Minimal Outta Necessity...
It seems that a common misconception about the practice of minimalism is that it comes about as a result of poverty. I look around myself, see I'm skint about 80% of the time... that should make me a minimalist, right?
It's an appealing thought. Suddenly, you belong to a movement, got an ethos behind you. Much nicer than the starker, yet truer realization that you're just poor. That's kinda like explaining Picasso's Blue Period as "he didn't have any other colors on hand".
While for some, a period of scarcity can lead to a minimalist outlook, the two aren't necessarily related, as I see it. You can be poor and still be materialistic. That's who all the Calvin Klein and Hugo Boss rip-offs are for. People who crave that social signaling, without having the actual wherewithal for it. As far as I'm concerned, a rip-off is as bad as the real thing in this day and age, and it seems what was once class has now merely been demoted to crass.
You can be poor and still crave expensive, kitschy crap. It doesn't mean you understood the concept. It just means it's all you can afford. That's because...
Minimalism isn't about what you own. It's about what you want.
My grandmother wanted things. A lotta things. It's understandable when you consider the terrible poverty she and her children endured during Communism, after my grandfather was out of the picture. There were times when they didn't have a lot.
Yet, after she died two years ago, we spent months and months getting rid of junk that, in my grandmother's eyes, must've had some value. Boxes. Silverware. Broken china. Not-broken china. Clothes. Fabric leftovers. Sacks labeled "smaller sacks". I shit you not. Things nobody could've reasonably needed were carefully stored and cherished.
Though there were times when my grandmother had little, she could never be labeled a "minimalist". Not by a blind squirrel with zero understanding of human possessions. She was materialist to the core, went for anything flashy, anything she considered to be the anti-thesis of poverty. Because she knew poverty.
One of her daughters inherited that trait. The others didn't. In turn, I didn't. Where my grandmother would want me to dine out, I prefer to eat in. Not to save money. I have zero problems lavishing money on myself. I just don't attach value to a posh restaurant in the touristy part of town.
If a friend suggests a bar that's outside my budget, I tell them so. Not because I'm stingy or poor, but because if it costs more than the booze is worth, it's a cheap attempt to buoy my self-esteem. And I didn't work this hard to have gutter-level self-esteem influenced by how much I spend on a night out.
I was out earlier, thought I'd stop in at a cafe on the Rambla, the main street in Barcelona. A small part of me piped up to say it'd be "a treat", it being posh and loud and smack-dab in the centre. Precisely the reasons I abbhored the idea and opted for a smaller, quieter venue on a side street. It wasn't flashy, and from my seat, no one could see me, yet I could see everyone. Something I enjoy.
Neither was it about money. Sitting down there to catch my breath and read for a bit ended up being a lot more expensive than a quick stop in the posher Rambla venues.
The way I see it, it's not about being stingy. It's not about not spending money. It's about the best way to spend it. Are you doing it just to lighten your pocket, or does this experience/object hold meaning for you?
Writing this, I'm glancing out the window at my bathing suit hanging on the line, next to my beach towel. Old, with a hole in it. The towel. The suit old also and much worn, as these past several years have been heavy on the beach-ing. I love them. I don't care. As long as they're not visibly ripped or unusable, Imma keep using them, as I do everything I own. That's the difference, you see, between minimalists and those forced by necessity.
The latter goes out and buys a new suit as soon as their pocketbook allows. The former probably doesn't think about their suit unless they're in the proximity of a beach.
Most minimalists aren't made so because they can't afford to be otherwise, but because it's vapid and meaningless. And I'm sorry, but as long as you're labeling yourself a "minimalist" because you can't afford the expensive, meaningless status symbols, then you're probably pretty empty inside.
I mean, if you believe the shit you can't afford would give your life meaning, then it probably doesn't have much, in which case, I'd really apply myself to crafting a more meaningful existence for myself if I were you.
Else your life, at the end of the day, will be surmised as "oh, he would've so loved a pair of Gucci".
Thank you for stressing that minimalism has nothing to do with poverty!
I can relate to your grandma's mindset, and I appreciate people who understand and accept the difference by putting their hands up and saying, "I would never aspire to be a minimalist because I grew up too poor." Instead of bantering and unsuccessfully trying to convince me that their poverty makes them blinking minimalists.
😅I love that. I went through a period where I was a hoarder and would do things like this, with the intention of recycling, and repurposing things. That was simply because I was too sentimental and didn't like to waste anything. It's not like any of those things enriched my life in any way.
100% I am the same. I take delight in turning down invites and saying outright, "That's over my budget. I could have the same or better experience or product at so and so."
