The Philosophy of Living a Simple Life

By Mao Li

A friend of mine living in New York with his Japanese wife invited me to his home for dinner. I headed for his deluxe apartment after buying a bottle of wine at a nearby wine shop. On the way, I recalled the moment many years ago when he expressed his delight at his first meeting with his wife, “How nice Japanese girls are! She even cooked a takeout meal for me.”

After I rang the doorbell, the couple appeared and welcomed me in. I was surprised at what I saw in the living room, which covered an area of around 50 square meters. A set of brownish sofa and a small coffee table were the only furniture. There was almost nothing set on the table, nor any throw pillows on the sofa. A cat bowl stood in the corner.

I said, in curiosity, “There are very few things in your home.” He responded with a smile, “It’s my wife’s lifestyle. Or house cleaning would be too hard for her…”

Truly, I was convinced at that moment.

Here comes the difference between Minimalism and “Disposalism.” The latter means disposal of household items one after another, while the former means fewer possessions in the first place.

A simple way of life can be defined as follows: six suits of clothes for the whole year’s wear; a bottle of cleanser and a towel in the bathroom; a set of bowls and plates and a coffee pot for each person in the kitchen; a cellphone and computer connected to the internet.

A picture of Steve Jobs, a minimalist, shows that he sits on the living-room floor by himself. It goes, “I was single then so what I needed was just a cup of tea, a lamp, and a stereo. As you know, those were all my possessions.”

I had never admired this lifestyle before because I owned almost nothing then. In my mind, a good life was based on a comfortable sofa, a floor lamp, a coffee table with a cup of hot tea, and a large built-in bookcase covering the entire wall.

After years of hard work, I have what I desired. Besides this, I have a cloakroom where I cram my clothes—enough for ten years’ use.

Eventually, my dream-lifestyle was a reality; however, I have found my happiest times are when I go on my occasional vacations with a small case—which offers a free and casual lifestyle that I prefer. In my suitcase, I pack a pair of sports shoes, sneakers, and flip-flops, two long pants, three jackets, and a couple of books. All these things make good partners for a one-week travel session. My hotel rooms are clean and well organized, without clutter on the tables or jumbled clothes on the f loor as in my house.

(1)在偏好表達上 文獻[9]研究了得分偏好信息下的雙邊匹配問題，文獻[12]考慮了語言偏好信息下的雙邊匹配問題，二者均未考慮匹配主體的心理行為因素。本文針對具有得分和語言兩種形式偏好信息的雙邊匹配問題，考慮了匹配主體的心理行為因素，提出一種基于前景理論的雙邊匹配方法。與文獻[9，12]的方法相比，一方面本文將基于單一形式偏好信息的雙邊匹配模型拓展到多種形式情形，發(fā)展和完善了雙邊匹配理論；另一方面在實際匹配決策中，匹配主體是有限理性的，即匹配主體并非總是追求效用最大化，而表現(xiàn)為參照依賴和損失規(guī)避等，本文通過引入前景理論來描述匹配主體的心理行為，更加符合實際匹配情況。

People at home collect things—and their possessions grow more and more as time goes by. By contrast, travelers would disown desires during trips as they save troubles by taking fewer things along.

If I get a new dress for myself during the trip, I will get rid of an old one. A female’s constant consumption is actually all about satisfying their imagination.

Many friends of mine would regularly make a wish list of what to purchase item by item—a temptation to people around them: you should get a coat like this and a lipstick like that.

Once your need is satisfied, however, you will realize your spiritual emptiness is an abyss which cannot be filled with purchases. Endless buying will only prove that you are never happy with yourself, and you’ll always want to make more changes.

In fact, money should be used on exercise and mental nurturing.

A minimalist must gather enough inner power to resist the temptations from outside. A mere thought of the happiness of minimalism can seize me instantly like a storm, driving away all my desires.

(From Life Daily. Translation: Wang Wen)

簡單是一種境界

文/毛利

久居紐約的朋友娶了日本太太，盛情邀請我去他家吃飯。我在附近的酒行隨手拎了瓶酒，朝那棟豪華公寓走去。回想起多年前，朋友初識他夫人時，兩眼放光地說：日本女人竟然這么會照顧人，她還給我做了便當。

按響門鈴后，夫婦倆笑臉盈盈地在門口迎接。我進門，嚇了一跳：四五十平方米的客廳里，竟然只有一套灰色沙發(fā)和一個茶幾。茶幾上沒有擺放任何東西，沙發(fā)上甚至沒有靠墊。地上放著一個貓糧碗。

開始我以為朋友是新搬過來的，還沒來得及添置。后來他告訴我，已經(jīng)住了一年多。我一再環(huán)視，發(fā)現(xiàn)他家連一點點裝修的意圖都沒有。美國人喜歡在墻上掛畫、掛照片，他家的墻上卻空無一物。朋友拉我去陽臺，說：“這里可以看帝國大廈。”比起輝煌的帝國大廈，我更驚訝的是，眼里滿是紐約的繁華，腳下卻只有一個空蕩蕩的陽臺。

我忍不住說：“你家東西好少?！迸笥研α?，說：“太太不讓買，她說收拾起來太麻煩?！?/p>

不得不承認，我瞬間被折服了。

極簡主義和斷舍離還不太一樣。斷舍離是要讓人一件一件扔掉原來的東西，極簡主義說的是，你一開始就不該擁有這么多。

簡單生活這樣定義簡單：6套衣褲穿一年；浴室，一罐洗潔精、一條毛巾；廚房，一人份碗盤、咖啡壺；只要有手機、電腦，就能與世界連接。

極簡主義愛好者喬布斯有一張照片，一人坐在空蕩蕩的客廳地板上。他這么解釋：我當時單身，所需的只是一杯茶、一盞燈、一套音響，如你所知，這就是我的全部身家。

要是在以前，我可不羨慕這樣的生活。那時候，我一無所有，總覺得美好的人生應(yīng)該擁有一張頂舒服的沙發(fā)、一盞落地燈、放著一杯茶的茶幾和整面墻的書柜。

好了，歲月荏苒，這些東西我都有了，除此之外，我還有個衣帽間，里面滿滿當當塞著10年都穿不完的衣服。

終于進入理想生活后，我最開心的日子，居然是提著一只小行李箱，偶爾去別的地方度假。我太喜歡不需要挑選的生活了。箱子里通常只有一雙球鞋、一雙單鞋、一雙人字拖、兩條褲子、三件上衣，再加上兩三本書，這些足夠我清爽地生活一個星期。最棒的是，酒店房間干凈整潔，沒有我家書桌上亂攤的雜物，地板上也沒有東一件西一件的衣服。

家里的東西是會繁殖的，它們只會越來越多。而在旅途中，人常常因為顧慮，不能帶得太多，也就放棄那么多的渴望。

如果旅行時我添置一件衣服，就必須扔掉帶去的另一件衣服。女人在不停買買買的時候，其實是在購買自己的想象。

我的不少朋友會定期列出欲望清單，把想買的東西一樣樣羅列出來，誘惑所有人：你該擁有這樣的大衣，該擁有那樣的口紅。

可你買回來就知道，空虛這東西是實打?qū)嵉模皇菐讉€物件就可以填滿。無盡的購買只證明一件事，我對外在的自己永遠不滿意，永遠想多一些改變。

實際上，這些錢，早就應(yīng)該花在真正的身體鍛煉和真正的精神補給上。

一個奉行極簡主義的人，一定有著別人不能摧毀的強大內(nèi)核。光是想到這一點，它就迅速征服了我，猶如一股強臺風，吹走所有欲望。