A Year of Experiments with Essentialism
By: Devangana Khokhar
Tags: Minimalism, Sustainability, Essentialism, Mindfulness

To say that 2020 was a big surprise for everyone around the globe would be a massive understatement. Like everyone else, my new year also started with a big bucket list of things I wanted to do and achieve, but little did I know that most of my plans will be crushed down by a global pandemic.

Staying locked down at home for most part of the year, especially when I had spent good parts of last 4 years travelling full-time as a consultant, wasn’t easy. For an ambivert like me who enjoys social interactions, albeit restricted to people I am close with, the year has been particularly tough. However, this year also provided me an opportunity to reflect upon myself and more importantly, be grateful for the privilege I enjoy. For what millions of people around the world go through on an everyday basis, struggling for food, surviving wars, my struggles don’t even count. For the rest of the world, gluttony perhaps has no end. We are living in an era where digital technologies have made it possible for us to have anything in front of our eyes at the click of a button. We buy things not because we need them, but because we have an urge to buy them. I am mostly a mindful shopper, however, there are certain things I have occasionally splurged on such as food since I thoroughly enjoy experimenting with cuisines.

I did a considerable amount of reading and self-reflection this year, and one thing in particular that stood out was essentialism. The idea inspired me to make small changes in my everyday life, and I thought maybe writing about those might help some of you who are keen on experimenting with it too. I wouldn’t go so far to say that I have become a perfect essentialist — these are certainly baby steps and I am committed to learning and adopting more in the future.

Absolutely no new clothes!

This is something I wanted to do for a long time — get rid of most of my clothes and shrink my wardrobe to no more than a couple of clothing items. The idea of being free to move and travel around, with a long term goal of becoming a digital nomad, has always inspired me. The first step towards that goal was the reduce the amount of stuff I own, and that started with owning just the essential cloths. I repurposed all of my smart casuals as my daily wears at home, donated many clothes to charities, but the achievement I am most proud of is that I haven’t bought a single piece of clothing this year. It has made me realise how many clothes we end up buying either because we are bored and shopping brings respite or just because something caught our eye. I fully intend to continue with this goal of buying 0 clothes in 2021 as well. Fingers crossed!

No new physical books

I own a fair number of books and really love how my bookshelf looks. I have always loved reading printed books, feeling the crisp pages of the books in between my fingers. I realised that I am not particularly contributing to environment sustainability by owning all these books that I am perhaps never going to re-read. I would have loved to exchange books with other people in the city, but that wasn’t really feasible during this pandemic. So, I took out my Kindle and finally gave it a go, slowly growing more comfortable reading from it as opposed to a printed book. I don’t think I am going back to buying printed books anymore, and would try to find a new home for the ones I already own.

No hoarding of food

I love food! For me, more than the taste and the treat to the sensations, it’s a medium to connect with people and learn about different cultures. I enjoy eating and cooking equally, and collecting different food items from around the world during my travels turned into a hobby quickly. With a pretty busy travel and work schedule, I couldn’t do as much cooking as I wanted in the last 2 years, and I had to throw away a lot of expired food. With the way people around me were struggling this year with limited access to food, I felt extremely guilty. While I still cook a lot and would continue to do so, I have learnt how to be thrifty and have more with less. I now buy things in limited quantities, and order only when my kitchen starts looking empty.

Social media reduction

With lockdowns came excessive use of digital and social media, and with that came information overload. Fake news, misinformation, opinion overload, armchair activism - we all struggled with it this year. I decided to take some time off and deactivated all my accounts for weeks in a row. I have done multiple iterations of it and I could really see the impact it made on my life. While I would still want to stay connect with my friends and loved ones, I am definitely going to try taking more time off social media.

Makeup, Skincare and Fragrances

Besides food, skincare has been one of my guilty pleasures. I wouldn’t say I have splurged a lot in the past, but certainly have spent a decent amount of money towards buying skincare. I tried changing that all this year, and moved to experimenting with home remedies. I have repurposed my used coffee as body scrubs and made face mists at home, to name a few. This definitely has been a game changer!

I have never been a makeup person, but whatever I used to own and buy, I don’t any more. This year I haven’t bought a single lip colour, nail lacquer, or any other makeup item for that matter! I have completely given up all sorts of sprays perfumes and deodorants. However, I am not a fan of body odours, and hence I am sticking to roll-ons. I am still on a lookout for a completely natural, vegan roll-on, so if you have recommendations for one that can be easily bought in India (or one that can be made at home), I would love that!

Here are some more items that I have neither bought this year nor intend to buy anytime in the future: Stationaries, Air fresheners, Water bottles, Kitchen masalas.

There are areas that I am not doing so good at, and would like to do better in 2021:

Buying local produce

Switch to sustainable daily items

Waste segregation

Minimising use of single-use plastic

These are just baby steps, and I have a long way to go! So, if you have any recommendations, please do let me know.

If you have similar stories to share, I would absolutely love to hear those.