I’ve written a lot about “enough”. Probably enough. Maybe too much. But this comic prompted me to give it another go. Minimalism, owning little, became a big deal several years ago. I thought I’d found my tribe, but minimalist never felt just right. Neither of the households depicted in this comic suits me. One’s too severe and one’s too cluttered. Neither feels like my best nest.
An article (now several years old) in the New York Times Magazine, The Oppressive Gospel of ‘Minimalism’ was my eye-opener. Here’s the short version.
The new minimalist lifestyle always seems to end in enabling new modes of consumption, ‘a veritable excess of less’. It’s not really minimal at all. To wealthy practitioners, minimalism is now little more than a slightly intriguing perversion, like drinking at breakfast. Minimalism telegraphs elitism. The richer one is, the less one has. But with a carefully edited life, having only the right things is crucial. The wrong stuff is a minimalist buzzkill. Being a minimalist takes lots of resources- time, money, social standing, confidence and a speedy internet connection.
If minimalism is oppressive, and consumerism is burdensome, what’s a person to do? Maybe enoughism is our ticket to liberation. Enough is enough. Sharing a cup of sugar is neighborly. Asking to borrow the kitchen sink? Think again!