minimalism changed the game
Okay, so if you talk to me for more than 10 minutes, my love of simplicity will come up. I jam it into conversations constantly.
“Have you heard of our one true savior Minimalism?"
Yeah, that’s me.
Quite literally, it can be applied to every situation.
Overly distracted? - Get rid of some stuff. Physical or mental.
Tired? Probably visually to mentally overwhelmed.
Broke? You spent all your money on stuff you don’t need.
Out of shape? Probably too distracted by all your stuff to have time to work out or eat right.
Have a job you hate? Does it just give you the money you need to buy the stuff you don’t really want?...Yeah.
Now, am I a prostilitizer to the extent that I am forcing all my family and friends to join a temple and give up all their worldly possessions? No. Of course not. I enjoy my creature comforts as much as the next person. I was raised in the consumer-heavy 90s don’t ya know.
But if I compliment your top and you excitedly say, “Oh thanks! I got it on shien!” I will verbally respond with “Ew”
Now this is a post about minimalism, not sustainability. Let me try and stay focused.
the actual bent knitting needle. god speed.
I was converted in 2020. That was my big covid epiphany. I didn’t doom shop on amazon or start needle point for all of 3 months like so many others. I went hard and fast into getting rid of my consumerist habits that were keeping me broke and stressed and unhappy. I watched Minimalism, the documentary by The Minimalists as my gateway drug. So, parents reading this, guard your remotes.
The lore is, I finished it and looked down and saw an unmatched bent knitting needle next to me and went, “OMG, I have to do this right now.”
So I found the knitting needle and then what? Well, like any millennial stuck at home, I started posting about my journey on instagram. I cleaned out a lifetime’s worth of kitchen utensils we didn’t like, burned cds from high school, waffle makers, plays, plates, water bottles, drawer liners, BOOKS! Good god. It felt incredible.
This highlights collection is still on my personal instagram if you want to see me discover recycling stuff other than trash for the first time. I was so sweet.
Why talk about this on my photography blog at all? Because getting rid of the physical distractions in my life reset my priorities. I talk about it A LOT on YouTube but let me skip laying out all the steps here and tell you this;
I still struggle with using cleaning and organizing to put off feeling things I don’t want to feel.
I still stress clean.
I still walk into a HomeGoods and want to buy things. Especially if it is the SUPER nice HomeGoods across the street from my office.
I agonize over purchases. It is so irritating to not be able to just buy a pair of sandals because I want them to be sustainably made, locally available, and within budget but also an investment piece and also etc…
Minimalism didn’t fix me. But it made me a way less shitty human being to the planet. It also helped me get my money WAY right (you all saw how I spent basically a MONTH in Europe this year right? Yeah, because I completely stopped going to the big red bullseye and DON’T online shop. Not entirely but you get the idea.)
What do you have to lose? You might get obsessed with having physical clutter not distract you from your thoughts? You might HAVE thoughts.
As artists, it is essential to have a good working relationship with your brain. I’m not saying you have to be mentally well but having an open dialogue with our demons makes art possible. I find that dialogue easier when I am not distracted by a bunch of old sheet music, college paraphernalia, or take out packets crammed in my desk drawers, under my bed, and under my bathroom sink.
So. In your spring cleaning and as we all start to really thaw out from the winter…
{casey, you absolute psycho. You live in Atlanta, it has been warm there since MARCH. I’m a summer lover. If it isn’t 90, I’m in a sweater}
I encourage you to take a look around. Do you have a bent, unmatched knitting needle in your life?
What better time than NOW to lose the (metaphorical) dead weight and slip into a life a little lighter.
Come on in, the water is fine.
