My nephew convinced me that minimalism is overrated and I actually agree now

I was at his apartment in Portland last week and he had books stacked everywhere, art on every wall, just a total mess by normal standards. He asked why we all think having empty counters and white walls means we're winning at life. He said 'stuff is just memories you can touch' and that hit me different because I've been throwing away my grandma's old dishes trying to look clean and organized. Has anyone else decided to just lean into having a full house instead of fighting it?

3 comments

3 Comments

kim.jake7d ago

Is it bad that my house looks like a hoarder's paradise and a garage sale had a baby? I feel that so hard. For years I was obsessed with KonMari-ing everything until my living room looked like a dentist's waiting room. Then last month my kid found a box of old concert tickets in the garage and asked what a "CD" was, and I realized I'd thrown away all my physical music and photos trying to be "clean." Now I'm letting the kids tape their drawings all over the fridge and I'm keeping my grandma's weird ceramic pineapple because it makes me smile even if it's ugly. Minimalism feels like a rich person's game anyway when you're just trying to keep three kids from drowning in Legos.

joel_clark377d ago

Did your kid asking about CDs just wreck you the same way it would wreck me? That's the exact moment when you realize we've been throwing away our own history trying to impress nobody. The ceramic pineapple thing is genius because it's not about being ugly, it's about the actual human memory tied to it. My grandma had this weird glass lemon juicer that looks like a deformed alien and I almost donated it three times, but every time I see it I remember her singing while she made lemonade and now it sits on my windowsill. You're right that minimalism is for people who can afford to replace their memories with something new and boring. The kids tape drawings everywhere is the real move because those are going to mean more to you in ten years than any empty counter ever will.

jason_lewis37d ago

Honestly I think the KonMari thing got twisted for a lot of people, it was supposed to be about keeping stuff that sparks joy not throwing away everything you own. Ngl that ceramic pineapple is way more joy sparking than an empty shelf ever will be.