Minimalist to unbusy

Bismillah...

I like minimalist lifestyle so so much.. that I hope everyone around me practise the same. I secretly hope my mom practise minimalist, able to see the beauty in less, but maybe not, as she was long enough to live in a house like a museum, and I can sense that whenever she comes to my house I know she have this itchiness to decorate my house so that it become like 'a normal proper house'. Hahaa.. thank you Mama, I love you so much.

I think I began to love this minimalism lifestyle because of you, Mom. I was form4 at that time, and mostly every Saturday, I have to wake up (you woke me up) early in the morning just to wipe all the frames that are hanging on the wall. Why la why, huhuu? And few days before raya is alway days full of tense due to cleaning up the house, ironing the old curtains, changing the sofa cases, this and that, where I just want to sit or sleep, and enjoy my few last days of fast with doing nothing. And I did asked mom why we have to do all these, and she replied, "Nanti orang nak datang, takkan rumah nak sepah." Yup.. when you do thing for other people. But Alhamdullillah Mama, you teaches me a lot of things, one of them is not to become like you, and Alhamdullillah.

So, I guess being minimalist is natural to me. I never like to have so many things. During my uni year, where I changed room like every semester, I have a very little things, a suitcase with half of them is my bajus and half of them is my books. One pillow, and a blanky. A bagpack, containing my laptop (thanks papa for giving me a small computer compares to other students who have huge hunk of computer's set - it was 1998 ya..) and my notes, and if I have to leave the room immediately, I can leave within 10min of packing. I even leave the wall empty (you know some put their timetable, notes, pictures, birthday cards etc) as I don't like anything on wall except for a wall clock (still doing this to my current house).

And then as I grew older, with so much things had happen to me, it makes me realise more that this life is temporary, and fragile. We tend to put so much energy on something that is not worth for - eg. you furnished your house beautifully, and is might damage in a second due to caught in fire, or you put lots of effort on work, but with this fluctuant economy, you might get fired just like that. Not that we can't beautify our house or work hard, but not too much on it - thats what it meant by minimalism.  Nothing is permanent in this life, nothing - except for Allah swt.. He supply the energy, so the energy must return back to Him.

Dan (ingatlah) Aku tidak menciptakan jin dan manusia melainkan untuk mereka menyembah dan beribadat kepadaKu. I have only created Jinns and men, that they may serve Me.(Adz-Dzaariyaat 51:56)

What is important is to serve Him--- Read our "life manual" daily, learn the Book by heart and practise it in life. That's it.

Living minimalism also lead me to choose an un-busy lifestyle. This year, insyaAllah, I will accept only maximum 7 carriers to be sewn every month, with just enough profits to support my education fees (rabata, tmeag, alhuda and qalamconnect) and do some charity. Alhamdulillah. I will say NO to unrelated carrier sewing, like minta tolong jahit kain langsir, sarung bantal, sarung buku.. etc. I will also have to say NO to group gathering, school/uni reunion, invitation to un-related whatsapps group, and such, insyaAllah.

Time is very precious. In fact, there truly is no such thing as “free time”. My time with my children is sacred, just as my time with my family and my husband are. Minimalism also means that I have very few friends, intentionally. A few very good friends that lift me up when I'm down and motivate me in what I am doing. I want to spend time by learning the Deen, reading more good books, writing, and enjoy moment with my family.

Because I live with less, I leave room in my life, my heart, and my day for the things that truly matter.
May Allah swt bless and make it easy.

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May this sharing brings benefits.

Salam alaik.