摘要：简约生活的含义不只是把眼前的凌乱收拾整齐，而是要永久性摆脱凌乱的生活方式。

If you’ve ever fantasised about selling everything youown and paring down your possessions to the bareessentials, you’re probably familiar with minimalism.

But it’s about more than just de-cluttering—it’sabout getting rid of all clutter, permanently. “Minimalism isn’t about empty white rooms withhardly any furniture,” said Chris Wray, who writes aUK blog about minimalism, TwoLessThings.co.uk. “It’s about removing all the things that distract us from what’s important in our lives.”

“所有的物品全部卖掉，只保留最基本的必需品，越简单越好。”如果你曾有过这种幻想，那么简约主义对你来说应该并不陌生。

但是简约生活的含义不只是把眼前的凌乱收拾整齐，而是要永久性摆脱凌乱的生活方式。英国的极简主义博客TwoLess Things.co.uk的作者克里斯·雷(Chris Wray)说：“极简派生活并不是提倡房间里空荡得没有什么家具，四周只见白墙。极简主义强调生活空间里要摆脱那些分散注意力的五花八门的东西，只保留生活里最需要的即可。”

体验简约生活的乐趣

For extreme minimalists, such as Andrew Hyde, who lives in Colorado in the US, it meansowning only about 15 items. For others, it means getting rid of the excess until you are leftwith essentials — and your definition of essential might evolve.

对于像美国科罗拉多的安德鲁·海德这样比较极端的极简主义者们来说，简约可以意味着只拥有15件东西。而对于其他人来说，简约是不断摆脱多余的物品，简约到只剩下基本必需品的程度就可以了，另外，必需品的标准对你而言可能也不是一成不变的。

“A minimalist lifestyle entails being mindful about the things we own, the things we buy, andhow we spend our time,” said Francine Jay, author of The Joy of Less. “It is a lifestyle thatvalues experiences more than possessions.”

《简单的快乐》作者一书弗朗辛·杰(Francine Jay)说：“简约主义生活方式需要人们留心对待自己所拥有的物品，所购买的物品，以及对时间的利用。这种生活方式重视生活体验而不是拥有的物品。”

Naturally, minimalism tends to flourish in countries that have embraced consumer culture, suchas the US, UK and parts of Europe. It’s difficult to revolt against the get-more-stuff mentality ifthat isn’t your country’s way of life. But you can live a minimalist life anywhere and capturemore money for savings and great experiences, and have less stuff to maintain and clean.

在一些包容消费文化的国家，比如美国、英国、以及欧洲一些国家，极简主义自然而然会走向繁荣。但是如果一个国家的大部分人没有简约主义的生活理念，那么想要突破“拥有更多”的思维模式就困难了。但是无论在哪里，只要你想，都可以实现简约的生活，这样的生活方式可以让你拥有更多的积蓄，以及更加舒适的生活体验，更少的物品需要打理。

Here’s how to get back to basics:

这里教你如何让生活返璞归真：

What it will take: Mental fortitude. Getting rid of your things requires commitment. You haveto make a decision about every item you own, and that can be mentally taxing — and it won’thappen overnight.

思想上的准备——要内心坚定。对你的东西说再见需要有坚定信念。你需要对每一件东西的去留做出决定，这个过程可能很费神，而且也不是一晚上的功夫就能解决的事情。

“It almost certainly took you longer than one afternoon to collect all the possessions in yourlife, and it is going to take you longer than one afternoon to sort them out,” said JoshuaBecker, a minimalist in Arizona and writer of the blog BecomingMinimalist.com.

BecomingMinimalist.com网络日志的作者，美国亚利桑那州的极简主义者约书亚·贝克尔表示：要一次性收集你所有东西，当然是要花比一个下午还要多的时间，然后还要腾出差不多的功夫集中把它们分类。

How long you need to prepare: Not long at all — you can start this process today by putting abox in every room. “When you come across something you haven’t used in a long time, orever, throw it in,” said Rachel Jonat, who lives in the Isle of Man in the UK and writes the blogTheMinimalistMom.com. “If you are scared about wanting those items again, hold onto the boxfor six months and then donate everything.”

