The world of Tzu Chi December 2020(Vol.129)

“I felt as if I was the only person left in the world. All I needed was air and water. I knew at the next station, I would be able to rest, feed and meet my friends who were waiting for me. Those were the five things that I needed to survive. So why did I always want to have so much in life?” – Fong Yee Leong people and objects, and between people and the mind and soul. A minimalist practice is to have more freedom by having less. Yee Leong was motivated to embrace a minimalist lifestyle three years ago, mainly due to three incidents. Firstly, the information and footages on environmental protection that he saw on social media, such as, a sea turtle with straw up its nostril and a sea of debris and PET bottles; all led him to reflect: Am I one of the causes to environmental pollution? He revealed that he used to perceive carrying a water bottle as a sign of femininity. Hence, he never went out with a water bottle. Considering that he drank about four bottles of mineral water when he was out of town to deliver talks, conduct workshops, and so on, and considering the frequency of about 120 days in a year, that meant he consumed 480 bottles yearly. In reflection, he began to realize the behaviour was excessive. “It was a barrier for me to bring a water bottle, but I overcame it. Those event organizers who know me well know that they don’t have to prepare any drink for me,” related Yee Leong. From environmental protection to minimalism Later, Yee Leong participated in a 30- day minimalism challenge initiated by two Americans, Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus, who left their six-figure corporate careers and jettisoned 90% of their stuffs at home, but found true meaning of life. “The participants are required to get rid of an item on day one, two items on day two, so on and so forth. By day 30, do you think you can find 30 items to discard? It was fun initially, but it got more and more challenging as days passed. In the end, more than 600 items were discarded!” Completing this challenge gave Yee Leong the confidence to practise minimalism. He had a profound realization that we do not actually need much to live. He recalled the eight-day Annapurna climb in Nepal, where he suffered from altitude sickness from the beginning. Despite experiencing fever alternating with chills, vomiting, insomnia and other conditions, he insisted on climbing from morning until night, to avoid dragging TZU CHI 129 23 Decluttering–The Art of Living