Minimalism, Mystification and The American Ideal

How can we achieve peace of mind and harmony with the self?

Introduction to Minimalism

When I read my first blog posts or saw my first YouTube videos on minimalism, I imagined a life where I could be car free, live in a small studio or 1 bedroom apartment just outside of the city, and commute via local transportation or a bike. I liked the idea of being self-reliant enough that I could walk away from a job that was bad for my health and not be tied to car taxes or extraneous payments.

But living in the American suburbs, this all felt impossible. Most of America is tied to the idea that we use a car as our main method of transportation, so cities aren’t designed for anything else. Outside of major cities, public transportation isn’t reliable or efficient. If I wanted to take a bus from my house to work, I would have to walk 10 minutes to the bus stop, take a bus that runs every hour and then transfer to another bus that would drop me off 10 minutes from my destination. Even if I made the bus in a perfectly timely fashion, the trip would take over two hours each way on public transport instead of a 20 minute drive.

Different countries may consider this a broken system, but the suburbs are designed this way. The suburbs are designed in such a way that it is separate from public transportation because we live under the assumption that public transport is for poor people and poor people aren’t welcome…