Nothing

By Simon | Published: 23/06/2010

I was watching a documentary recently and the narrator made the, fairly common, statement about some people living somewhere seemingly being happy despite having “nothing”. I seem to hear that comment a lot and yet, for some reason, it really struck me this time.

It’s interesting what the Western world views as having nothing. Being a Westerner myself I’m all too aware of what the presenter meant. Part of me has an ingrained reflex that blindly accepts the concept. I almost can’t help thinking, ‘Hmm…you’re right. Those people have nothing.’ Except this time my knee-jerk reaction was followed by a bit more consideration.

What these people didn’t have, I suppose, was a television. Or a mobile phone. Or even electricity for that matter. They didn’t even have running water. Oh sure, they had close-knit families, they made their own alcohol and sat around in the evenings talking with friends. They ate fresh food, freshly prepared. They were healthy. Oh, and they were spiritually fulfilled. But not one of them had an iPhone.

It served as a reminder of how far away from minimalist nirvana we are. Yes, there’s an obvious response. Maybe those people would have liked a bit more than nothing. Their lifestyle wasn’t a choice – they were genuinely poor. These criticisms are not unfounded. It’s galling to hear a middle-class Westerner talking about how lucky people are that have nothing at all. But, there was something about their lifestyle that drew you in and made you long for something else.

I guess what most people struggle with when they try to live a minimalist lifestyle is the fact that it is about reduction. They need to get rid of things. This process brings its own rewards but it can never bring about the kind of appreciation for what we have that starting with nothing gives us. When we have nothing, everything we gain can be cherished.

So, when we really think about our possessions and what matters so much we just have to own it, it’s helpful to start from the point of view of nothing. Then, all we need to remember is that the nothing we’re referring to is life itself.

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  • http://livesimplyfree.com/ Andrew Randazzo

    Sweet observation. As I continue to refine my thoughts about why I do what I do, I looked back into history. Every generation seems to react against the previous generation. That's why there were hippies and the following generation was so materialistic. Life is a pendulum that keeps swinging back and forth. As we raise up this generation, I think the important thing to focus on is whether we have lots of stuff or nothing, we must be learn to be content in whatever position we find ourselves. That's the only way to get the pendulum to stop in the middle.

  • http://simplifi.de/ Luke @ simplifi.de

    As someone who has been overseas quite a few times to work with various non-profits, one of the most amazing and utterly frustrating experiences is to have this conversation with someone – how we've got all this stuff and most of us aren't happy, while they have next to nothing but are living fulfilled lives, and having the person agree.

    Then when you get home and are talking about your trip, and someone asks this person what they learned, they'll go on and on about how thankful they are to live in America where they have stuff. Makes me want to SCREAM every time I hear it (and it's been way to often)! </rant>

    All that to say that I think people have to spend some extended time learning about the minimalist lifestyle before they will “get” it… and I'm not sure that some people ever will – the materialism in Western culture has so infiltrated them that they know of nothing else.

  • theminimallist

    It's interesting to look at it from the point of view of each generation reacting against the one before. It makes me wonder how long this desire for the minimalist lifestyle will last. Will the recession make people want to rebel when we reach the end of it? Will enforced austerity make people want to rush out and buy things when they have more money again? Or will there always be this core of people who don't necessarily need to live with less but choose to? I hope the lessons learned about fulfillment through experiences rather than stuff aren't forgotten in more plentiful times. Thanks for the comment :-)

  • theminimallist

    Thanks for the comment, Luke. It is amazing how hard it can be to fight the onslaught of Western consumerism. The fact that people forget the lessons they've learned when they return home really shows how much of a grip the consumerist lifestyle has on them and how hard they find it to really think about what they're doing in the face of excess.

  • http://livesimplyfree.com/ Andrew Randazzo

    You know, I never really tied minimalism to the recession. I know the recession has not been the influence for me. In fact, I'm in a position right now where I'm not being impacted by the recession. I can't speak for other minimalists, but I would think there's at least a few others out there like me. Like I said earlier, I think minimalism is more a reaction to the previous generation (the past) than it is to the present conditions. Who knows, we may both be right. Time will tell.

  • http://livesimplyfree.com/ Andrew Randazzo

    You know, I never really tied minimalism to the recession. I know the recession has not been the influence for me. In fact, I'm in a position right now where I'm not being impacted by the recession. I can't speak for other minimalists, but I would think there's at least a few others out there like me. Like I said earlier, I think minimalism is more a reaction to the previous generation (the past) than it is to the present conditions. Who knows, we may both be right. Time will tell.

  • happydays

    Very good blog! It makes me think of the saying that “we come into this world with nothing and we go out with nothing”.

    My husband and I have been dealing with the daunting task of disposing of all of his parents' lifetime accumulation of possesions. I'll tell you, NOTHING else will cause one to reassess one's own possessions like having to handle every item, large and small, that belonged to someone else and make a decision about it. It is emotional, it is educational, it is a real eye-opener! After spending hours sorting, trashing, keeping, donating, and finally being completely “spent” and unable to make another decision regarding “things”, ironically, I find myself wanting to run home as fast as I can and start unloading much of my own stuff. I do not want to own an excess of things that my own son has to contemplate and spend hours (yes, months) sorting through. So, I am spending a lot of my new retirement time sorting through my in-laws' things and then going through my own. I have rid myself of quite a lot, but it still feels like only a drop in the bucket (and I am not at all a packrat). I have been reading helpful books about decluttering and downsizing to help with my own purging. I am finding so far that once I've made a sweep through a particular room, I can go back through that same room at a later time and the second time through I am ready to release a few more objects that I couldn't let go of the first time. I don't know if I'll ever get to the point of minimalism (will I recognize that point if I do arrive at it?), but I know that I am committed to owning A LOT less in the future.