Minimalism on Diane Rehm tmorrow

[iris lilies]

NPR's Diane Rehm covers minimalist lifestyle on her radio show tomorrow.

[Ultralight]

Cool!!!!!!!!!!

[Rogar]

I will have to see if I can find the podcast. Must be a hot topic, as the NYT just had an article on minimalism. It's titled, The Oppressive Gospel of Minimalism, so offeres a different view of minimalism.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/31/magazine/the-oppressive-gospel-of-minimalism.html

[Ultralight]

I definitely think minimalism's heyday has come and gone.

[Ultralight]

Excellent comments in that NYT article! Enjoy:

"Wow. 'A writer living in Brooklyn." Now THERE are spectacular credentials for telling us all what to think and how to live. Oh, the Authority!"

"So by choosing to use my limited disposable income wisely, and not fill my modest apartment with crap I don't need, I am now in league with an oppressive movement which marginalizes the poor? Right. Makes total sense."

"I'm s mimlst I rrly s vwls"

[JaneV2.0]

I will have to see if I can find the podcast. Must be a hot topic, as the NYT just had an article on minimalism. It's titled, The Oppressive Gospel of Minimalism, so offeres a different view of minimalism.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/31/magazine/the-oppressive-gospel-of-minimalism.html

Thank you for this article!
My aesthetic has always been that of a quilter: pattern upon pattern upon pattern. Minimalism holds no attraction for me. White walls and succulents--ha!

[Ultralight]

Bump

[Teacher Terry]

I think there is a happy medium between a cluttered house and everything bare and sterile. Also I have found that if you live in too small a space with more then 1 person it can be much harder to keep neat/clean then if your space is a little bigger. That hits home every time we take our 27 ft RV on a trip with 4 dogs and 2 people. It starts out all neat and organized and within a week is dissolved into chaos. The 2 of us have lived in smaller and bigger and right now we are in the perfect spot at 1400 sq ft. If a place is too bare it actually makes me uncomfortable and the opposite of calm. I like some things, decorations but if you get to many the eye has no place to focus but is merely going from one object to the next, etc. As in most things in life balance is better for me.

[Ultralight]

I feel like minimalism is balanced. At least for me it is.

I mean think about it:

I have a bicycle, a car, my fishing pole/tackle/waders, and so on.

Besides, who was it that once said?:

"I have the largest collection of seashells. I store and display them on beaches all over the world. Maybe you've seen some of them."

[Teacher Terry]

I think the balance is going to be different for everyone.

[Ultralight]

I think the balance is going to be different for everyone.

That what is imbalance?

[Teacher Terry]

Either extreme.

[Chicken lady]

Actually, I don't think imbalance is any particular point on the continuum. I think imbalance is when the amount of stuff you have is overwhelming and damaging to your enjoyment of life or when you have so little that your needs are unmet, your environment feels cold and sterile, or your longing for things is damaging to your enjoyment of life. I think there are many points on the continuum where UA would be experiencing the first case and i, with the same amount of stuff, would be experiencing the second, while for another person, it might be perfect balance.

[Ultralight]

Either extreme.

What is "extreme minimalism?" Is my 170 things "extreme?"

[Ultralight]

Actually, I don't think imbalance is any particular point on the continuum. I think imbalance is when the amount of stuff you have is overwhelming and damaging to your enjoyment of life or when you have so little that your needs are unmet, your environment feels cold and sterile, or your longing for things is damaging to your enjoyment of life. I think there are many points on the continuum where UA would be experiencing the first case and i, with the same amount of stuff, would be experiencing the second, while for another person, it might be perfect balance.

How can a person know they are overwhelmed? What if if does not seem to register emotionally or intellectually that they are overwhelmed?

I think humans have few needs, especially when you think of a typical American lifestyle. But I think our obsession with stuff smothers some of the few needs we do have!

[Lainey]

How can a person know they are overwhelmed? What if if does not seem to register emotionally or intellectually that they are overwhelmed?


This is why it's good to get away from home and travel, visit friends, stay in different hotels, etc. Then you can compare how you really feel in each environment.

I had a friend who said it was a revelation to him after he left home to stay in places where every surface was not completely covered with something. His family home was loving but completely cluttered (not hoarder-level.) So because that's how he grew up he didn't realize how much it grated on him until he was living in a much simpler, open space.

[Chicken lady]

I think most people who are overwhelmed know it, they may just not accurately identify the situation or cause - of you are emotionally or intellectually numb, that is generally a sign of physiological damage or deficit, chemical imbalance (including drug use) or of overwhelming of some sort. You can be overwhelmed by need as well as excess.

I am definitely overwhelmed - I think I have identified some of the causes (not all causes are tangible) and I'm working on adjusting them. As I go along and make further adjustments it is quite possible I will discover that I am adjusting the wrong things. Balance is a journey (you may one day discover you are happier with 182 things, as long as they are the correct things)