No, actually environmentalism does inform my minimalism. They ain't makin' all them shoes Jane referred to for me!Originally Posted by ApatheticNoMore
No, actually environmentalism does inform my minimalism. They ain't makin' all them shoes Jane referred to for me!
Soooooo... not of this sounds "better than?" Come on now. It is time for a little intellectual honesty.No. As I've declared before--plenty of time to be a minimalist when I'm carted off to the home for the feeble and feeble minded.
This is a material world, and I take full advantage of that--so, many pairs of shoes and no hair shirt.
UL, you seem to love to compare your brand of minimalism to others lifestyles for the purpose of making yourself feel good. While you claim to be an atheist, your minimalism has religious overtones. I observe your conversations with female forum members and am not surprised that you seem to shed girlfriends as easily as you rid yourself of silverware. Your minimalism will suit you the minute you realize you don’t have to proselytize about it anymore.
I read that now China is no longer taking our recycling and a third of plastic we put in the recycling bins ends up in the garbage. It’s because it’s been contaminated or not clean enough.
UL, so many threads on minimalism. Do you just dream of new ways to ask the same question? Are you looking for further proof that no one else wants only 100 things so you win?
I've said it before. Compared the average American we are minimalist. Per the actual definition and photos of empty rooms, empty walls, 2 cups/plates/bowls because we have 2 people in our home.....NO we are not.
It also depends on your lifestyle. How many people do you entertain at once?
Nope, not at all. It sounds like it could be rephrased as "currently having fun, and when I can or do no longer, will be different".
A couple quotes about minimalism:
Minimalism isn't just about having less stuff, it is also about having a clear mind and a balanced life. Vanessa Webb
Minimalism isn't about removing things that you love, it is about removing things that distract you from things that you love. Joshua Becker
UL doesn't seem balanced by himself (hence needing to seek a life partner), and I am not sure about a clear mind. He also doesn't realize that some people have things that don't distract them, but is part of experiences they love (her wearing her shoes, etc).
He has been picking on this bone, long before chasing off members.
Yes.
As these two quotes imply, while I certainly don't want to get into piggyback on the Jane-bashing comment re hair shirt, I don't agree that minimalism is necessarily a martyred life to the minimalist cause, or minimalism for the sake of minimalism (which UL may be guilty of). It's really about those two quotes that TMS posted.
For me, my mind is clearer when I have less stuff. I feel more focused, more in balance. This goes for the tsotchkes in the house (I hated all the knick-knacks my mother had all over the place). It also goes for clothes--I have less stress when I have fewer decisions to make with my simplified daily "uniforms." At the same time, I do feel that I am serving a greater purpose (less impact on the environment), but there's really no self-sacrifice there. I can buy myself many things, but don't, mainly because I'm simply not interested. One purse is enough. One pair of shoes is enough. One TV is enough. I break the one-is-enough rule when it comes to books. And in the past I broke it with my Vermont follk art collection of works by Warren Kimble and Stephen Huneck, but I'm over that now.
So no hair shirt here either.
"Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it--every, every minute?" Emily Webb, Our Town
www.silententry.wordpress.com
Those are great quotes, tms. I like stuff. Mostly OLD stuff. I am not a minimalist, and I'm not going to apologize for it. I like simple (think Shaker), but I know myself well enough to know that I would not KEEP things simple. We buy almost nothing new (except groceries and sometimes appliances), although I generally won't buy a second hand mattress or upholstered furniture unless I know where it's been. And we sell a lot of old stuff, also. It's a second stream of income, my "play money". I know several self-proclaimed minimalists and to me, personally, their homes are bleak and ugly, and I think it's pretty stupid that when I'm invited in for coffee, I get a Styrofoam cup because they only own two mugs. A stack of single-use Styrofoam has the same spacial footprint as a 25 cent yard sale mug....and the mug is much less environmentally harmful. I enjoy my stuff, and when I don't, it will go. But for now, I love the connection I feel to the man or woman who turned my big wooden bowls and large spoons - and all the hard-working women who used used them to take care of their families. I like the hand-forged tools, the hand woven cloth, the carefully crafted furniture - but mostly I love the connection I feel, through these objects, to all the nameless, faceless people who lived, worked, loved, and made life as good as they could with what they had. I am grateful to them, and feel that I am honoring them through using and loving the everyday items they made and used. And I am even more grateful for what I have today, without the hard labor faced by common workers in centuries past. My "stuff" does not distract me from what I love, it connects me to it even more firmly.
I like TooMuchStuff's quote as well.
In citing (inciting, apparently) the hair shirt, I was referring to people that make a fetish of their sacrifice/holiness/rejection of culture, et cetera, which few practice here. Though if you could get hair shirts in colors or patterns...oh, wait...
Last edited by JaneV2.0; 12-9-18 at 11:04am.
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