 |
| Source: tumblr |
Back in Paris, I've been plunged back into daily life, but I tiptoe around it, retaining the warmth of the tropical sun on my skin. I'll have travel photographs and thoughts to share in the coming days, but while I make the time to sort through my memories and pictures, here is a quick thought on tools and objects labeled "simple" or "minimalist".
I'm currently reading a very interesting book called Faster, by James Gleick. I'll probably write about this book again, as it describes the accelerating pace of our society... in 1998 - you know, before smartphones, facebook and twitter.
There is a mention of simplicity in one of the chapters of this book - proof that none of us have invented the wheel, simplicity coaches and books already existed in the ninties after all. He explains that in this faster pace and information overload of the world, people feel more and more the need to slow down.
Paradoxally, the simplicity movement as described in the book is also filled of information, bite-size steps, rules and, of course, new purchases, that actually complicate the process instead of creating time in a busy world. He speeaks about objects marketed specifically for people who want to "simplify their lives" such as hardwood floors and other "Simple shoes".
In the end of this section, he concludes by saying the these simplicity gurus who publish tons of books about it may not apply the principles themselves. People may, in the end, read through simplicity literature and design the way they read architecture or travel magazines: as a way to dream about it as an ideal life, and not as a way to actually apply it to their own.
This short paragraph made me think a lot about the simplicity/minimalism movement of our decade. Certainly, many bloggers or famous figures feed their readership with carefully curated images of streamlined closets, wooden floors and black & white depurated environments, but how many of them walk their talk, and how many of us change our lives meaningfully as a result?
And what about so called "minimalist" brands? Is it really necessary to buy more stuff to simplify our lives? Does a nice Aesop hand wash make our bathroom more minimalist? (I'm guilty of buying from this brand myself, so the questioning applies to me, as a part of this "simplicity" movement). Are flowy linen shirts really a "must" for a "minimalist lifestyle"?
If the movement already existed in the late nineties, and 15 years later we stand at a faster pace than ever, still looking for quick and easy way to simplify our lives, then where do we stand now? What can we take away from this minimalist movement, and what part belongs to ourselves to develop in our own lives?
Glad you're back, it seems you enjoyed your holiday :).
ReplyDeleteI like to read about minimalism on blogs etc., so I understand the need for people to see how others take on this challenge. At the same time, I think the most important thing is to keep focus on how minimalism can enrich our lives. I don't think I'm actually a minimalist, but over this last year I have been very much preoccupied with living more sustainably and with less 'clutter'. So for the sake of the argument I'll equal that to minimalism :). The most important thing I think this can teach us is to rediscover how we are much more than just consumers. Once you start paying attention, it becomes clear how much of our self-perception, our way of connecting with people (and sometimes even self-worth) is somehow related to consumption. I no longer want that. That is very heartfelt. So of course I can still enjoy buying a hand-knit Nepalese scarf (or whatever) that is probably aimed directly at my demographic, but I need to feel that the purchase is in alignment with my values (ideally) and not what constitutes my values (if this makes any sense). I read an interesting passage on this in a book on buddhism for the twentyfirst century. Something about the difference between meditating because you think the process is important to you and meditating because it fits the kind of image you want to project. Also related to living in the now as opposed to living in the future or in a parallel fantasy universe.
My thoughts really went everywhere didn't they. Anyhow, I look forward to hearing more of your thoughts on that book.
That's really a good point you raise here - something about "know yourself" that minimalism/simplicity brings. Society is full of distractions, and we no longer listen to what our bodies or minds are telling ourselves. Unsatisfied? Buy something. Feeling bad in your body? Buy something. Feel anxious? Watch TV. And we never really get at the bottom of who we really are and what we really want, we even start identifying ourselves with the brands we buy for example. As you say, we end up being "just consumers".
DeleteI have also lived this self-rediscovery through simplicity, but it takes time. Sometimes I feel there is a first step, shedding the layers of stuff, preconceptions, ideas about ourselves and society and things and worth etc. And then, there is a second step of filling this newfound mental space with what we really want to do or be.
But I'm worried that the minimalism as recaptured and used by marketing lets people get stuck in the first phase, and makes them identify their "minimalism" with the brands they purchase or the aethetics they pursue. If it still makes any sense at this point...
