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I learned about this thing called minimalism and was instantly hooked. Where do I sign up for this clean, streamlined, Instagram-worthy life?

I watched the Netflix documentary, Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things. My thoughts? Ehhh. I'm sure these guys are nice and well-meaning, but there was just something off. A lot of...whiteness? Said by someone white, but you know what I mean. Not a lot of cultural diversity is what I'm getting at. A lot of wealthy suburban white people intentionally living with less and cooing over this movement in a quasi-religious way. Look at me, I have less "things" because "things" aren't what make me happy, I'm Buddha on the mountaintop. I'm better than you are!

That aside, I became infatuated with buying less and just having less stuff. I never thought of myself as someone who shops too much, but one look in my closet says otherwise. I have stuff I don't wear...I call it my "aspirational wardrobe". Clothes I would wear if I could fit into them or had a completely different personality.

I also would be incredibly influenced by YouTubers and internet marketing. I had a makeup phase where I had to have certain makeup, even though I didn't wear much makeup:
  • I had to go to Nordstrom and specifically buy the Shu Uemera eye lash curler despite the very glaring fact that my eyelashes curl naturally. 
  • I ran out to Sephora one night for the Urban Decay Primer Potion even though I rarely wore eyeshadow. 
  • I had at least 15 lip glosses in almost the same shade of pink and I never wore anything on my lips but Vaseline. 
  •  I once paid $25 for Dior Show because it was the must-have mascara. I'm not rich. 
  • One night I nearly bought a Nars Orgasm lipgloss/blush set online but only stopped when I realized my credit card didn't have enough on it. 
I could go on. And in fact I will probably will go on at another time. But looking back I realize I had these knee-jerk reactions to these girls (and boys) prettier than me on the internet and raving about these products. They got me real good.

So in general, yes, I want to be less of the mindless consumer I was. And I'm off to a good start. I'm not going shopping just to shop, I'm clearing out the junk, I'm making purchases carefully.

But I'm also "clearing out the junk" in other ways too. I'm taking care of long-needed health issues, I'm making genuine attempts to explore plant-based eating, and I'm becoming more honest with myself.

I'd like to permanently eliminate my migraines, have more energy and learn to keep an apartment clean and organized 100% of the time.

I'm not gonna say I'm on a mission or a quest or some pretentious shit, but I am trying to figure some things out.  By the way:  I'm 42, single, never married with no kids, if that makes a difference to you.

If you're at all interested in going along for the ride, welcome to my minimal life.




~ Jen



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