其实，用不了很久的。你可以从今天开始行动，在每个房间里放置一个箱子。住在英国曼岛的雷切尔·德古斯曼(Rachel Jonat)是"TheMinimalistMom.com"网络日志的作者，他说：“当你偶然发现某样东西很长时间没使用过了，觉得可能用不着了，你就可以把它放进箱子里。”他还提到：:“如果你害怕某天又需要那些东西的话，你可以先把箱子保留六个月，然后把它们送出去。”

Mentally, you may have to do some preparation to get into the right mindset — because, let’sface it, a lot of us like our things. But things have a catch. That big house and everything in ittake time to clean and organise, and it takes money to maintain it all.

在思想上，你可能需要为获得正确的简约生活理念做些思想准备。事实上，我们不得不承认的是，我们当中有许多人会留恋自己的东西，但事物如同双刃剑，偌大的房间和里面的物品是需要清洁和打理的，也要有经济上的支出用于维护。

“Look at an item and think about how many hours you had to work, or willhave to work, to payfor it,” Jonat said. Every piece you own is a chance to regain time and/or money if you sell it orgive it away. Once you’re ready to start purging, dive in.

德古兹曼说：“看着每一件物品时候，想着为了购买它，你曾经，或是将要辛苦工作多少时间。”一旦你准备好对自己的生活进行一次彻底的净化，开始行动吧。

Do it now: Think about the places in your life where you feel anxiety or frustration, said CristinFrank, US author of Living Simple, Free & Happy. “Too many decisions? Is your closet socrowded that things get lost or easily wrinkled?” Pinpoint those areas and deal with them first.Name brand clothes and household goods in good condition are perfect for eBay — checkrecent sales of similar items to help you set a price. Your first 50 listings every month are free;if you sell it, the site takes 10% of the final sales price.

立即行动：《简单的生活——自由而快乐》的美国作家克里斯丁·弗兰克说：“考虑一下，你的生活里有哪些地方的不好打理，让你感到焦虑或者挫败?”“需要做出太多的决定吗?那么你想一下你的衣柜是否东西太多，以至于会有衣服找不到或者变皱的情况出现?瞄准这些区域然，首先着手处理它们。对于名牌服装和性能良好的家庭用品来说，通过易趣网站(e-Bay)进行拍卖是个理想的选择。查看一下近期类似物品的销售情况来帮助定价。你在每月在该网站拍卖的前50件物品是免费的。如果商品交易成功，网站将获取成交价的10%。

Start small. You aren’t going to be able to declutter your life in a day, or even a week. And theprocess may seem really daunting. If you are feeling anxious about change, “try one thing for30 days, starting with the easiest things to get rid of,” said Joshua Fields Millburn, a minimalistwho lives in Montana and writes at TheMinimalists.com blog. Another strategy: Spend 15minutes a day de-cluttering. Set a timer — you can make great progress when you race theclock.

从小事做起：你不可能在一天之内甚至是一周之内就把自己的所有东西打理得井井有条，过上简约式生活，而这个看似漫长的准备过程有点令人没有勇气和决心坚持下去了。面对这样的情形，可能这个生活上的改变让你感到有点焦虑不安，不知道怎么着手开始。对此，美国蒙大拿州的极简主义者，TheMinimalists.com网络杂志的文章作者约书亚·菲儿兹·米尔本(Joshua Fields Millburn)建议：“先尝试坚持30天，从最容易处理的东西开始着手。”另一个办法就是：每天花15分钟清理。设置一个计时器，当你争分夺秒的时候，往往会取得很大的进展。

Ditch the obvious things.

丢弃那些用处不大的摆设。

Get some forward momentum by starting your giveaway pile with the items you clearly do notneed—the mugs you never use, that ugly thing you received as a gift. Start a pile for a car bootsale or yard sale. List furniture and larger household goods on classified-ad site Craigslist, whichis available in more than 80 countries. You can also make it easier to part with things bypassing them along to someone else who can use them via local charities.

