The Aspects of Happiness
To be happy is to be content with what you have. You don't expect more. You don't want more.
So to know if you're happy or not, you would first have to know how much you want. To that end I've identified a few areas that need to be fulfilled to achieve an environment where happiness can thrive. This environment won't give you happiness, but it will remove your worries so you have the chance to achieve that happiness.
It's hard to define it all at once so I've divided it into sections that can be focused on one at a time.
1. Physical Environment
Inner. Body, health.
Outer. Where you live. Hills? City? Island? Big house? Small house? Mansion?
2. Social Environment
Inner. What kind of person you are. Do you enjoy having people over?
Outer. How many people do you meet everyday? How many friends do you invite over?
3. Emotional Environment
Inner. How you deal with your own emotions. Are you calm? Easily angered?
Outer. When you interact with your friends and family, what's the level of emotional intimacy? Do you express everything loudly? Or do you tease each other a lot? Do you want to keep the parent-child divide?
4. Intellectual Environment
Inner. Do you challenge yourself intellectually? Always look for the meaning behind things?
Outer. Do situations arise that stimulate your mind?
5. Spiritual Environment
Inner. What level of awareness you're at. How you feel spiritually.
Outer. What those around you are doing spiritually. The level of encouragement or discouragement from community.
I'll spend some time writing up about each environment. What do I mean? How does it help us thrive?
And of course, where does money fit into this?
The Smaller Home: Less is More
I was looking at house designs the other day (I enjoy looking at beautiful designs) when I had a sudden thought.
"Why not make your house smaller instead of bigger?"
I've always been a minimalist. I prefer less stuff instead of more and I prefer to get items that can serve multiple uses. So the thought of a house that was just the right size for me (and no bigger than that) sounded very appealing.
I googled "smaller homes"
I googled "smaller homes" and... someone already beat me to it. A lot of someones actually. It turns out there are a whole group of people who try to use up as little space as possible in this world. Almost as if they're planning to live in space and all they've got is a tiny box the size of a bathtub to live in. They cram a kitchen, living room and dining room into a 100 foot square area (link here).
That's just a little bit bigger than my bedroom.
That's a little too much for me.
Advantages
It turns out there are some distinct advantages to living small. Which is why these guys try so hard.
1. The cost goes way waaayyy down. All those loans you take to buy a home? Cut them in half.
2. Easier to clean. With less things to clear up, it takes a lot less time too.
But they're trying too hard!! Some of these houses look too cramped to me. They can't be comfortable.
Disadvantages
And it's true, there are some disadvantages to living small as well.
1. You don't have a cupboard to throw junk into. This means you have to think very hard before buying anything. It just might not fit...
2. In a small space, even a tiny mess can take up your whole house.
3. Your mother-in-law won't have space to stay over anymore (Or maybe this is an advantage?).
Whitespace
Then it hit me! That's why it didn't look comfortable to me. There was no whitespace! Some people call it negative space but the meaning is the same. In minimalist philosophy, you take away the clutter and add plenty of whitespace. This will focus the mind and the eye on the few things which ARE there (which are suppose to be beautiful).
Cramped spaces DONT have whitespace. It turns out it's not minimalist at all (at least not design wise. Maybe space wise).
Living small doesn't have to mean living in a small space
So now I'm thinking of a compromise. Using the ideas and lifehacks I found to help minimize my clutter while keeping my space large. Make corridors smaller and rooms huge! Cut away the useless rooms and make the remaining rooms more huge! Have closets to hide away the work office in and keep the room empty to make it LOOK even more huge!
Yes. Yes, I see it now. Living small doesn't have to mean living in a small space. It just means removing everything that's useless in your life. I could live with that. I could definitely live with that.