Sucking the marrow out of minimalism, doing nothing, and becoming the New Weird

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I have a love/hate relationship with minimalism.

I think some people get a little carried away with minimalism–really, why should I care how many t-shirts you have and what colors and neck styles they are? And why does all the underwear count as only one thing, and furniture and kitchen tools don’t count at all, but pairs of shoes all count separately?

Does it really make sense to pare down to only one notebook and pen (or none!) if you write for a living, just so you can meet the magic 100 Thing Quota?

I’ve contemplated introducing my own arbitrary counting scheme. (Car, other car, house, contents of house: 4 things. Eat my dust, 100-thingers!)

But I think minimalism overall has a lot to offer if you don’t get silly about it. Not wasting your money on buying things to feel better? Having few enough things that your house is peaceful and orderly? Consuming consciously? I can definitely get behind all that.

Over on Becoming Minimalist, I read a guest post by Courtney Carver about the Land of Enough. I think this is an expression of the best minimalism has to offer. Her premise is that, instead of thinking of ourselves as living in the land of plenty, we should think of ourselves as living in the Land of Enough. Instead of striving for more, more, more, we should find out what we really need and become content with that.

The Land of Enough boils down to a peaceful, satisfying existence.

In the Land of Enough, there are no credit card bills or retail therapy. When you’re happy, you don’t need to spend all that money, and not having the debt eliminates tons of stress.

In the Land of Enough, there is no rushing around, processed food, or clutter. Instead of watching tv or going to shows, people entertain themselves by reading, conversing, or doing things.

It sounds like a utopian dream world in a way. To me, that’s the number one thing missing from conventional life in our society. It’s gotten significantly worse in recent years as connection to the internet has become more and more pervasive in our lives. Now, even if you’re just waiting for the elevator, you can Google something on your smart phone. It’s great that we have access to more information than ever in the history of the world, and I love that the gatekeepers are becoming obsolete, but I think we’re about to lose something really important if we’re not careful: the ability to be. Not be entertained, not be important, not be productive, just be.

A few years ago, when I was freaking out and heading for a meltdown, I was directed to take half an hour every evening and just sit on the couch and do nothing. Don’t watch tv, don’t grade papers, don’t make lists, don’t do anything.

“What?!” I thought. “How the hell am I going to do that? How will I sit still with all this work hanging over my head? If I manage to sit still, how will I stay awake? That won’t work at all!”

If you like the idea of a more peaceful life but feel the same way about doing nothing, let me tell you how I did it.

I cheated. As soon as I sat down, my cat jumped in my lap, and I stared into space and petted her. What do you know, it is possible to do nothing for half an hour! In fact, it’s pretty easy with a cat’s help, and quite addictive. And if you fall asleep, who cares? Nobody is going to show up and give you an F in contemplation. You probably needed the rest.

If you can’t handle half an hour, start with five minutes. Or, start by taking walks with no electronics or companions to build up your spacing out muscles, then work on stationary nothing-doing.

I still think starting a to-quit list and eliminating as much scheduling and obligation as you can is the best thing to do, but that takes time and needs to be customized for your life. I aim to have no more than two things per week happening at specific times; such a schedule would be completely impossible for someone with meetings and kids in activities. Even for me, I’m suddenly on a new project at work with a standing teleconference at noon every Tuesday, and it’s really harshing my mellow, but there doesn’t seem to be anything I can do about it while I’m on this project, so here I am: scheduled at noon on Tuesdays.

No matter what kind of life you have and how tightly scheduled it is, taking the time to space out is something you can do for yourself if it’s important to you. I highly recommend it.

I think a lot of people get caught up in the vicious cycle of buying stuff, eating whatever they can find fast, and rushing around–it’s hard to escape. It’s the default mode in our society. If you don’t do those things, you’re weird. I know: pretty much everyone at my office thinks I’m weird.

But then again, taking charge of your life, sculpting it into what you want, and being happy are also outliers in our society. Given the alternative, I’ll happily be weird every day and twice on Sundays. Anyone want to join me?