Artwork & Content Copyright 2010 Jean Burman
There has been a lot of talk lately on blogs about the virtues of the Minimalist lifestyle.
For the uninitiated… minimalism is where the “stuff” of life is pared down to the bare essentials. The idea here is that people should divest themselves of as many material goods, people and things as is practically possible.
Lose the house, the wife, the beamer, and the Blahniks… but keep the surfboard. You know… that sort of thing. Now put the remaining contents of your life (no more than 20 things) into a suitcase and get on with your life. Do what you want to do. Be who you want to be. Get a life… but make it a basic one… *sigh* [Grin]
So who does this apply to? And how will the downsize impact upon everyone else in your life?
Don’t get me wrong. I completely understand the thrust of the argument. And I am not completely averse.
In this crazy consumer driven society we are presently attempting to subsist in… there is definitely a call for moderation in the accumulation of “stuff”. Especially for anyone who has ever owned three Porches a couple of Penthouses a home in the country and two standard Poodles all at the same time… not necessarily in that order… and not necessarily on the same continent! [chuckles]
But what about the rest of us?
Is minimalism really something we should be aspiring to?
I may be playing the devils advocate here. But someone has to ask the question and I reckon it may as well be me! [insert cheeky grin here] And in asking the question… I do acknowledge that many people have had minimalism foisted upon them because of the global financial crisis or for other reasons beyond their control. We are not talking here about them.
But in the cold hard light of day… if we were to have a real choice… would we actually choose to live a spartan existence? Is scrimping and saving… nipping and tucking on a lifestyle that might already be modest by the average standard really a good thing to do? Or should we be trying for… and aspiring to bigger and better things?
The Dictionary description of the opposing types gives us a clue as to what we are really dealing with here.
A Minimalist [noun] is one who advocates a moderate conservative approach action or policy.
A Maximalist [noun] is a person who favors direct or revolutionary action to achieve a goal.
So if a Maximalist is someone who favours direct or revolutionary action to achieve a goal… I reckon I would rather be a Maximalist! [Who are we to deny ourselves the comfort of abundance?] *wink*
“Time Was” Copyright 2010 Jean Burman
My Grandmother’s watch…
By abundance I don’t mean… luxury. And I’m not advocating wasteful excess either. What I am talking about is ownership of the small things that make our life not only comfortable familiar and safe… but also joyful fun and inspiring. Because despite what we all might say or think… “things” do bring us joy. They connect us to the people we know and have known and the places we have been and loved.
We come into the world with nothing and we all just as surely go out the same way. Why not then… while we are here… and to the best of our capacity to provide for it… allow ourselves the luxury of owning a few key material things that can make our life great?
The other day I dug out three small much loved recipe books I bought for myself over half a lifetime ago. All those years ago they promised Minimum Effort Maximum Effect… and on that they have delivered! As a metaphor for life I like that! Grin. The pages are dog-eared and splattered with the ingredients of a thousand wonderful dinners prepared with love over all those years. I love those little books. They have brought me joy and will continue to do so for many years to come!
Life is here for us to live and enjoy. Each and every day. And as long as we are not hurting anyone… harming anything… being careless with the gifts of love and material goods that are bestowed upon us… let’s just enjoy it all. We have so little time. It’s now or never. So go on… live a little…
Live Life to the Max!
{ 1 trackback }
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
testing testing
Okay… the comments seem to be working again here now. Have jettisoned Disqus for the time being.
The idea of changing the comments to Disqus came about with Facebook and Twitter and the tendency for people to comment over there rather than here on the blog. Disqus collects up comments from across the social media platforms and delivers them to the one place. But there are glitches.
I have always loved to get comments here. Over the years your comments have added a rich dimension to what I have been trying to say here. So I hope that never changes!
Although… having said that… I think Facebook and Twitter have changed the face of Blogging and communicating generally [and not always in a good way] and will more than likely continue to do so.
We shall just have to wait and see how things morph and change in the next short while with social media. The internet is a work in progress… as is all of life these days… so let’s just go with the wave and see where it dumps us! LOL
Ahhhh… feels so good to have the old comment function back… [grin]
Interesting irony here, Jean. I liked the minimalism of e-mail and listserves better back before Facebook, Twitter et al cluttered the social network scene. It’s all about maintenance; the cost of maintaining belongings and relationships is paid out in money, time, and the most valuable commodity of all, attention.
Yes John it is ironic. A bit like the old saying “the hurrier I go the behinder I get”. LOL Why is it that the more time [cost] saving technology we have and use… the harder and more complicated life seems to get?
I kinda miss the simple days of blogging when we first started out here. The artcafe was still going… and friends had time to talk. I guess with technology smaller and ever more portable and time becoming of the essence… it probably goes without saying [pardon the pun] that the conversation on Facebook and Twitter et al will eventually thin out to one syllable word sentences before finally disappearing altogether into complete and utter silence… save for the sound of one finger clicking… retweet retweet retweet *sigh* (((chuckles)))
Ah… but what’s that I hear? Revolution as the pendulum swings! Things certainly move at a cracking pace around here… no time to look back… LOL