That's the thing. I'm fortunate with this new bed. It has one of those storing spaces underneath, and of late, it's become a dumping ground for repurposable items of all sorts. Unfortunately, the realism that I'll probably never repurpose them doesn't fit down there :))
Quite the contrary for many, I think. I don't know how it is elsewhere, but in Romania, it's been a common finding for me with people who grew up in smaller, poorer villages, who do a 180 and automatically go for all the kitschy flashy crap when they can afford to.
There is a certain pleasure to it, isn't there? It's a good way to weed out people too. I remember a first date with a guy I was seeing. He took me to this pretentious cocktail place where a single glass was over 10 pounds (for reference, they're 5 at most in Ro). Ended up spending a ton on a few drinks. I kept thinking this isn't gonna work, he could've spent that money on a proper meal and drink at a less assuming restaurant. Tells you about a person, man.
That's right!✅
💯
Image belongs to millycf1976 and was edited in Canva.
Tell me about it, tiny evil panther. Tell me about it.
At times I watch Hoarders on tv. One guy had a few thousands rats. They were everywhere. But none of those Hoarders believed that they are Hoarders. People are strange beings.
I would like to buy Monster manga books. all 9 volumes would cost about 270 eur. At the moment I could afford them. And I am justifying it to myself that it may go out of print in the future again. I love Monster anime and would like to support author by buying the books. But I am still not sure if spending that much on something I don't really need is a great idea. I could buy some Hive or Splinterlands assets with that money. And yet those books are tempting. Perhaps I am on my way of becoming a Hoarder as well...
Still I think that hoarding books is better than hoarding rats.I agree with you about poverty being misunderstood for living a minimalist lifestyle. It is never a lifestyle when being broke is the only thing preventing a person from jumping out there to lavish his or her newly made money on expensive items out there.
I have seen when people are humbled by poverty and they just live as quiet as possible. I have lived through different phases of life; there was a time I couldn't afford anything tangible for myself and that's not the time to know if I am truly practicing minimalist even though it has been part of my lifestyle.
A lot has changed and I can easily afford some things for myself now but still choose to say no because they don't add value to me, they won't make me happier in any way and I just love living as simple as possible.
Love the minimal, but minimal does not mean cheap. I have high quality clothing, with clean look, and no brand displayed that is visible. Even the car was ordered without the logos and specifications on the back. Where I like a lot of more, to say, is on housing, I love old secession and baroque designed buildings, with tall and shiny rooms, and a feel of nobility.
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BEER.I think you're right, a lot of people are jumping on the minimalism bandwagon because it's in vogue. Crazy thing is if they're doing it for the wrong reasons they're missing out on the main benefit, the peace of mind.
A lot of folks who lived through the Great Depression here were hoarders of the highest degree. My dad came into the world at the very end of that era but the only thing he hoarded were tools, he loved them. He would spend hours in hardware stores and would stop at most yard sales. It's been four years after he passed and my mom is still giving tools away.
I find it impossible to enjoy a thing or an experience that I feel like I'm not getting my money's worth from. I don't mind paying more for things that are worth it but, more often than not, expensive things just aren't. I've heard the term luxury was invented to keep you poor thrown around a lot lately and there's a lot of truth to it.
I read something the other day about one of the ways to save money is just to have a different attitude toward it. Our problem is that when we HAVE money, and we work hard at it, we DESERVE to spend it - to lavish it, in fact.
BUT - and here's the kicker for me - if you've worked so hard for it, why are you parting with it so readily?
It's not that we don't 'deserve' a treat - if it makes us momentarily happy - but how we attach value to particular things. For example, chocolate in gold foil or chocolate in a brown paper bag is still chocolate - we just think the gold foil makes it more lavish, more posh, more beautiful. Maybe a poor example - but food is food, no? Sure, we can spent a fortune at a fancy restaurant, but is that any more enjoyable, REALLY, than the one across the road that's more simple?
I think some of the older generations went through poverty as a lived traumatic experience - same with hunger. My great uncle after WW2 POV camps hoarded food like you wouldn't believe. No way was he going hungry again. This thought was so lodged on his brain he was still persistently hungry even with dementia - they had to lock all the cupboards to stop him gorging. Sometimes logic doesn't have a say in it.
I was kinda pissed the other day when Jamie bought a coffee out in the UK (the alerts come to my phone, it's just the way the bank is set up). 8 bucks - a lot of money, AND we'd promised NOT to have coffee out. He was like 'well, everyone else was having one, so I couldn't very well say no'. Um. Yes you freaking can. Just say no and have a water or something. Ridiculous.