Via Negativa - The Art Of Adding To Your Life By Subtracting From It

[Siim Land]

The phrase via negativa is Latin for “negative way” or “way of denial” that’s used in theological thinking to describe God by explaining what he is not, instead of what he is. When you look at the definition of the phrase outside of a religious context, then it simply means “by a negative way”. Rather than trying to do more and add more stuff, you focus on not doing and subtracting.

This principle can be applied to almost any area of your life. You can use it to remove bad habits, unwanted responsibilities, toxic relationships, unnecessary possessions, your psychic energy and the activities you do. Via negativa is the art of getting rid of all the useless things, activities and people that don’t serve you or your cause. It’s about ruthlessly cutting off everything that’s not of importance.

Check out the video I made about Via Negativa-ing your stuff, habits, people, time and energy.

 

[Epiphany_Inspired]

@Siim Land In theory, I love this, I have been working on this...I need to do more of this..i have way too much material/ mental crap that I am ridiculously attached to!...but for me this may not be the best route...I don't do well with focusing on the "bad/ negative stuff"....for me it might be better to focus on what I DO want, and allow what I don't want to begin to fall away , like a snake shedding it's old skin, and emerging like a fresh phoenix...What do you think? Love the video!

Edited November 18, 2016 by Epiphany_Inspired

[Siim Land]

@Epiphany_Inspired I totally agree with you. You should focus on what you want. The idea behind via negativa is to simply hack away at the unessential, which in turn enables you to concentrate on what's most important to you. It's definitely a shedding of skin of some sorts. Both physical and mental.

[Epiphany_Inspired]

@Siim Land I think I was actually making excuses on some level...I think I just got mixed up by the tittle; for me it roughly translates to "go the negative route", but everything you are saying is wise, and helpful! Even if I got the definition "kind of right", it's just my silly ego being afraid of  the "negative" when that is simply a part of life we need to deal with, and not supress with our desire to have everything be - sunshine and rainbow-unicorns...lol...

As far as physical stuff goes, I'm going bigger...the 6 bags of clothes I gave away (yes, I know that's ridiculous, you don't want to know how much I still have) wasn't enough...I'm selling my first car (kept as a collector), and other BIG crap I don't need...the mental crap is trickier...and intertwined with some of the physical crap...but I'm on both the Negativa and Positiva paths, thanks for sharing!

[Extreme Z7]

This is actually kind of tricky for me. Because right now, my mind is still like "Gather! Collect! Horde!". My room is filled with Junk I don't need or even want. Maybe I should consider throwing some stuff away at some point.

Edited November 22, 2016 by Extreme Z7

[hedge]

3 thoughts:

0 - I have 3 post its that tell me to declutter my physical space, my finances and thoughts. The 1st 2 are easiest and that's what made it motivating to deal with.

1 - I used to collect ... well it really doesn't matter what it was. Along with it came the guilt. When I removed it from my life, there was also less guilt. 

2 - I want to declutter my personal development consumption. I have an imbalance between consuming more and taking action. 

[Siim Land]

@Epiphany_Inspired Yes, the idea is to add to your life through subtraction. You go through via negativa to reach a more positive state. 6 bags? That's quite a lot

@Extreme Z7 Ye, the thing is we will not notice all of our stuff anymore. They're just being there and decluttering our space. We should all have a decent and thorough cleaning every once in a while.

 

1 hour ago, hedge said:

I want to declutter my personal development consumption.

@hedge This is so true. We tend to fall into the trap of gathering too much without ever using the knowledge we've gained. It doesn't matter how much we learn if we never act upon it. Being proactive is all about acting or being acted upon.

[Loreena]

@Siim Land This is great. I will implement this. Waiting for more. 

Whats the name of your channel ?