Hi, I read your blog for quite a long time now and I really like your posts. I believe that simplifying our lives doesnt necessarilly mean buying. If a purchase will help to introduce order or to declutter and in the long run we will benefit from it than yes let's buy it e.g boxes, envelopes for documents, shelves to the closet. But if it is an addition of the same sort, another purchase just for the sake of buying or replacement of a good item for the one of a higher-end brand or of higher technology than it's unnecessary. Many bloggers write simplify your life, declutter and than I read "if you buy X your life will be better and you will be happier". I think it' s rubbish. Not items, not purchases make us happy but people and situations we face. I think what we search in minimaliam is the answer to the question how to find myself in this purchase-full life where everything tells me that another buy will make me happy but it doesn't. Well, at least that's what pushed me onto simplicity route. I'm still fighting with the need to buy and I found out that my life makes me happy without any additional and not necessary purchases. Wow, that's a long reply, and I'm not sure whether I stated clearly my point of view.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by! I think I may understand what you are trying to say, and I agree that we shouldn't need items to simplify our lives, it is even paradoxal! In my opinion, simplicity isn't about stopping to buy either, as you say too, it is about considering objects for what they are: tools to make our lives easier, but not an end in itself, or an extension of ourselves. I agree that objects can't make us happy, they can only be a tool within a situation that makes us happy (through experiences, people, discoveries...) I wonder if that is clear to people who start simplifying their lifes, or if we end up influenced by the "minimalist trend" that is just a way to make us spend money in the end.
DeleteI think there is a big difference between simplicity and minimalism…and simplicity appealing to many more people than minimalism, but nothing wrong with either lifestyle. Here in the US, as things change rapidly with our crumbling constitutional rights and the individual's adjustment to lower, across the board, take-home-pay, I've noticed many people simplifying and learning crafts like canning, growing their own food, repurposing items and "minimalist" wardrobes. Our views are changing because of life circumstances…and this is how things are different from the bubble of the late 90's. Maybe slightly more grim now, but with more focus on the learning skills, quality time with friends and family. It's a beautiful shift, even if the reasons for it are despairing.
ReplyDeleteThe problem that I've discovered with the "minimalist movement" is that it's a marketing tool, as you've pointed out in so many posts. Where "gurus" and people who claim to lead by example of carefully curated items encourage spending on that one perfect, beautiful item, and leaving out or forgetting the whole reason and process for minimalism in the first place: to free yourself of the constraint of material items (although, this may be different from person to person). And this exclusion, I think, causes very little room for your life to be flexible or to adapt to changes, for creativity of repurposing as you're constantly looking for "the perfect" material item to suit a perceived need. The "new minimalist movement" is a carefully crafted perversion on the true spirit, to push us towards consumerism…the very thing it's supposed to quell. The very best lessons in minimalism comes from backpacking the world for at least six month, out of a 40 liter pack -- no bigger.
Simplicity on the other hand, seems to leave you prepared for life's little wrenches, affords you the mental agility and materials at hand to adjust, repurpose and exercise a more creative spirit than what the modern minimalist movement seems to promote. It gives you the freedom to keep those very rarely used items (a set of tools or craft supplies for example) that can help you repurpose or even create your own items. This can grow a greater appreciation for hand-crafted items and also afford quality time with friends and family that you may have brought together to create and item, or help solve a problem.
Just my thoughts over the span of a quick 15 minutes.
-L in NYC
I totally agree about how consumer marketing has taken one more trend (minimalism/simplicity) and figured out strategies to make us think that we can purchase our way to an ideal minimalism, rather than slogging our way through the process of emptying out our homes and closets, and doing the necessary psychological work to counter consumerism within our own psyches. And, boy, is it a challenge! How does one both participate in and enjoy fashion, on the one hand, and yet keep true to a minimalist/simple philosophy?
DeleteThat's interesting that you separate the concepts of "minimalism" and "simplicity". I admit I have never really made a clear distinction in my head, for me it kind of appeals to the personal definition I have crafted - about shifting values, personal growth, considering objects as tools and not harbingers of happiness, self worth or anything else.
