I’m pulling some popular posts from my archives this week and I have a new post up at Life Your Way: Why Simple Is So Much Work.
This post caused quite a splash when it was first published in November of 2010. A few radical minimalist writers took exception to it and there was a good debate in the comments section. You can read the original post here. Note: I have edited this post from its original version
A few weeks ago I met up with some friends I hadn’t seen in a while. As we hugged and greeted and caught up the subject of this little blog came up. A friend asked for more information and another friend replied, ‘she’s getting rid of everything she owns.’ I laughed it off.
We’re taking our last load of items for donation today. Last load for a while anyways. When I look around I like what I see and what I see is not a bare home. Lots of DVDs on the shelf still after selling about a third of our collection. A small book collection, mostly Chris’s. Framed wedding photos, a few of me in my athlete days, a couple of us traveling in France and Italy. Two, instead of four, wine crates with about 20 bottles of B.C. wine. A china cabinet, couch, love seat, ottoman, side table. A few lamps. We’re still sitting at a table for dinner. I haven’t gone so far as to say all meals will be eaten on the floor.
For the hardcore I’m not minimalist, I’ve just cleaned house. I’m fine with that. The living with 100 things movement is interesting, shocking and news worthy. The deciding to live a life with a lot less stuff isn’t nearly as sexy or easy to define. But I would argue my version of minimalism, minimalism for the masses, is much more accessible, attainable and has the possibility of changing a lot more of lives.
We’re not all going to sell our possessions and live in South America out of a backpack while earning a small income from an online business. That is a great dream for some but the reality is that most First Worlders won’t do that. They don’t want to.
Location independence and living with just 100 things isn’t for everyone.
For the rest of us living with less needs to be more attainable, accessible and understandable. The leap of logic from two cars, a 2500 sq ft home and loads of stuff to leaving it all behind is a huge one. Too huge for most people.
If you want to change the world advocate for change that everyone can get behind.
Instead of encouraging 10,000 people to live with 95% less why not encourage 300 million people to live with 20% less. Show the masses that with more thought at the register, less shopping as a hobby, more time with family, fewer rooms to clean and upkeep and collect clutter in a smaller home, they can all live a better life.
A more engaged life.
A life with less stress, debt, fast food and waste.
A better life through small change.
LOVE this post. Especially this sentence: “Instead of encouraging 10,000 people to live with 95% less why not encourage 300 million people to live with 20% less.”
Personally, I get sort of tired of all the gimmicks and crazy schemes that make for interesting blogs and discussions, but aren’t terribly helpful when it comes to living a real life. I’m just not into counting my belongings, or swearing off ALL plastic, or refusing to buy anything new (except for all the exceptions) or beating myself up for every little piece of trash I create, or not eating anything that wasn’t produced within 100 miles of my home, or any of the other myriad of other “one trick pony” solutions to our environmental & consumerist conundrums. I mean, I suppose those things are somewhat interesting, and they do serve to illustrate a point, but they always seem to come with a significant holier than thou attitude attached to them, which I find quite tiresome.
It just seems like we’d get a whole lot further if we tried to acknowledge that everybody is different and we all have different priorities, interests, pet peeves etc. After all, the point isn’t to see who can be the most extreme, the point is to find a way for all of us to live happier, healthier and less stressful lives.
Totally! Two things I love to preach. 1. Better is better! If you can declutter 20%, 40%, or even 5% that’s great. Movement in the right direction is more important than how much progress you’ve made at first go. 2. Vote with dollars. If you want to see change really support companies and bloggers who share the same values and ideas.
I remember reading this when you first wrote it and nodding in agreement. I still agree almost 2 years later. I aim for a happy, easy, clutter-free life. I think there’s a point in minimalism when not having things makes you unhappy. The trick for me is to find the sweet spot just before the lifestyle choice goes from happy-to-be-clutter-free to miserable-with-all-this-granola 🙂
When I saw the picture of the tiny house, I was like, YES! But it appears it was just to illustrate your point that most people won’t do that. We couldn’t live in one right now, but one of our goals is to get rid of enough stuff to be able to fit in a tiny house with our toddler. I seriously think we could make it work in under 500 square feet of living space.
But, as to your suggestion for the general public to just reduce a bit, I’m on board with that too.
Thanks to you Rachel and your articles, blog postings, and down to earth attitude – I too have culled, simplified, and feel much better about my life without all the luggage I was dragging around. I may not be the “extreme” minimalist or have a particular number of things (besides, who decided “100” was the magic number?) – being able to life with less, enjoy what I have, and not be tied to wanting more or fall into the consumer trap of shopping as a hobby or therapy – Phew! It took me a while, but I’m here. And so grateful!