Discussion on:

Becoming minimalist: when having fewer possessions means living a better life

I'm sorry, when it comes to books, that's where I have to draw the line. You can never have too many books!

the whole article is one of those big loads of BS that people put out in an effort to show how good they are compared to the rest of us knownothings. bah humbug
the writer isn't any better, he just goes without and glorifiess himself as to how he has sacrificint for the greater good. it really is ' a tale told by an idiot, signifying nothing'

Eh- I can see your point, but personally being forced to be "minimalist" due to the economy, lost work, house, and move to another state- and I see it as just a new experience that really gets you to think. It's not better than, or worse than, it's just something that serves to challenge what you feel is important, necessary, etc. "Signifying nothing", an "idiot"... that's pretty strong words. Where are these feelings you're having coming from?

Agreed. Books are not fair game for me, and neither are tools - as
a homeowner who can't afford to pay workmen all the time, I find a
diverse collection of good tools to be indispensable.

Yeah- I used to have tools when I owned a house, but losing jobs, (my wife and I), we are living in a 600 sq ft. apartment. We think about buying a small house one day, and that's the conundrum. Buying more tools... what do I need, what can I just borrow. In my city, there is a local tool share... but I wonder if the tools are as good quality as I would like.

This is what I have learned about material objects also known as
possessions:

1. It is not the getting that is so hard, it's the maintenance and
repair that become a difficult, expensive, and time consuming
affair.

2. The more "stuff", the more rooms, the more time spent cleaning
and repairing as noted above.

This is my sole reason for believing in quality and not quantity and
the number one reason for a minimalist life. Unless you can afford
a gardener, maid service, technician and mechanic...keep it small.
Time is the most valuable asset I possess and anything that
drains my time account is history.

Stilt,
It is minimalism not nothing-ism. I have in the past lived a life free of the excesses and found that feeling you might get when you BackPack. All you "need" is with you and you are self sufficient. It becomes necessary to improvise from time to time using the things yu carry, the things around you and the inventive spirit that lives in the Human species - too seldom given free reign. When my wife and I hop in the RV our world narrows down to those things that support us and when a system fails the pioneer spirit is loosed to everyone's gratitude.

This is part of the journey I've been on tho I'm more interested in
simplifying and find that minimizing happens as a fallout of that.
Doing more with less naturally gets rolled into this process as well.

I think the reflection and opportunity for creativity and expression
that can be called for is key to successfully integrating this as an
improvement in one's life rather than as a sacrifice or playing a
holier/hipper/better than thou game.

I follow a minimalist life, in my home, office, environment, and most importantly in my mind. I have cleared the mental clutter including the physical one, You are more productive with a clear and focused, centered mind. Minimilism is a catalyst for this process; I feel healthier, better, stronger, lighter, calmer, and more intune with everything around me. This is an excellent article, and congratulations to Joshua for taking the right steps in his and his families life.

Respectfully yours,
Amado Gonzalez
http://gsl.eng.fiu.edu/Amado/

He makes some good points, and I am glad that it's working for him.
Most of the people I know who are suffering financially are doing so
over "things" and the debt they've incurred acquiring and
maintaining them.

I'd be interested to see how this plays out for him in the long run.
And I'd be interested in his wife's opinion on all of this, which was not
really mentioned.

Stilt,
Your reaction seems a little overboard methinks. His is only one voice presenting a case for approaching life from a perspective of "need" rather than "want." And this amid a torrent of commercialism that keeps hammering home the message that you're shy of fully human if you don't have x, y and z.

I also offer the observation that this gentleman is in ministry. As a youth pastor he is attempting to teach and lead by example. The fact that he blogs about it may be something that he undertook as a means to maintain connection with those he serves. That's evangelization in its most basic form and if the message happens to spread beyond his immediate and specific audience -- there can be no harm. Those who hear it and listen, will respond. Those who don't, will complain.

He very much captures the spirit of Henry David Thoreau, another New Englander who urged minimalism as a form of personal emancipation.

I think Stilt is deep down aware that this is the right lifestyle for himself, but he can not answer the call due to his addiction to the worlds best and newest things. Like any addict, they get offended when they are told something that makes sense regarding their addiction. They will react defensively like Stilt did. I think he is mad at himself for not being able to live a simpler lifestyle...

I really tried, but couldn't come up with a different explanation for his angry comment.

Madam:
I enjoyed reading your thoughtful article. Coming from India, I can
not but help observe the common wisdom in our country that from
the moment you learn to say 'enough' more often than you say 'I
want', your happiness starts and further that this is the secret of
eternal happiness.

Having said that, it is also right to keep in mind that the process, if
taken to extremes, result in serious loss of demand for goods and
services which will in turn strike at the very roots of the economy by
turning large sections of society unemployed, ending up in social
turmoil.

The trick is to find the golden balance between our own need of
simplifying our life and the need for avoiding a collapse of society
as we know it.

