Since starting Minimal Student almost three years ago now, I have never taken more than a few weeks off at a time, but after coming back to England and settling in my own place, and no longer travelling as much as I used to, I felt that my writing had run out of steam. In…
Oh, snow. It’s pretty at first, but then it turns grey and slushy, getting into your shoes and freezing your toes. Then there’s the winter wind that makes your nose turn red and your eyes start to water. In Japan, the cherry blossoms came to mark the beginning of spring. The air is warm with…
A question that I often ask myself is why on earth am I leading a minimalist lifestyle? Why don’t I just settle down in a nice town, get my own apartment, a steady job and live like a normal person? The answer is simple, I don’t want to be normal. I want to travel. I want…
Last month, it snowed. A lot. This photo was the view outside my dorm. It had been piling up for a few days, and got pretty deep. One morning, I was rushing to university when I very nearly fell flat on my face. Thankfully I saved my dignity by doing an ungracious twirl with about…
Chopsticks. Right now, millions of people are digging into their food with two sticks that have stood the test of time as a utensil for humans, even when countless thousands of other tools, gadgets and products haven’t. But what’s so special about them? What can we learn from mere chopsticks? Personally, I have used them…
“Nothing is softer or more flexible than water, yet nothing can resist it”. ~Lao Tzu If only we could be more like water – strong, life-giving and beautiful. It trickles and surges, ebbs and swirls, here and there, following the natural course of life without attachment or resistance. Even when it appears to be quite still,…
Humans are social creatures. We like to fit in. As the old saying went, “the nail that sticks up gets hammered down’. If you act too differently, you’re labelled ‘wild’ or ‘crazy’. At school, from our parents and through the media we are told all the things we should want. We ‘should’ want a big…
“Not all readers are leaders but all leaders are readers” ~ Harry S. Truman For a lot of people, reading is ‘boring’. To them, books remind them of something they ‘had to do’ at school. Until recently, I didn’t realize the extent people actually rejected reading, as if it was something to avoid. I’ve seen…
They say that it’s best to aim for the low hanging fruit. A lot of the time this is true, but it isn’t always the case. In the short term, it might make sense to take advantage of whatever comes your way first. The low hanging fruit are easy to reach, but they aren’t necessarily…
The next stage of our journey along the Noble Eightfold Path is understanding how Ethical Conduct affects every single aspect of our lives. By conducting Right Speech, Action and Livelihood to the best of our abilities, we can move closer towards an enlightened body, heart and mind. You don’t have to be Buddhist to follow these principles. As…