carried out in a political term as if the only way we can say we got something from a government is by how many tar he is willing to paint the thoroughfare with.

But when the people who these things are done for aren't taught value, we will continue to do the same road, every time for the same people as long as greed and corruption continue to be a major source of esteem among the esteemed.

Still the truth is Nobody knows how to spend money, because money will always be a tool for learning, where you get scammed and learn how to deal with people, you fall sick and learn that most of these hospitals are filled with white wearing demons who wait patiently to prey on your health, by creating more cavity while they fill the one you came there for, In essence one cannot control the unpredictability of life, and things happen that make you broke but with minimalism you can control the one you are sure of which is you.

One of the flawed perception of the 21st century adult is the need to own, from a good phone, lush skin, perfect smile, their own human being almost everything if it is for sale. A crazy consumerism that is deeply rooted in socio-religious tenets that creates a societal pressure that rates the man by how much colored paper he has in his pocket, it becomes the way we think, love and live and anyone who doesn’t have said colored paper through accident of birth, misfortune in life or ill luck should go hide his or her face. Here’s the problem, many of us have just enough to get us by, but because wanton indiscipline and lack of a saving culture and peer pressure influenced consumerism we find very poor selves making poor money decisions struggling and living from paycheck to paycheck to spend it all buying the latest cloth, latest game, biggest car or smartest phone.

Yes I know that life is not promised and you have to live life now that you have it and all those phrases. But the life you have is your biggest treasure and 24 hours will be still be a day if you still don’t have all those things that you feel will make you feel whole. In as much as you want to do what makes you happy, you should consider it a problem if that thing stops making you happy when something new comes and brings another pang of neediness in you like most new things do today.

That cloth, that phone that car, no matter how expensive will become cheap one day and will not be remembered by the same society you sought to impress it with. why do you spend so much on frivolous baubles and junks, and I know I might not know what it entails with my below 200 dollars a month vacillating wage and might not be able to tap into your reality but even for me, I should hope it becomes a problem if I respect a car more than another human being, if I walk the streets feeling less vain and stupid than I ought to if I walk my street with a shoe that cost more than someone earns in a year, to impress people who you probably have to explain the expensive nature of your bauble. “do you know what you are looking at” this is not just a shoe” Well you are not wearing it on your head good sir, it is a shoe.

Minimalist living helps us curb our excesses, and in pursuing minimalism in Nigeria is quite daunting to be fair you will be the chagrin of a horde of ignorant people who will flame their aggressive emptiness in trying to make you join their herd. For me, It was a fire, a big fire at that and it can be for you to burn every piece of clothing you are not using, activating the 90 days rule which stipulates that you dispose anything you have not used in the last 3 months and are sure you will not use in the nearest future, it might be a relic an old clothing,etc that you don’t need.I try to reduce my cloths to 5 of every clothing, I organised my room by removing things I don't need especially my so called reading chair and table (I know I haven’t read a thing at that table) and practice the occasional autophagy

You too can begin like I did with mild asceticism of cutting down on habits like drinking and smoking and FOMO (fear of missing out) which involves an addictive social media lifestyle and spending excessively on data. It is all you, so you decide how radical you want your change to be

So in pursuing minimalism in Nigeria you can go to Youtube and search and follow others who can give you and are still giving me tips on de-cluttering and living with little, and with little discipline you can remove yourself from any frivolous pressure to impress another forgetful monkey for a fleeting momentary gibber or noise that mean nothing, Ask yourself the questions that matter before making any commitment with money.

If you stay in an urban commercial hub, do I need a car with the reckless driving of others that you have to put in mind, can you spend that much on repair and damages, trekking could do wonders for you.

Do you need that new phone? Yes the advert stipulates a better this or that but that was what the one you have said too one time Do you really need that expensive cloth? Must you really eat a 3 square meal, are you really hungry or are you just fulfilling righteousness by putting food in your mouth at that particular time of the day, Do you know that autophagy will do your body a great deal of good when you practice it. And if you have the Nigeria’ problem of not knowing what to do with all the money you have remember that you can help with urban forestation (buy and plant tree seedlings), Build a library, sport center, organize seminars for people and Travel more.

For you who want to live life with the bare minimum know this, It is very possible. As there are affordable alternatives to every paradise all you need is contentment and a changed perception.You can build furniture yourself (that is if you feel you need this) with pallets.

You can still have a good sleep by using futons to sleep with, you don’t have to waste money that will make you urinate a tad more, you can try to cook your own food, Cut back on your use of the internet if it cost you so much to “know what is happporning” read a book, plant a tree, make your own garden, buy a pet, Sleep more and Live happy.

by

Victor Samuel