On Words and Definitions

​​I am no linguist nor particularly skillful in this secondary language I'm using to write this blog post. But I am going to talk about words and definitions for a second if you don't mind. I had to describe myself recently and that got me thinking about the words we use to describe ourselves.

​​I think at some point I used to be what people usually call a minimalist. I was into reducing my possessions, owning as few objects as possible. It was a fun exercise. But that was past me. Current me is not worried a single bit about the things I own. I think I am more mindful than minimalist to be honest with you.

​​I have a love for minimally designed objects but the quality and the practicality comes way before the visual component these days. The question I'm asking myself is not will this look nice? but rather will this last me 15 years?. That's all I care about.

​​Sure, I still own very few items compared to the average person but does that make me a minimalist? Some would probably say yes. I'd say no.

​​And this is why I think definitions are—for the most part—completely useless. Especially definitions that become popular. If I have to explain to you what I mean when I say I'm a minimalist, then the definition has lost its usefulness.

​​My favorite "minimalism related" YouTube channel is this one. You'll probably say that it's not about minimalism at all and I'd strongly disagree.

We live in an age where we have no limits when it comes to ways to communicate. Maybe we should ditch definitions and stereotypes and embrace the idea of spending time to communicate things more thoroughly. We probably need fewer 140 character tweets and more 15,000 word blog posts.