Yes, I said, “challenged.” My wife, Sheri, and I embarked on a Minimalist Challenge earlier this month by playing a Minimalism Game. The rules include selling, giving or trashing an item each day. The first day would be one item, second day two items and this continues for 30 days until you cleaned your life of 465 items. The first one to drop out loses the game in addition to losing some stuff once owned.
I have learned a lot about myself during this challenge. It appears that at first my world, along with my “security” was being reduced with each passing day. The next observation came when I was considering many of our “neighbors” here in Redding, California. Homeless is a huge problem here. Ironically, homeless people cart around a lot of clutter. 
Two questions run through my mind: Why do we find so much security in clutter? And, is Minimalism only for people who can afford to downsize because they can just buy something when they need it?
True wealth is not a number of dollars. It is not a number of material possessions. It’s about having options and the ability to take on risk. I noticed the more my mind is adjusted to Abundance-based Thinking, the fewer possessions I feel that I need.
I believe a good indicator of a wealth mindset is reflected in how much stuff one carries through the day.
Consider a Millenial doing some “work” in a coffee shop. How big is his backpack? If he has a five-year-old laptop, most likely the battery doesn’t last long so he needs to also carry his power supply. It has paper and pens, in case he wants to write or draw, which may be rarely. It has a cable to charge his old phone. It has gum and sometimes snacks. Sunscreen and a water bottle in summer. A raincoat and gloves in winter. Maybe a book in case he gets bored.
If he were rich, he would carry a MacBook Air, an iPad mini as a reader, and use the wallet app on his iPhone 11 Pro to make his purchases. Do you see the connection? You will notice rich people carry a lot less!
As with carrying, so with owning in general. Poor people don’t have clutter because they’re too preoccupied to see the virtue of living simply; they have all the stuff to reduce risk.
When rich people present the idea that they’ve learned to live simply as a paradoxical insight, they have the idea of wealth backward. You can only have that kind of lightness through wealth; or at least a wealth mindset.
If you buy food in bulk at Cosco, you need a big fridge. If you can’t afford to replace all the appliances in your house, you need several junk drawers. If you can’t afford car repairs, you might need a half-gutted second car of a similar model up on blocks, where certain people will make fun of it and call you a hillbilly.
So, yes, I am still minimalist challenged. I am not impressed if rich people try explaining the idea of freedom from stuff as a trick that even they have somehow mastered. For some, the only way to own very little and be safe is to be rich. For others, we need to discover that security is first an inside job.
