Lately, I have found "dis-orientation" among people about minimalism. One of the barriers for early-stage minimalist or just people who are interested in it is prejudice that can be formulated like that: minimalism is one of the forms of asceticism.
Apart from the fact that it is a complete lie, minimalism is almost opposite to asceticism. Why if minimalism means having less things to develop yourself? Well, it is just partially true: you getting rid of useless things, the ones that are like a millstone around your neck. Moreover, you leave only the best with you - best in terms of quality, type, appearance, etc. As a result, we have a person who is living among the best what he/she has, a person who is far from shitty things...and people.
So, don't let you (or others) to fool yourself. As from my personal experience, I can call minimalism a tool for an easier self-development.