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The Minimalists

Posted on June 25, 2018May 26, 2022

If you follow my weekly diaries or know me well in real-life, you know that I try to possess as little stuff as possible. If I look back at the Romee from about 3 years ago my mindset has completely shifted. I was a hoarder, more stuff was better. Especially when something was offered to me and it was cheap I immediately thought I needed it. I remember one day where I walked into a store, HEMA, and I only needed one thing. I thought it would be very weird to only buy one thing and so I picked two more useless items just so that I didn’t buy just one thing. It’s insane, I know. Luckily I’m not that same person anymore. I am a minimalist now. The mindset is here and I’m always working on it. There are two people who got me into minimalist. Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus: The Minimalists.

Consumerism

Since my mindset has changed and I’m a minimalist now I look at society differently. It makes me feel like a spectator instead of a participant in our consumeristic society. I am no longer in the rat race of wanting more and therefore always buying more. And now that I am a spectator I realize how addicted we as a Dutch society are to stuff. But also I also see how this is stimulated by companies and organizations. Buying stuff is easy and cheap. But let me make this clear: I don’t blame or shame anyone. I get it, I was there once. Right now I just wat to show you that we can do things differently.

Environmental Damage

As a minimalist I think buying too much stuff is bad. I am not against buying stuff in general. I am against buying too much. So much that you have to make a storage room in your house or have to rent a storage box. Stuff you never use and are just cluttering your life. I’d plead for buying sustainable stuff which adds value to your life (because you actually use the stuff) and lasts a life-time. As I told you last week in this post, buying stuff accounts for the biggest part of the negative environmental impact of a Dutch individual. We don’t see it, but our consumerism is destroying the planet.

Mental Damage

Besides that buying a lot of stuff is bad for our planet, I think it’s also bad for yourself. Stuff costs money and so you have to work for that money. The more stuff, the more work. And so, less time for family, friends and leisure. You have to take care of that stuff, clean it and store it. That takes even more time and money. Buying too much stuff is often a way to cope with bigger problems we want to avoid. We avoid facing problems and facing ourselves. But if we do, we can live our best life. I’d also say we compare ourselves too much with others. If my neighbor has a new car, I need to get one. If my co-worker has a new phone, I need to get one. It’s such a shame.

The Minimalists

Fields Millburn & Nicodemus, I referred to them before. They call themselves The Minimalists. I feel like they’re the experts on this subject. They threw their life around years ago when they decided to become minimalists because they were unhappy. Away with the stuff and off to search for the real value in life. Minimalism became their tool to a more meaningful life because they got the excess out of the way. And since it made them so much happier they wanted to share their story with the world. They did that at first by starting a blog. But then it grew and grew and they did even more.

The Minimalists

Minimalism Documentary

The first documentary they launched is called: Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things. I saw it and it is amazing. In this documentary Fields Millburn & Nicodemus share their story with the world. Why would you become a minimalist? It really gets you to think about your life. Are you living your best life? Are you happy? I know this documentary has changed a lot of lives. Want to see it too? It’s on Netflix.

‘Love people and use things. Because the opposite never works.’

The Minimalists

Minimalism Podcast

Besides the documentary The Minimalists also make a podcast. In each episode they discuss one subject and they approach it with minimalism. Minimalism with kids, minimalism in clothes, minimalism at birthdays, etc. They also answer questions from listeners of the podcast and readers from their blog. It is very interesting!

Minimalism Books

The Minimalists have also written some books. It’s the same story and basics but then in a book. I’ve read those too. I think repetition is good. I am constantly reminding myself of the basics this way. A book is also a bit more elaborate that a documentary if you ask me. You can go more into depth. Lend those books at your local library if you can.

Minimalism has given me a lot of freedom, especially in my mind. I use it everyday. The saying less is more really is true after all.

