Survey #248—Full Response from Em
| What useful decluttering or organizing strategies or methods did you take away from the book? | The reasons the author gave for having too much stuff were a fascinating peek into his life, but I could not find much I could relate to even though I listened to the book twice in its entirety and the lists of suggestions an additional three times. One suggestion that might apply to me was "Don't take it because it's free," even though I have now learned to send 95% of the stuff people give me to charities. |
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| What parts or aspects of the book did you find difficult to grasp or challenging to apply to your home or situation? | My life situation taught me early on that wealth and status do not indicate the quality of a person. The concept of striving for status or self image with stuff is foreign to my home and situation. I could not relate to that concept at all, but the author's experience with it gave me the opportunity to analyze why I am content with old clothing, keep beat up belongings, and find satisfaction in making do with what I have. |
| Please share your favorite quotations or key takeaways from this book. | The key takeaway for me was that the author's life revolves around being a minimalist. Minimalism has allowed him to live a satisfying and happy life. He did comment that there are different degrees of minimalism and that being a minimalist does not necessarily mean living like he does. I gathered that minimalism is a mindset and lifestyle rather than a measurement of stuff owned. Still, I was disappointed that he did not consider what happens to a minimalist who is too old or too ill to use the town for a floor plan. He also assumed that a person can rent whatever is needed, which is not practical and even possible for people who live far from a city. I learned from the book that I already embrace most of his interpretation of the minimalist mindset, having I never shopped for pleasure or self-image, etc.; but my problem of having too much stuff still remains. |
| When you hear the word “minimalism” used to describe a lifestyle, what do you think of? | Emptiness and boredom qre the first things that I think of when I hear the word "minimalism." When people tell me that they are minimalists, I wonder how they spend their time in their empty houses. I spent roughly 2 decades living in spaces less than 4 x 6 feet, many of which were smaller, and some of which were too low stand in or to short to stretch in. As he suggested in his book, I used public space or other people's property (with permission!) as my floor plan. Yes, there is freedom in this lifestyle, and it does serve to help one find oneself, but it was frustrating for me because it also prevented me from doing what I loved, which was creating fine art and clothing for others. Even in my non-art endeavors, living like this prevented me from accomplishing much of what I wanted to do. However, I was never ashamed, I found ways to make my life useful, and even had pets the entire time. |
| “The things you own end up owning you.”* To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement? How is it relevant to your stuff? | I agree. If you have a lot of stuff and take good care of it, you spend much of your life caring for things rather than living. If you have a lot of stuff and you "save time" by not taking care of it, then the stuff becomes junk that can cause irritation or accidents, or at least preventing you from using it--which is another way clutter steals life. As a person whose occupation was creating beautiful things on request, I recognize that disorganized or hard to reach tools and supplies are a liability, preventing accomplishments. I also recognize now that what I create could easily become someone else's clutter. What a dilemma! |
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