从丢掉用处不大的赠送品开始着手，比如从来不用的杯子，不好看的礼物等，在这个过程中获得些前进的动力。可以把一堆物品放在跳蚤市场或者庭院旧货市场出售。针对一些家具和大型家用物品列成一个清单，投放到克雷格列表(Craigslist)网站上，此网站的使用范围涵盖世界上80多个国家。你还可以采取更简单的做法，把物品通过当地慈善机构分发给那些需要的人，同时实现了物品的使用价值。

“Throwing it all in the garbage can make you feel guilty or wasteful,” Frank said.

弗兰克说：“把物品全部丢进垃圾箱会让你有负罪感或是觉得太浪费了。”

Do it later: Once you’ve started selling your stuff and not buying new knick-knacks, repurposethe money you’re saving.

之后要做的事：一旦你已经开始卖掉你的一部分东西，并且不再购买新的小摆设，重新对节省下来的钱进行用途规划。

“My husband and I paid off our home in less than seven years with our minimalist lifestyle,”Frank said. “I was then able to quit my job and be a blogger and author full time.”

弗兰克说：“通过极简理念的生活方式，我的丈夫和我在七年之内就还清了房子的贷款。后来，我得到机会辞去了之前的工作，成为了全职博客写稿人和作家。”

For Francine Jay, living minimally allowed her and her husband to travel. “We lived in London fortwo years, and travelled throughout much of Europe and Asia during that time,” Jay said.Rachel Jonat and her husband paid off $80,000 in non-mortgage debt in less than three years.When you don’t fritter money away on junk, you have more to put toward the essentials —house payment, debt, retirement, and experiences.

对于弗朗辛·杰来说，简约式生活给她和丈夫带来了旅行。“我们住在伦敦两年了，在此期间，我们游历过欧洲和亚洲的许多地方。”杰说。雷切尔·德古兹曼和她的丈夫用了不到三年的时间还清了非抵押债务。如果你不在毫无使用价值的东西上浪费钱的话，你就可以有更多的资金用于生活的基本需求上，比如房款、贷款、养老保险以及各种生活体验。

Reassess after a few weeks and see how you feel. “Decluttering isn’t something you just doonce,” Jay said. “It’s an ongoing process.” You may find it difficult to let go of certain items inthe first or second round of purging, but on the third round it could end up on the giveawaypile. “It took me eight months to slowly pare down my possessions while constantly askingmyself, ‘Does this thing add value to my life?’” Millburn said.

几周之后，再重新评估一下，看自己感受如何。“清理工作不是只做一次。”杰说。“这是一个不断进行的过程。”你在前一两轮清理工作中可能会感到难以放弃一些东西，但是等到第三周的时候，你可能还徘徊在如何处理那些赠品上。“我用了八个月的时间才把物品减少了一些。在此期间，我一直不断问自己一个问题‘这件东西为我的生活来增添价值吗?’”米尔本说。

Be smart about future purchases. Shop only when you need something, not for fun orentertainment, Jay said. Before you buy, “make an inventory of what you already have,” Jaysaid. “Counting just how many shirts or kitchen gadgets you own will likely discourage youfrom purchasing anything new.” When you do add to your home, seek out versatile,multipurpose items.

“在未来买东西的时候动动脑子。记住只在需要某样东西的时候再去购物，而不是出于有趣或是娱乐的原因而购物。”杰说。在买东西前，要像杰说的那样，“要先盘算一下已有的家当。数一数自己已经拥有多少件衬衫，多少件厨房用品可能会阻止你再买任何新东西”。然而当你真正要添置新家当的时候，尽量挑那些有多种用途的商品。

Consider a big change. Moving into a smaller space isn’t for everyone. But if you are a renterand your lease is coming up, or you’re really struggling to manage your home payment eachmonth, downsizing accomplishes a few things: It encourages less stuff, less time cleaning, andof course, smaller bills.

考虑一个大的改变。搬进相对狭小的空间并不适用于每个人。但是如果你作为一个房东，租赁要开始了，或者你非常努力地支付每月的房款，精简可以实现以下几个目的：这样做可以让你东西变得少一些，节省打扫的时间。当然，还可以帮你减少开销。

Do it smarter: Avoid comparisons. Your minimalism is yours alone—it’s what works for you, inyour life, at this time. If you want to keep every book you’ve ever read but cut your wardrobedown to 12 items, that is what you should do.