Yours sincerely,
Romee

6 thoughts on “The Minimalists”

  1. Pingback: Weekly diary #72: decluttering and getting rid of stuff – When A Teen Goes Green
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ABOUT ME

 

when a teen goes green

Hi! My name is Romee Hoeksma and I am on a journey to an eco-positive life. An eco-positive lifestyle is a lifestyle in which I have a more positive than negative impact on the beautiful planet earth. On this blog you can follow my journey to a life with only positive impact. At this blog you can find all sorts of things, from tips to recipes to personal experiences, but most of all fun (I hope!). I write about how I want to change the world, but don’t look at it as if I’m judging you. If anything, I like responses from my dear readers the most, so don’t hesitate to contact me or respond to any of my posts!

Yours sincerely,
Romee

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Dit zijn vegan aanraders in Warschau, Polen ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ฑ. De nummer 1 in dit lijstje is voor mij wel Veganda, en dan vooral het voorgerecht: die boontjes ๐Ÿ˜. Maar dit is echt nog lang niet alles. Warschau heeft me enorm verrast qua vegan opties, echt fantastisch! Hoi! Op dit account deel ik tips om duurzaam/eco-positief te leven. Maar! Het is ook gewoon mijn persoonlijke account waar ik dingen deel over mezelf. En dus leek het me tof om een kleine introductie te schrijven over mij ๐Ÿ™‹๐Ÿผโ€โ™€๏ธ. So, here it goes; Okรฉ, ik weet niet waarom ik dacht dat deze overgangen mooi zouden worden ๐Ÿ˜‚. Ik post het toch maar, want ik vond het te grappig en tja, alle outfits zijn wel echt 100% tweedehands.. De afgelopen jaren heb ik geleerd hoe ik met weinig tot geen olie lekkere gerechten op tafel kan zetten (helemaal plantaardig uiteraard) ๐ŸŒฏ. Weten hoe en waarom ik dat doe? Ik schreef er een artikel over die je nu kan vinden via de link in mijn bio. Dit is al het vegan eten wat ik at in Bratislava, Slowakije ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฐ. De stad heeft me verbaasd, want er zijn echt veel vegan restaurants. Moet je er 1 kiezen? Ga dan voor Balans Bistro, die is echt het beste. Vandaag maakte in voor het eerst sinds in veganistisch leef (6 jaar) weer eens quiche! Want ik kon nooit echt een simpel receptje vinden voor vegan quiche en dat schrok me af. Tot vandaag, want ik vond een recept van de Albert Heijn, met vegan kookroom en vegan ei van Plant B die ze sinds dit jaar verkopen. Op deze manier is het echt een makkie en quiche is dan ook zeker toegevoegd aan mijn kookportfolio! Ik ga dit vaker maken, en ook verschillende varianten. Het is zรณ makkelijk, maar wel heel lekker. Vandaag zat er eigenlijk alleen broccoli in, maar ik ben benieuwd naar wat nog meer mogelijk is. Vegan spekjes lijken me er bijvoorbeeld heerlijk in! ๐Ÿฅ“ Als je gaat wandelen/hiken, kan je heel makkelijk positieve impact maken! Neem een klein zakje of tasje mee en raap al het afval wat je tegen komt op: easy peasy ๐Ÿšฎ. Vandaag verscheen het laatste artikel op mijn blog over onze interrail avonturen. Je leest over hoe we met de trein van Kopenhagen terug naar Amsterdam reisden met de trein ๐Ÿšƒ. De foto past er niet echt bij haha, hier ben ik namelijk aan het genieten van een vegan milkshake (met herbruikbaar rietje!) in Warschau, maar ach. Ik ben van mening dat je niet ver hoeft te reizen om mooie dingen te zien. Europa is prachtig! Dit is Boheems Zwitserland in Tsjechiรซ ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฟ.

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  • Why I do not participate in lotteries
  • Cooking without oil
  • A list of all animal sanctuaries around the world
  • Copenhagen to Amsterdam by train
  • Warsaw to Copenhagen by train

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