The other night I watched the documentary Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things. While it didn’t make me want to give away all my belongings, I enjoyed it for what it was: a reminder on the benefits of living a simpler life. While perhaps the message has been delivered before, I still found new insights to take away.
I’d never heard of the term “fast fashion”. For those who haven’t either, it’s cheap and trendy clothing meant to be worn for a week or two before being discarded for the next best thing. The footage of dumptrucks throwing away piles and piles of clothes made me sick to my stomach.
I identified with the criticism of buying furniture just to fill up a new house, though I couldn’t help but think the documentary favoured those who could afford large homes and had the disposable income to waste furnishing underutilized rooms. How many people have 3000+ square foot homes that this is even an issue?
Still, a lot of us are fortunate and do hold onto or hoard items that other people might put to good use. Again, it’s a good reminder to not let these items sit in your closet. One man’s junk is another man’s treasure. Also by sharing items, we all do our part to reduce the strain on our overflowing landfills.
Perhaps what stuck with me most about the film was that “The Minimalists” come from difficult backgrounds (abusive fathers and crack addict/alcoholic mothers), so they grew up with the drive to become wealthy only to realize it wasn’t bringing them the happiness they expected. One man spoke of selling five year olds cellphones to make 50K a year. Life is a learning process and it can take us years to find the right path, but it’s so important to never stop searching and to choose the one that feels right in your bones.
If you haven’t seen this documentary yet, give it a watch and let me know your thoughts!
Alexandra Latos 