Minimalism hmmm...

kellibee2000 wrote: »

I've recently become interested in minimalism as a mindset for emotional, environmental, physical & financial health. Many mindfulness resources mention only having what you need & love, taking care of yourself & your environment, that are minimalist principles. Are you into it? What is your experience pairing down & focusing on the more simple things in life?

I feel like minimalism advocates give it a lot of attributes that aren't really inherent in minimalism itself, and some even present it as some kind of moral imperative, as if it were inherently more pure and decent to be minimalist. Presumed superiority is never pretty, y'know?

Over a lifetime, people tend to acquire some stuff. How much of it to keep is pretty individual and situational. Deciding to keep more of it doesn't necessarily mean one is not taking care of oneself, or that one is not focusing on the more simple things in life.

It would be the psychological attachment to or detachment from the things that matters more to mental state, I would think? Sure, someone who's constantly chasing acquiring more stuff, thinking the stuff will fill some hole in their lives (or at least detract from the holes) . . . that could be a problem.

I also question that "better for the environment" idea, too. If someone does buy things, get rid of them, rebuy new later when needed, that's worse for the environment than hauling it out of the back of the closet and using it again, I would think?

You're probably gathering that minimalism is not my jam. I'd say I'd even been a minimalist-enabler for more minimalist friends, at times: Sure, I'll lend you my folding card table, event-sized coffee percolator, giant water-bath canning kettle, power sander, blah blah blah . . . many of which I didn't buy, I inherited.

I do get fractious when other people tell me how I will think/feel/behave if I would just follow their preferred lifestyle, that it will improve my quality of life. I'm pretty sure I know more about what I want and how I feel than they do: It's one of my few areas of total expertise, actually.

If someone else prefers to be minimalist, and feels better doing so, yay them. You be you. But I appreciate it when they show me the same courtesy.

Please note: I'm not advocating wild, wasteful unfettered consumerism here. Not even close.

A particular self-considered minimalist friend of mine owns one, maybe two sets of towels. They need to be perfect, pristine (her view), and they also need to be washed in tiny batches often. She discards and buys new if they start getting a little worn looking. Me, I've got close to every towel I've owned in my adult life, a biiig stack. The pristine ones come out for company, and last a long time because of rare use. The raggy ones with strings hanging off the sides do fine for me in between. When they stop being towels, because too worn to be functional, they're rags for a while, and then I toss them with gratitude for their long service (decades!). Every once in a while, I wash a big, efficient batch of towels. I doubt that I've bought more towels in my life than my minimalist friend has. I'm not convinced I use more water/power laundering mine. It's just different.

shaumom wrote: »

I think one of the things that I think about, when minimalism is brought up, is how much class is involved in this.

There is a kind of difference between 'I have a lot of stuff I buy just because it's fun, I like it, I want it' and 'I KEEP a lot of stuff because I literally can't afford to buy a new X if I need one later.'

So paring down what we own that is unnecessary and just taking up mental and physical space and energy? Or one has enough money they COULD buy a new item years from now if they some day actually need it instead of want it? I am all for that. I think that can be very mentally and emotionally positive. I think it can help cut down on a lot of waste and wasted space.

But paring down what stuff we have just to have less stuff, period? That I sometimes don't necessarily agree with, because for a lot of folks, they have clutter because if they own something now, and it's something that CAN be a necessity eventually, and they don't have the money to get a new one? And it WILL matter, if you need it? Then you keep that old one so that if you need it, you've got it.

I guess I kind of think that people have to have a certain level of financial security before they get to experiment with minimalism.

Or, well, they have such intense poverty that you get to experiment with it whether you like it or not, but everyone I know who grew up that way is absolutely NOT minimalist as adults. They don't spend as, hmm, wastefully, as some folks, might be the way to put it? But they still get things they like and want that are frivolous or take up space unnecessarily, etc... They just...I guess I think they seem to enjoy them more, and get more out of them, because they really appreciate them, if that makes sense?

They don't need the act of cutting down on things to really enjoy what they have, because that's already happened to them in their lives, i think.

I see this argument come up sometimes and I think it's a misrepresentation. Poor people can benefit from minimalism too. The more stuff you have, the more space you need to store it in, which increases housing costs, which costs more than almost anything. Also, if you have an unstable housing situation due to poverty, which most poor people do, owning a bunch of stuff just creates an additional complication if you need to move quickly or end up temporarily homeless. And if you need money now, perhaps you could even sell some of your unused stuff to get money (depending on what it is). I have a relative who has been in this situation for years, having hoarder tendencies and being very attached to stuff but also living in poverty, and it's helped to perpetuate the cycle of poverty that they refuse to live in a small room in an apartment with roommates because of how much stuff they have, and during times when they ended up homeless it was a big source of stress and trauma what to do with their stuff and their stuff getting thrown out, etc.

I used to think that I wanted to be more minimalist - but now I realize I just want my home to have a minimalist aesthetic. So no clutter and "stuff" I don't need. But I realize I could never be considered an actual minimalist, it doesn't fit my lifestyle.
I own two homes and one of them is on a lake so I have like 8 boats (kayaks, canoe's, peddle boat, fishing boat, seadoo etc), as well as ATV's and mountain bikes. Not sure what I would do all summer if I didn't have them anymore. I like my various toys, I worked hard for them, I use them all, and my family (grown children) gather together often for weekends and holidays to enjoy them together. I for one would definitely not be happier if got rid of all my stuff, and downsized to one small home.
Non minimalist doesn't necessarily = junk collector/hoarder - which is what I think a lot of people believe.

I'm definitely not a minimalist nor do I have any interest in being one. I grew up pretty minimalist in terms of possessions as well as experiences like travel out of necessity because my family was pretty poor, so basically been there and done that.

That said, I wouldn't say we are out of control consumers either. We have everything we absolutely need as well as most wants, but we're not frivolous about it. We don't buy new cars every 4-5 years...we typically buy used with low mileage and we drive them for 8-10 years. We don't buy a new TV just because...we replace it when it's broken or obsolete...things like that. Most of what we have gets used on the regular and we do an annual spring purge of things that have been moved into the garage or the shed or otherwise "decommissioned" and just sitting in a closet somewhere.

I would say my wife and I ARE big consumers of experiences. Growing up, something like a family vacation was basically folklore because my parents just didn't have the money for such things and for my early childhood, they primarily worked hourly type jobs where time off meant loss of income because there was no paid vacation or leave. Growing up, "vacation" was generally a long weekend camping trip once per year in the summer and travel to my grandparents home for Christmas. We didn't take our first true family vacation with hotel and all that kind of stuff until the summer after I graduated high school and it was the only true family vacation we ever took.

I think that's one of the big reasons I'm so into traveling and going places and seeing and doing things and giving those experiences to my kids but we mostly avoid the sort of typical "Disney" type trip. In a given year I make sure we have one big family vacation that is at least 10 days and we try to travel internationally at least every 3 years or so...doesn't always work out, but my kids have been to the UK, Colombia SA, Mexico, Tanzania, and this coming summer we will be going to South Africa and then Botswana. The in between years are domestic travels that range from flying to Miami and then road tripping through the Keys to epic desert road trips like we took for Spring Break of 2022.

We also try to get out and go somewhere for a long weekend at least every 2-3 months...this past October for fall break we took a nice little road trip from ABQ to Las Cruces to City of Rocks and then Silver City and looped back home through the Gila Mountains which is in my top 5 most epic drives I've ever done. If I don't get out every few months or so I start getting pretty antsy. It is safe to say that 2020 was pretty brutal for me in that regard because I couldn't go anywhere. We also have a small camping trailer and we camp several times per year in season.