Another exclusive topic discussed today on this blog. There are days like that, you know, the kind of day you do not expect anything, I had just decided to do my meal prep of the week not really by pleasure, but because my stock of frozen meals was almost empty. The lit TV emitted sounds to break the monotony of this lonely and boring day.
I was flipping my tortilla wraps in the kitchen when a conversation had attracted my attention. A columnist on a talk show was expressing her opinion on the topic of minimalism after a short report on an adherent of this lifestyle. As I had never really done any kind of research or even read about the topic, I just listened carefully.
Oh boy! I thought I was going to learn something. Instead, I only saw imbeciles mocking and ridiculing the person appeared in the report and this way of thinking which sole leitmotiv is the reduction of the human impact on the environment, natural resources through more thoughtful consumption. This lifestyle also praises the virtues of detachment from material possessions in order to free oneself from the frustrations, anxieties and stress that this can engender and consequently to reach a certain level of awareness of the value that we want to give to objects within our life.
This point is quite similar to the vow of poverty in Christianity or Buddhism, except that in minimalism instead of donating one's possessions, followers will limit the number of their possessions to their real needs. And that does not mean that minimalists are penniless. One can be wealthy and prefers frugality to opulence.
This is in summary my conception of minimalism. But I need to check the official definition before talking shit about something I may have misinterpreted... OK, according to Wikipedia, this way of thinking is also called simple living. Roughly speaking, my conception of this movement is very close to the official definition. The only point worth noting, as I did not mention, is the notion of simplicity.
The word "simple" is not pejorative. Just as a simple life as opposed to a difficult life is not a lame ass life. Simple, in the sense of "essential". By discerning the necessary of the superfluous, we can thus concentrate on the fundamentals, these intangible riches, as a fulfilled social life, personal development, good health, well-being, love. All you cannot buy with money. To those who will tell me that they find life purpose through material accumulation, and to others who will tell me that money cannot buy happiness, but that it strongly contributes to it... You do not understand shit... Trolls.
As always, preconceptions ring a bell in your mind as soon as this word is heard. Minimalism. Minimalism. Minimalism. I must admit, this word sounds so fragile, so weak. When your fuel gauge indicates "Max", your heart is at peace. You even are happy, because you don't have to worry about it. And with gas getting more expensive, you even want to show off a bit. On the other hand, when the needle dangerously approaches the mark "min", it's another story. You're much less serene.
Another good example of the frailty of the word. Do you know what "max effort" mean? It is something you could be proud of. When you give your best to achieve something in your life, there is no better rewarding feeling. By contrast, does "min effort" speak to you? What is it exactly? I'll tell you my curious friends. That is something I have just made up to prove my point. Or maybe it does exist, and it was written on your report card by one or many of your professors that can accurately be translated into: "You could have done better, you lazy piece of shit." No rewarding at all!
Some words just don't have it. Everything starting with "mini" is one of them. That's why, I do really like the much more positive term of "simple life". Just as "bald" who is negatively oriented, it should be replaced by "simple hairstyle" or "free-hair style"... "Cranial brilliance"? Well, I'll come back to this matter when I find something better... Or not.
Back to the word minimalism... It feels awfully awkward when you hear it for the first time. When people ask me question about this subject and I advocate this lifestyle, I see in their eyes, I see it in your eyes. You may think that I have embraced this way of thinking for the only economic reason, because I have no money or I am a stingy... And you may not be completely wrong... Do not quibble, I came in peace, bastards.
Seriously, there are billions of reasons to adopt this lifestyle, economic, ecological, spiritual, and even political reasons. Moreover, my transition to vegetarianism is a form of minimalism in the choice of food consumed to reduce my impact on the planet... Form, that is maybe not the right word, but vegetarianism and simple life have in common the preservation of the environment. That was my justification for years to express my lack of interest for materials possessions to people. For those who read me in a regular basis, it was during my stay on the island of La Reunion that I acquired and developed this trait. (You can read it here)
I also think that this desire for a simpler life has been nourished by a kind of rejection of this modern society, in which people blindly consume without worrying about their impacts on natural resources, the pollution caused and the poor and dangerous production environment. Very often, working conditions are unacceptable, inconceivable from a Western point of view, but totally assumed and justified, because the oppressed lived on other continents. We live in a world filled with social and ecological aberrations, but legitimized on the holy altar of capitalism.
"La nuit debout", the 2018 rail worker's strike, the yellow vests movement? Of these last three major citizen discontents, what came out? A deaf government to popular demands and politicians more concerned about the protection of their privileges through laws and the usage of flash-ball than French citizens.
In this modern world, the decision to buy or not to buy has become a citizen act much more powerful and more effective than any strike or walk. I know that sometimes we can feel insignificant in this globalized world. We tell ourselves that one voice over 7 billion will not change anything, but sometimes this one voice is enough to make a change. History has shown that it only takes one voice to repel the largest army in the world or to put an end to apartheid.
Gandhi said: "Be the change you want to see in the world." If you just complain about a situation that exasperates you, without doing anything to change it, worse, if you contribute to that by your actions or your inaction, please stop getting on the nerve of those around you, you do not serve the cause and you may look like a fool.
The depletion of natural resources, the existence of the plastic continent, the desertification of primary forests, the pollution of the soil, the air, the water... Decades of foolishness and human greed, the inaction and indifference of the political class have all led us to this sad situation. History has shown us that you cannot count on companies or the government when it comes to the ecology matter. They spend their time blaming each other, pointing out a guiltier culprit to charge, to cloud the issue.
Waiting for them to take seriously the climatic question, is a helpless cause. It might be nothing else to save. We know all the culprits of this ecological crisis. We are all guilty directly or indirectly. It is a fact. Do not deny it. Let's not lose another second to blame others. Now it might be the time for us to take control of our lives and our planet, right? Does it sound moralist, so what? You should not have called me stingy!
I leave you with this little story of Pierre Rabhi, if you do not know him, just check him on Wikipedia. Starting today, think hummingbird. Be hummingbird my friends. See you next week.
One day, a long time ago and in a faraway place, or so the legend goes, there was a huge forest fire that was raging the countryside. All the animals were terrified, running around in circles, screaming, crying and helplessly watching the impending disaster. But there in the middle of the flames, and above the cowering animals, was a tiny hummingbird busy flying from a small pond to the fire, each time fetching a few drops with its beak to throw on the flames. And then again And then again. After a while, an old grouchy armadillo, annoyed by this ridiculous useless agitation on the part of the hummingbird, cried out: “Tiny bird! Don’t be a fool. It is not with those miniscule drops of water one after the other that you are going to put out the fire and save us all! ” To which the hummingbird replied, “Could be, but I’m going to do my bit”.
Kitofoto