Article: How to Stick With Minimalism During the Holiday Shopping Season

[kib]

. . . going overboard with minimalism when you don't have to by financial necessity can be every bit as obsessive and idealistic as being a hoarder. I'm not sure if that's what Jane means, but I've been considering that idea as I careen through life between obsessive "gathering" and obsessive purging, making a religion out of whichever one fits my compulsion of the moment. Sometimes I think being unconcerned about it would be a lot easier and more natural than being so focused on stuff / anti-stuff.

[Ultralight]

. . . going overboard with minimalism when you don't have to by financial necessity can be every bit as obsessive and fetishistic as being a hoarder.

But what does this look like? Describe it.

[iris lilies]

. . . going overboard with minimalism when you don't have to by financial necessity can be every bit as obsessive and fetishistic as being a hoarder. I'm not sure if that's what Jane means, but I've been considering that idea as I careen through life between obsessive "gathering" and obsessive purging, making a religion out of whichever one fits my compulsion of the moment. Sometimes I think being unconcerned about it would be a lot easier and more natural than being so focused on stuff / anti-stuff.

There's nothing wrong with gathering and then purging.

I do that as my life interests change.

It drives DH crazy, he gets anxious thinking of all of the stuff that I get rid of after having it for a while. He is a borderline hoarder. I am not. I see things as serving me, I don't serve them. I am master, they are slave. Only the truly old things give me pause when I am jettisoning stuff and I try to keep them out of the landfill. I am haunted by two iron pans I pitched some years ago. And then DH reminded me last week that we did find, in the roach ridden hoard of crap in the last tiny house we bought, a cast iron dutch oven exactly like the one I now covet. I am sad that it went into a dumpster, but at the time I just wasn't prepared to scrub layers of rust and debris from it.

I am still haunted by the deco vanity dresser I left sitting in the alley. I didn't put it there, but neither did I remove it. Sure it was missing a center drawer, but a fix for that can be adapted. So I guess I can see how some hoarders ascribe personality to stuff. For me, a piece of furniture with personality (by definition, nothing made after 1980 unless it is high end stuff) gives me pause when passing it in the alley.
NOw, we have a great outlet for that sort of thing, an annual sale we can donate to.

[rodeosweetheart]

Simple living, in itself, is not elitist. Poor people practice it all the time without making a fetish of it. It's the middle class version of it that rankles, complete with the usual judging and finding fault with people who aren't sufficiently on board.

+100

[catherine]

Can you expand?

I don't think simple living is elitist at all. Simple living is a "meta-lifestyle."

I had an awesome philosophy professor in college, and this was back during the early 70s hippie days--she definitely leaned in that direction (In my mind, proof of that was in her unshaven armpits). But even so, she used to take off on John Lennon's line, "Imagine no possessions. It's easy if you're rich."

So, yes, there can be smugness in waving the simple living/minimalist flag. My MIL was a model simple liver but that was just how she lived--she didn't wear it like a brand.

[Williamsmith]

I have an idea most self declared 21st century minimalists are not minimalists at all, in fact the evidence is they are probably hoarding more things than they are getting rid of. They are probably making life more complicated than before by digitally hoarding. Show me a minimalist without an iPad or a computer and I will show you a true minimalist. All others are merely imposters or hypocrits.

[Ultralight]

I had an awesome philosophy professor in college, and this was back during the early 70s hippie days--she definitely leaned in that direction (In my mind, proof of that was in her unshaven armpits). But even so, she used to take off on John Lennon's line, "Imagine no possessions. It's easy if you're rich."

So, yes, there can be smugness in waving the simple living/minimalist flag. My MIL was a model simple liver but that was just how she lived--she didn't wear it like a brand.

I prefer the original lyric:

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

But I am not a fan of John Lennon's music really, or that of The Beatles. I am more a Wings guy, myself.

Give me an example of two of people who wear simple living as a brand.

[Ultralight]

I have an idea most self declared 21st century minimalists are not minimalists at all, in fact the evidence is they are probably hoarding more things than they are getting rid of. They are probably making life more complicated than before by digitally hoarding. Show me a minimalist without an iPad or a computer and I will show you a true minimalist. All others are merely imposters or hypocrits.

I have a laptop, but no cell/smart phone -- just a homephone. Am I still in the impostor camp? Am I a hypocrite? haha

Digital hoarding is a real problem for some people. I have been strategic about avoiding it, but I just dislike clutter so that has not been a challenge. I am also a luddite, so that helps.

[catherine]

I prefer the original lyric:

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

But I am not a fan of John Lennon's music really, or that of The Beatles. I am more a Wings guy, myself.

Give me an example of two of people who wear simple living as a brand.

Her point was this: here was John Lennon sitting in his penthouse having a Bed-In, driving around in his Rolls Royce telling people that utopia is no possessions… try telling that to people who have nothing.

Now, I LOVE John Lennon, and right now, I'm looking at a badge on my "inspiration wall" that says "You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one." But that's not the point.

I can't point to any 2 people in particular offhand, although I can safely say that the two "The Minimalists" authors have branded themselves with the lifestyle.

[Ultralight]

Her point was this: here was John Lennon sitting in his penthouse having a Bed-In, driving around in his Rolls Royce telling people that utopia is no possessions… try telling that to people who have nothing.

Now, I LOVE John Lennon, and right now, I'm looking at a badge on my "inspiration wall" that says "You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one." But that's not the point.

I can't point to any 2 people in particular offhand, although I can safely say that the two "The Minimalists" authors have branded themselves with the lifestyle.

Do you think Millburn and Nicodemous are frauds?