明智一点，不要比较。你的极简生活是属于你自己的，也就是说，它只对你自己起作用，对你当时的生活有效。如果你想保留你读过的所有书籍，但是把衣柜里衣服减到12件，那也是你应该做的事。

“Comparing your progress to someone else is rarely helpful,” Becker said.

“把你在简约生活上的进展情况与他人的情况相比较往往没什么益处。”贝克尔说。

活得轻松--在现实中生活

To a large degree，the measure of our peace of mind is determined by how much we are able to live in the present moment.Irrespective of what happened yesterday or last year，and what may or may not happen tomorrow，the present moment is where you are --always.

我们内心是否平和在很大程度上是由我们是否能生活在现实之中所决定的。不管昨天或去年发生了什么，不管明天可能发生或不发生什么，现实才是你时时刻刻所在之处。

Without question，many of us have mastered the neurotic1) art of spending much of our lives worrying about a variety of things --all at once.We allow past problems and future concerns to dominate our present moments，so much so that we end up anxious，frustrated，depressed，and hopeless.On the flip side，we also postpone our gratification，our stated priorities2)，and our happiness，often convincing ourselves that ‘someday’ will be better than today.Unfortunately，the same mental dynamics3) that tell us to look toward the future will only repeat themselves so that ‘someday ’never actually arrives.John Lennon once said，‘Life is what’s happening while we’re busy making other plans.’When we’re busy making ‘other plans’，our children are busy growing up，the people we love are moving away and dying，our bodies are getting out of shape，and our dreams are slipping away.In short，we miss out4) on life.

毫无疑问，我们很多人掌握了一种神经兮兮的艺术，即把生活中的大部分时间花在为种种事情担心忧虑上---而且常常是同时忧虑许多事情。我们听凭过去的麻烦和未来的担心控制我们此时此刻的生活，以致我们整日焦虑不安，萎靡不振，甚至沮丧绝望。而另一方面我们又推迟我们的满足感，推迟我们应优先考虑的事情，推迟我们的幸福感，常常说服自己“有朝一日”会比今天更好。不幸的是，如此告诫我们朝前看的大脑动力只能重复来重复去，以致“有朝一日”永远不会真正来临。约翰·列农曾经说过：“生活就是当我们忙于制定别的计划时发生的事。”当我们忙于制定种种“别的计划”时，我们的孩子在忙于长大，我们挚爱的人离去了甚至快去世了，我们的体型变样了，而我们的梦想也在悄然溜走了。一句话，我们错过了生活。

Many people live as if life were a dress rehearsal5) for some later date.It isn’t.In fact，no one has a guarantee that he or she will be here tomorrow.Now is the only time we have，and the only time that we have any control over.When our attention is in the present moment，we push fear from our minds.Fear is the concern over events that might happen in the future--we won’ t have enough money，our children will get into trouble，we will get old and die，whatever.

许多人的生活好像是某个未来日子的彩排。并非如此。事实上，没人能保证他或她明天肯定还活着。现在是我们所拥有的惟一时间，现在也是我们能控制的惟一时间。当我们将注意力放在此时此刻时，我们就将恐惧置于脑后。恐惧就是我们担忧某些事情会在未来发生---我们不会有足够的钱，我们的孩子会惹上麻烦，我们会变老，会死去，诸如此类。

To combat fear，the best strategy6) is to learn to bring your attention back to the present.Mark Twain said，‘I have been through some terrible things in my life，some of which actually happened.I don’t think I can say it any better.Practice keeping your attention on the here and now.Your efforts will pay great dividends7).

若要克服恐惧心理，最佳策略便是学会将你的注意力拉回此时此刻。马克·吐温说过：“我经历过生活中一些可怕的事情，有些的确发生过。”我想我说不出比这更具内涵的话。经常将注意力集中于此情此景、此时此刻，你的努力终会有丰厚的报偿。