Listen to you nay-sayers!! I thought this was actually a practical
and realistic, down to earth, regular-guy type of project! You act
like he suggested getting rid of all possessions and becoming a
monk or something. I didn't see any 'holier than thou' attitude in it.
Books? Well, I think many people collect books for two reasons.
One is the collection that includes our favorites that we read over
and over and pick off the shelf to show a friend a line or two, or in
my case, a picture or a beautifully designed graphic - they are
connected to our development and knowledge - the other is to
demonstrate our worldliness and to have resources at our
fingertips at all times. The latter, is silly, the former, sentimental,
but I admittedly subscribe to both, having my own diverse
collection at the ready.

Clearly the other commenters are not thinking of the fact of the
lifestyle of US'ns as being too possessive - we have more stuff
per capita than any other country. Having things, the latest
things, is part of what is making our economy look desperately
overwrought, what makes unemployment a longer term issue
today - because we can't feed the habit of 'stuff' indefinitely. This
article shows that a typical suburban family can be conscientious
and cut back on their possessions and that it can lead to a better
quality of life. What is wrong with that??

I find your article about minimalist living inspiring and
ground-breaking. I wish for all the world to wake up and
read about this. This is a powerful topic that really
resonates with many people. I was certainly touched.
Thanks so much for posting this. I look forward to
learning more.

~~Allow me to share with you a newly released book for
those seeking to downsize and find happiness in the
simple life: "Little Gifts of Sustainable Contentment," By
C.J. Good. Check it out, (look inside for free - now), read
it, then please pass it on to others you care about...:)
http://www.sustainablecontentment.com

Living as a minimalist sounds like a dream to someone who has lived with hoarders. Having just gone through a move of unimaginable proportions because of that, the one item we agreed would move in large quantity was our vast book collection.
Collecting, reading and saving books goes beyond the text that can be scanned into a file and read from an electronic tablet. Holding an aged book that was written over a hundred years ago, printed and bound in fine leather or simple cloth, illustrated with sketches protected beneath tissue covers, and which has been passed through unknown numbers of hands in 100+ years, has a feel and smell that digitized versons will never be able to have.
Although there are days I could easily give up my extra computers, phones, other antiques and even shoes..,there's a few hundred books I still have to read that will never be available online.

I was first introduced to minimalism through Tim Ferris (author of the 4 hour work week). I can honestly say that it has greatly improved the quality of my life (also I think everyone should pick up that book)
Charles the Hearing Loss and Damage guy

I agree with the sentiment that Westerners are engrossed in a culture of rampant consumption. It's one thing to make the argument that people should have free choice to get what they want with their money, but really, to what extent are peoples desires influenced by the mass media and global culture surrounding them. Everywhere you turn someone is using something to 'enhance their life' that costs money.

Minimalism is the wrong approach. The more tools I collect, the more efficiently I can take care of myself and help others. My possessions are investments - I expect to attain value from them greater than what they cost me. Living 'minimally' is basically saying, "no, nothing you have to offer can help me."

What we need to do is approach the way we handle money as sincerely as we should choose what we value as a society. Every purchase has implications, for the consumer and the producer. If we consider money as a way to elect what we value, perhaps the monetary effort put into producing extravagant trivia like sports, reality TV, perfumes, fashion, and other gimmicks could be redirected to humanitarian efforts, and scientific reserach.

To @stilt21 and anyone else who thinks this is a load of BS...

A desire to de-clutter your life is no more baloney than is a desire to reach a healthy weight. Just as we have forces within our American culture that can lead to eating disorders, we have forces that can cause us to become obsessed with material possessions to an unhealthy degree. At one and the same time, we have TV shows like "The Biggest Loser" and county fair "competitive eating" contests. We have people who will buy a house so large they can't afford to furnish it, while seeing other people selling or giving away possessions so they can focus on what they believe will truly give their lives meaning.

The bottom line, for me, is that material goods, of whatever type, eventually wind up in a landfill. It's the IM-material goods that last, that don't have to be insured, cleaned, or maintained, it's those things that retain their value and importance. And it's not a matter of feeling "superior" to your neighbor either. It's a choice, and isn't that what this country is supposed to be about? If someone has trouble with my choice in this matter, maybe it's time for _them_ to examine their own choices and not be so defensive about them.

How "smartplanet" is it to celebrate a "two-car minimalist"?

I'm curious to hear how businesspeople practice living minimally in their work lives. An entrepreneur's perspective would be quite interesting.

Thank you for the article. I am finding that living a more minimalist lifestyle benefits my attitude, my wallet (saving lots of money) and it helps the environment.

Many people following the common thought they work in a wheel made by the system in wich need to work,to produce to consume. It sells their time for a waged work, many times neglecting our affections and passions, don't realizing that the real wealth is a full life of passions in wich you manage your time,stay with our family, to do that that you have always dreamed, just changing our way to see the things get out by this wheel
http://www.minimalistgeneration.com

We want a different world but what we are doing because what happens? Before purchasing a product we should be asking questions, looking that behind that product there hasn't been no labor exploitation or environmental. Buy local products avoid aggravating the pollution of goods travelling from one side to the other of the planet. Buy fair trade goods will help manufacturers to ensure their right and improve their economic conditions. We could also self-produce many of the things we need, recovering a manual ability that is being lost. In a world with limited resources, buy less things but quality or also don't buy at all.
http://www.minimalistgeneration.com