Sereno Sky, author of the «Lonely Traveller» novels, joined the ranks of The Prophet’s guest authors with a truly actual eye-opener, and his second essay is no less timely, bringing you insights on how consumerism finds its way into our lifestyle choices, how minimalism and  fashion can correlate…

Written by Sereno Sky

In this ever-changing world one can notice one hype after the other showing up on the horizon, trying to work its way into our lives. One thing they all seem to have in common is that they almost always depend on money. Commercially interested trend-setters are always on the lookout for the latest in attitudes and trends that might lead to new business opportunities.

Those of us who lived through the hippie days can sing a song of this phenomenon. Fortunately though, most hippies did not want to participate in this race, preferring to travel thousands of miles to far away places in the East to buy themselves the kind of clothes they wanted to wear, or to bring back their favourite decoration they wanted hanging on their wall.

These days have changed, as new fashion and lifestyle is brought right to the footsteps of your door by numerous online-shops. One such new trend has been the ‹minimalistic life-style›. It has become very ‹hip and trendy› in recent years to be able to invite friends and acquaintances to a ‹minimalistic› home with quaint furniture in that style, and a large number of businesses have sprung up like mushrooms, catering to this new wave. From fashion to furniture, from interior decorating to garden styles, there is money to be made with this new hype. Even multitudes of hotels are now offering you holidays in a minimalistic environment. With the price for a one-night stay with as little to do with minimalism as lemons have to do with the lemon balm herb.

So can we just buy ourselves such a lifestyle and then call ourselves a minimalist? Many so-called hippies did. They walked out of their banking job on Friday evening and then dressing up as hippies for the weekend. The fashion business had caught up and offered them everything needed in order to do just that. Rich people can now call themselves minimalists, as long as their furniture and interior decorating looks just the right way. Who cares how much it cost and even less how numbers on their bank accounts look anything but minimalistic.

Having established that being trendy is for sale, we should probably have a look at what real minimalism consists of. What is the right cocktail that enables a person to appropriate that title for themselves? First, we need to realize that the word ‹minimalism› itself does not belong to one of those recently invented definitions that have barely just found their entry into a dictionary. This term has been around for ages and has its roots in ‹minimal›, having to do with ‹basic›.

Living with just the basics can either be attributed to the poor, and/or those of us purposely looking for a modest way of life. Whether we are forced into it by our financial circumstances, or whether we choose to live a simple and modest life, staying on the level of basic needs probably has a lot to do with the intention and the motive. I have seen and know many people who do not go around proclaiming that they have become a ‹minimalist›. One just looks at them and sees minimalism in action. They are happy with it and make a point to live that way intentionally, even those whose financial status may allow them to live on a more luxurious and extravagant level.

This also brings up the question of whether one is just resorting to this kind of modesty because she or he does it for show, or if there is a certain purpose behind it. Like, for example, taking the decision to live on less money, thus needing to work less hours at some job, and as a result having more time to oneself and personal projects. That would seem to be a very precious intention. Or having more money left to assist other needy souls in their troubles. In that case it could even be applauded if some very rich people decided to tone down their lavish lifestyle, in order to help support needy projects for the poor. Who would then care less if they declared themselves as having become a minimalist, if in doing so they would actually start helping a lot of less fortunate people?

I guess in general people seem to get annoyed by folks calling themselves something just because it has become ‹hip› and ‹chic›. Many of us are rather apprehensive towards the linking up of commercialism to such noble intentions as living a down-graded and modest way of life.

Before this new ‹minimalistic› hype goes any further, let us remember that there is a lot of joy and satisfaction to be derived from purposely living a simple life, learning to be happy and content with few things. And perhaps as an additonal positive result even being able to help others in need a little more. To me, this seems definitely more ‹heroic› and worthy of recognition and appreciation, than these would-be ‹minimalists› with their newly found pseudo-lifestyle.

Image credit and disclaimer: This text and photo is allowed by the author for publication on the «Ozorian Prophet». For other sites or publications, authorisation by the author is required at serenoskyproductions@outlook.com