DeleteBut I agree with you, the term "minimalism" has been re-used and interpreted by this marketing trend, which appeals more to aesthetics than a philosophy, and which is nothing more than another hook to make us spend more money. It seems the term "simplicity" is a hook too though, from the examples from that 90's book, or even in today's life - simple this, simple that...
In the end, I think it is our responsibility, within our own life, to decide what to make of this minimalism/simplicity movement, and try to see beyong the marketing hook to find our own journey. Otherwise as Petrichore says, it's too easy - just buy these "minimalist" items and you've done the job of becoming minimalist, without the effort it takes to really simplify our lives.
That's what I'm trying to do with this blog, sort out my own thoughts and share them so that readers can ask themselves questions about all this as well...
You bring up a good point. I personally find myself envying the streamlined lifestyles that I see on various blogs dedicated to minimalism and simple living. However, I also feel that no amount of editing or streamlining of my own life could ever look like what I see online. It makes sense though. In some way, minimalism has become a product, which has ironically become mainstream enough to need to be packaged for mass consumption. The very idea of minimalism/minimalism as a "#trend" is interesting to me... it has always seemed somewhat counterintuitive.
ReplyDeleteI don't know exactly what my point is.... although I think what I am trying to get at is that it makes sense that mass marketed minimalism might not be feasible for everyday lives–even the lives of the creators of various regiments. Honestly, I think the essence of "minimalism/simplicity" is different for each person. (But who knows... maybe a true guru does exist somewhere!)
I feel like I will never look as skinny and tan in an oversized gray sweater, with tiny gold jewelry, as many other people look in the "minimalist fashion" -sphere. So, of course, I feel strongly tempted to purchase my way there, referencing any must-have list or recommended products. Which is so counter to what true minimalism is - yuck. I've decided to maintain a small wardrobe, take a few-month shopping fast, and focus on my lazy work-out habits. Being in better shape makes gray sweaters luck much better on me than checking off any shopping lists I've ever made. Sigh.....
DeleteThis "minimalist trend" is very interesting to me as well. As you say, it's become mainstream enough to be packaged as a product, and that's kind of ironic, actually.
DeleteI wonder if it's meant to become something more than that, ultimately. I mean, in a way, this is the consumerist society's way to fight minimalism: make it a product and sell it to consumers, instead of rejecting it as a concept that threatens it. But will this "trend" manage to quell the "real" movement that is behind it? This movement of being fed up with overconsumption, with being treated as a consumer, or even a product, instead of being considered as a human being in all its facets? seeing that "simplicity" was already sold in the 90s makes me wonder if, as a group/society, we'll ever grow past this.
It seems you had an epiphany. A lot of this is just another form of marketing. I strongly believe real simplicity does not care about getting recognition. It is a way of life, not a shopping list. My two cents.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you - I think simplicity is a way of life that doesn't require approval, recognition or "status symbols", otherwise it's just another part of these hooks marketing use to make us buy more. I think the epiphany comes more from the fact that it seems to have existed for a long time - whereas I thought it was a current decade's trend. It makes me wonder whether, as a society, the simplicity movement will ever manager to change anything on a global scale. Thanfully, in the meantime, we can still try to change on a personal scale.
Deleteyes! i agree with miss agnes. i would also say that it is a very individual journey. one woman's idea simple is another's idea of complicated. For me, I have to do what feels right. Many people think my home is very simple but I see it as very full. A lot has to do with perception. I just found your blog and am loving it. x
DeleteThank you for your kind word and welcome :) I think it's really interesting to see how each and every person defines simplicity for their own life. As you say we all have our own perception, and that's what makes the whole movement so enriching.
DeleteYou are absolutely correct! Thank you so much for bringing this up. I could say a lot about how I'm not ok with this trendy minimalism, how it has become just another aesthetic that can be purchased. Minimalism is an entire lifestyle, and I don't think a lot of people are prepared to truly simplify their lives. There's a really good chance that we don't even notice many of the people around us living simple lives, because they don't dress in that obvious "minimalist fashion" or post pictures of their "simple" homes online.
ReplyDeleteYes, I also think people who deeply follow a simple/minimalist path aren't really to be recognized by their appearance. I think their actions show who they are though. I have met such a couple at my cousin's wedding last summer. Simple, joyful, very plainly dressed, but there was an energy, a sort of benevolence in the way they held themselves and talked to people, that was amazing!
Delete