Better

The Story of Stuff Project released a new video this October: The Story of Solutions. I like how these videos are made: they are very clear, simple, informative. A great way to spread the message. This particular video explores two concepts I've been pondering about lately: how can we concretely make changes toward a more sustainable society, and how we should pursue "better" rather than "more".


We always hear that "less is more". As a trendy minimalist mantra of sorts. However, my own journey, and a lot of things I have read about minimalism over the years, makes me wonder if I really adhere to the "less is more" philosophy. Wouldn't this be an obsessive pursuit of less, the same way consumerism is an obsessive pursuit for more?

I may be generalizing here, and I agree that owning less items, having an agenda less packed, lead to enjoying these more and we can allocate more time and energy to these things. So I do adhere to "less is more" to a certain extent.  But less is only more if this curated selection is better than all the things you have decided to set free during the simplification journey.

It is not about an endless quest for perfection (for which I have a post idea growing somewhere), it is about a pursuit of better. Better items, time better employed, better relationships with others, being better at my skills, eating better... My simplfiication journey is not about owning as few items as possible, it is about carving a better life in all aspects. And if I look at the bigger picture, my philosophy is about working for a better society.

The Story of Solutions explains it all better than I do, so I definitely recommend to have a look at that video. What do you think? How do you stand in that "better vs more" idea?