🚀 The Book in 3 Sentences

1. In this day and age, we try to buy perfection. But perfection is not for sale.
2. Sooner or later, if we hope to grow up, we have to confront the opposite imperative: that our rights and the realization of our desires are limited by human nature, by human community, and by the nature of the plaes in which we live.
3. Reduce. Refuse. Rejigger.

🎨 Impressions

How I Discovered It

Googling for books about minimalism.

Who Should Read It?

If you really think you have more stuff than necessary and you would like to live a simpler life.

🍀 How the Book Changed Me

I was already a minimalist before reading the book, so nothing really changed. But I'm glad that some of the things that I've tought are shared by the someome who is better than me at sharing the experience in a book. I will not take the 100 Thing Challenge, but I started to do more, as I call it, "active decluttering". I simply try to declutter something every day, be it physical or digital.

I believe minimalism is an active process that allows us to reach equilibrium with the things we need right now. The most important thing is to let go of an ideal version we have of ourselves. In this regard also check my review of the book Four Thousand Weeks.

One important lesson from the book is that you should not push other people to do the challenge or to be a minimalist. Not everyone has an innate aversion for American Style Consumerism and not everyone feels like they have too many things. Sometimes it's not feasible to be a minimalist at all. If your work or your true calling requires for you to have a lot of things, then there isn't much you can do about it. Also not everyone will "get" your minimalism. People will probably gift you material things (as a proxy for affection, but that's a story for another rtime). There is no point in getting mad at them, accept the gift and deal with it later.

📒 Summary + Notes

The book goes about how the author came with the idea for the 1 year 100 Thing Challenge. His preparation for it and his execution. The book also contains some anecdotes from the author's past and his denunciation of American Style Consumerism in favor of a simpler lifestyle.