Whitespace
My little brother was born into a world where the internet already existed. A world where all the information in the world is available at your fingertips. I can find out in 15 minutes what it took a few days to find out a few decades ago. So with all this information that we have, we cram in more and more and more. You can open yahoo.com and see how they cram in so much into just one page.
Of course, having a whirlwind of data isn't always the best either. There's always a thing called whitespace.
Whitespace
When you have too much information at a time, your brain won't be able to process all of it at once. It needs space between information. For example, that pause people make after saying something important. Or the way a webpage looks so so soooo much better when everything useless is taken out and you have the minimum to see.
One reason why people like the facebook layout is because it doesn't cram too much on the same page (or at least that's true if people don't have a bunch of apps). By spacing the columns of information and limiting the information that gets there in the first place, you can better appreciate and concentrate on what you DO have on the page.
Put large blocks of space in between the blocks of text and things look much better.
Learning whitespace
So I think that we might need learning whitespace too for the same reason. Learn 3 things in half an hour and you'll walk away with all 3. Learn 48 things in a half an hour seminar and you'll still only walk away with 3. You might have written all 48 down but in the end you'll only grasp the overall concept of all 48 and not the individual concepts of each.
So we need learning whitespace. And that's when I realized what storytelling really does.
I've always been a believer that the best way to get information across is to tell a story. Our mind has evolved over thousands of years of oral storytelling to accept stories as the best medium to send information across generations.
A story (a well told story) compresses information into the format that's best to learn in. Data like dates and names are spaced properly, with the story parts in between to catch your attention again. So you get a bit of info, then while you're processing it, the author catches your attention with a little story before going on to the next bit.
Books should only have a few major points
I always complained that those hundred ringgit books would only have 3 or 4 main points in a book. Sometimes only 1 point in the whole book! Now I realize maybe it's better that way.
Of course this only goes for books that aren't story books in the first place. Because any book that wants to get a point across should always use stories to do it.
So...
Whenever everything looks too cluttered, just add a little whitespace.
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.