LEARNING TO UNLEARN

As they say, when the use of something is not known, abuse is inevitable but I’d love to also add that even when the use of something is known, as long as you don’t get it too much, once given the access to it, abuse might also be inevitable because you are not sure how long that might last for. Well, will writing that first line electricity was what was in my mind. As a girl from a country when the electricity is so unstable, I know how much I always made sure I used the power to its fullest once it’s on.

I would always put on all my bulbs, iron some clothes, charge my phone and other appliances even when I know they don’t really need charging and many more things. There were even times when I’d boil water with the electric kettle even when there is no one in need of it but I just wanted to be prepared for the time when the electricity will be out. Back then, I thought it was me being a smart girl but over time I’ve come to understand that I made so many wrong choices until I found the minimalist community.

It took me some time to discover that I could actually be a minimalist just like every other person as long you are willing to unlearn some things and relearn others. It was thanks to one particular #kiss that I was able to know that there is minimalism in literally everything as far as to conserving electricity but then that doesn’t and shouldn’t in any way mean that minimalist are frugal or poor people. I feel that minimalism is a practice that everyone should be encouraged to practice because it is something that will help anyone.

I got to understand the importance of conserving electricity even more when we started making use of prepaid meter at home. For the fact that I know that misusing my electricity wasn’t helping the globe and even my pocket, so I quickly started making sure I used my prepaid credit very well by putting off the light when not in use, same goes for every other thing. I couldn’t stop all at once because as they say, ’old habits die hard”. And besides that, living around maximalists made matters worse as they don’t care about such things.

Anyways, as they also say, “Knowledge is power!” We do things wrong most times majorly because of the fact that we don’t have any solid knowledge of it. Being a minimalist is not something that promises to be easy but then it will definitely be worth it over time. And the best way to help one grow as a minimalist is finding a community of others that are interested in something as you. Just like me, I wasn’t completely a minimalist but over time, the more I improved on my knowledge of what minimalist is and what it’s not, the more I knew it was a rewarding process as well.

Here’s my #kiss to my younger self as regards the things I’ve been able to improve in since I began my minimalist lifestyle.