When I started my simplifying journey, I did so completely unaware. I reformed my shopping habits out of frugality and a care for the environment. When I started reducing my possessions (an ongoing project), I did so because I felt overwhelmed by them, because I knew I’d be moving out of my current home before long, and because I spent too much time feeling guilty about things I never used. I began trying to rework my relationship with my devices because I hated the dependency I have, that the people around me have.
It’s becoming more and more clear that we (who live in developed countries) have a collective overconsumption problem, an environmental pollution problem, and a smartphone addiction problem. My efforts to change my own habits came as a reaction to those things. Ironically, I mostly saw them reflected online, but I also saw them in my own community.
But I didn’t call it simple living. I’d never heard that term before. So when I decided to blog about my journey to simplify, I knew I had to do some reading.
I began with these three books I found in my local library’s collection:
- Slow: Simple Living for a Frantic World by Brooke McAlary
- The Joy of Less: A Minimalist Guide to Declutter, Organize, and Simplify by Francine Jay
- The More of Less: Finding the Life You Want Under Everything You Own by Joshua Becker
As with most books, I liked some parts better than others, and I disagreed here and there. But I also took some valuable advice from each one.
(#1) Slow: Simple Living for a Frantic World
The first half of this book covered what simple living is and decluttering. The second half was about unplugging and finding balance.
I thought the first half was stronger than the second. The latter half seemed a bit like fluff, but I appreciated that McAlary included a chapter about disconnecting from our devices. I agree that simple living is about more than possessions. She suggested taking time off from internet-connected technology, for example from noon on Saturday to noon on Sunday.
“If we can apply only one idea to technology as we move forward, it needs to be mindfulness. We need to make our use of technology intentional. Use it well. Use it to make life better. And then put it down and go do something else.” (Slow, Brooke McAlary)
The book was entirely based on the author’s personal experiences, which is completely fine but might not appeal to everyone. Some people want facts and statistics instead of just anecdotes, and if that’s you, then this is not the book for you. But for someone just exploring simple living, this book has a good explanation that encompasses more than just minimalism.
(#2) The Joy of Less: A Minimalist Guide to Declutter, Organize, and Simplify
This book focused on the subject of decluttering. A large portion of the book goes room by room, walking you through a declutter of your whole house. Jay’s suggested method is to empty out an entire room and then decide what deserves to go back into it.
A good piece of advice was to avoid recreating the outside world within our own homes. So, for example, instead of having a treadmill, you can go to the gym. Jay didn’t discuss the way that isolating ourselves at home prevents us from building and engaging in our communities. But that was my thought on reading this advice, and I liked that part.
Jay also reminds us that some of our stuff is “aspirational.” We buy some things to impress others or because they represent the type of person we want to become. It can be hard to let go of these items because it’s difficult to let go of the dreams of who we want to be. But we should be realistic about who we are.
I took issue with two things in this book. The first was the suggestion to choose hobbies that require little in terms of supplies/equipment. I appreciate the point of avoiding hobby-related clutter, especially when we buy loads of stuff for a hobby we’ve just started. However, this advice seemed too focused on avoiding stuff just for the sake of it. I don’t think anyone should be discouraged from pursuing a hobby they love based on the equipment needed.
I also disagreed with the emphasis on digitizing stuff, including music, books, pictures, and memories. To some extent, this can be good. (We should also not allow our digital files to get out of hand, and Jay acknowledges this.) But I disagreed with this sentiment: “Scan old postcards, letters, documents, and prints, and take digital photos of larger items. A picture of your aunt’s treadle sewing machine will bring back the same memories as the item itself—without taking up an inch of space.” For me personally, there’s a huge difference between holding a postcard someone sent to you, that perhaps traveled across the world to you, and looking at a photo of it. That said, I don’t think every memory needs to be catalogued. And I certainly agree with letting go of some purely sentimental items, even if someone left or gifted them to you.
I’ll end with a quote I liked, which made me think differently about my stuff:
“Think of the energy expended in the ownership of a single possession: planning for it, reading reviews about it, looking for the best deal on it, earning (or borrowing) the money to buy it, going to the store to purchase it, transporting it home, finding a place to put it, learning how to use it, cleaning it (or cleaning around it), maintaining it, buying extra parts for it, insuring it, protecting it, trying not to break it, fixing it when you do, and sometimes making payments on it even after you’ve disposed of it.” (The Joy of Less, Francine Jay)
(#3) The More of Less: Finding the Life You Want Under Everything You Own
Becker begins this book by discussing what it means to be a minimalist. He covers common misconceptions and the pervasiveness of a consumerist mindset in our culture. Then he discusses decluttering and minimizing possessions. Finally, he talks about how minimalism leads to a more intentional life, and how prioritizing our passions, as well as charity, over material goods makes us feel more fulfilled.
I liked Becker’s definition of minimalism as “the intentional promotion of the things we most value and the removal of anything that distracts us from them.” I liked that this definition can be applied more broadly to everything in our lives, not just material possessions. It pretty well encapsulate my idea of simple living.
I also appreciated that the book delved into all the ways our modern society promotes consumption and the acknowledgement that going against this default way of living is really hard. Even just questioning “what is enough” is something we need to train ourselves to do. Becker gives the example of shoes:
“Take something as simple as shoes. How many pairs of shoes are enough? … [M]ost of us have never asked those questions. Instead, we have eight or nine (maybe twenty-eight or twenty-nine) pairs of shoes in our closet and would happily buy another pair that we think we need if we found them on sale. This is just one small example of why we need to challenge our assumptions about how much we actually need.” (The More of Less, Joshua Becker)
One great idea that came up in this book was, in regards to decluttering, to do a little “living without” experiment. Box up a set of possessions, mark the date on it, and live without them for 29 days. Then decide whether you missed them; if not, you can donate, trash or recycle them without regrets.
Takeaways
These books presented some great ideas, including:
- Simple living, and even minimalism, is not just about our possessions. Rather, it is a lifestyle that encompasses our hobbies, our technology use, and our priorities.
- Let go of items that represent the person you could be instead of the person you are.
- Digitize some items, such as photographs, but don’t let your digital clutter build up either.
- Take time off from your devices regularly.
- When considering whether to acquire or keep an item, consider the energy and money spent in owning it, not just the purchase price.
- Ask yourself whether you have “enough” of something already before buying more of the same category of item.
- Try decluttering by emptying out an entire room and then deciding what deserves to go back in.
- Try decluttering items you’re not sure you can do without by boxing them up and living without them for 29 days.
- Don’t let someone else’s idea of “minimalism” or “simple living” define what it means to you; minimize and simplify to the extent that benefits your life. It’s supposed to be about making life better, not fitting a pre-established aesthetic.
Do you have any recommendations for books on similar topics?
