Minimalism. It is a term that has become much more popular in recent years with a number of blogs and more than a few books devoted to the topic. Many people are discovering that the dream they have been sold - that of ever-increasing affluence, unbridled consumerism, and the 50-year corporate 9-5 grind - is at best an elusive fantasy and at worst a nightmare from which there seems to be no escape. Minimalism, many people find, is the solution to the puzzle.