Minimalism
I bought a Chromebook yesterday. The Acer C720 which was the one for $179. I love it. Specifically I love it because it is the perfect computer for a minimalist. When I say minimalist, you might think of a few different things. I think every minimalist is actually their own unique thing. My flavor of minimalism is the following:
- own only what is useful, beautiful or meaningful to me/my family
- buy the best quality for the best price (good things don’t have to be outrageously expensive)
- use multi-purpose utensils, furniture, clothing, etc. (I wish more people would create lists of these type of things that they have found)
- when you buy/get something new, you have to let go of something
old/unused - get as close to nature as you can with all you use/buy/consume, but don’t think you have to get rid of all technology to be a minimalist
I think an important part of minimalism is the virtue of Temperance. Specifically, the correct use of temperance which you can find explained in the book Mere Christianity: “Temperance refers not specially to drink, but to all pleasures; and it means not abstaining, but going the right length and no further.” - C. S. Lewis He goes on to say this as well, which I think is very important: “One of the marks of a certain type of bad man is that he cannot give up a thing himself without wanting everyone else to give it up. That is not the Christian way. An individual Christian may see fit to give up all sorts of things for special reasons – marriage or meat, or beer, or the cinema; but the moment he starts saying the things are bad in themselves, or looking down his nose at other people who do use them, he has taken the wrong turning.”
Thus, every minimalist is a unique kind of minimalist, because this lifestyle of simplicity is a soul-journey for each person. You can’t generalize the lifestyle except for giving general honest definitions/guidelines for concepts such as “simplicity,” “temperance,” “value,” “usefulness,” “de-cluttering,” “quality,” “meaningful,” etc.
So, a Chromebook, for me, is perfect because it helps me with my journey toward a meaningful, useful, productive, beautiful, simple, temperate, affordable and clutter-free lifestyle.