Minimalism: A Documentary

Minimalism: A Documentary About The Important Things follows the story of Ryan and Josh.

Friends since childhood, they each found 'success' in the high-flying corporate world but were desperately unhappy. Until they discovered minimalism.

The film is about the story we are fed - especially in the USA - that buying things will make us happy. That earning more, and working more, will makes us happy. That our lives are all about buying things.

Ryan and Josh (The Minimalists) bust apart this myth - through their own story and talking to authors, economics experts and normal people who have decided that enough is enough.

They say they're not evangelising or trying to convert anyone, but it's hard to see the movie and not be motivated to declutter your life. Perhaps I was already a convert. Either way, the documentary definitely opens our eyes to the consumerist message - how pervasive it is, and also how flawed it is.

Check out the trailer and see if your local library has the documentary. ~~If that's not an option, it's also on Netflix. You can rent or buy it digitally on iTunes or through Amazon. You can rent it on Google Play. If you prefer something physical you can buy it on DVD.~~
UPDATE: The full movie is now available for free on YouTube.

Comments

My October challenge

Decluttering can be overwhelming. I've been stuck. Shelves and boxes and drawers full of stuff I should go through but not sure where to start. Aaagh - there's so much of it. The solution? So for myself (and for you if you want) I've developed a strategy. I've picked 31 categories in advance. I plan to tackle one item per day of October. If I miss a few that's OK. The point is to overcome overwhelm. To focus on one thing at a time. To move forward instead of being stuck. My favourite way to declutter is to sell online . (I even wrote a free ebook of tips for selling online). I also like to recycle or upcycle things. Wanna join in? I've chosen categories where I think most people would have excess. If there's a category you have already dealt with, that's cool. Have a rest day - or go even further in one of the previous areas. The list Ok so here's my plan for this October. Bookmark this post or download the picture of my notes. For each category I ...

5 Reasons why we hoard - and they're wrong

"Less is More" is one of the catch-cries of downsizing. Often the fewer things we have the more we value them. So it's a great title for a book that's basically a manual for how to de-clutter your home. The introductory chapter of Less is More: How to De-clutter Your Life gives some great insights into why we find it so hard to reduce our stuff. Here are 5 of them - the last one is one of the biggest for me. 1. The cost of holding on. We were raised by our parents and grandparents and in their day items were expensive and space was cheap. It made sense in those days to hold onto stuff just in case you ever needed it. But today housing is expensive and items are cheap. It's hard to change a habit, but now we save much more by downsizing. 2. Keeping it in the family. For some reason we prefer to give things to those close to us. Again this was viable in the days of big families and lots of children to receive hand-me-downs. But these days we have smaller fa...

20 unplugged ideas

May 1-7 is Screen-Free Week . It's about spending time away from the screen and more time with each other - or doing things we love. It's a great chance to break the work-tired-watchTV-ads-shop-work cycle. This list of twenty alternative ideas is great for screen-free week. It's also a great reminder of things we could enjoy if we're shopping and spending less - and maybe working less and enjoying life more.

But wait... there's less!

Search This Blog