When I first began reading and learning about minimalism, I realized that minimalism is subjective (more on this later, but it's a good start to present the story). When I moved from the two bedroom apartment I shared with my brother into a small, one bedroom flat, I took every thing I owned singularly. Perhaps to make up for the large amount of objects that would soon be deemed superfluous, when I divided the things we owned jointly, such as kitchenware, I took only one of each. One fork, one spoon, one knife, one pan, one bowl, etc. One was just enough; two seemed depressing; three or four seemed excessive.
I have two close friends that I occasionally invite over for dinner. After a couple occasional dinners, it became time to reevaluate the lack. Tonight, I purchased additional forks (3), and a spoon and knife for myself. Necessary became more, more became necessary. Does this make me a bad minimalist? I do not think so. To me, minimalism is about learning what is necessary for my life, and allowing it to be guided by what is important, even if this means I have three forks in my cupboard instead of one.
