I received an advance reader copy of this non-fiction, self-help category book entitled Love People, Use Things: Because the Opposite Never Works by Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus due for publication release July 13th, 2021 by Celadon Books. The authors are best known as The Minimalists and have shared their philosophy of living with less to millions through documentaries. podcasts, newsletters, and prior books.
In this new book, Love People, Use Things, Joshua and Ryan go into more depth beyond simply teaching one how to declutter to show how minimalism makes room to reevaluate and heal the seven essential relationships in our lives: Stuff, truth, self, money, values, creativity, and people. They use their own experiences along with those of other people who they have met along their journey to provide a template on how to live a fuller, more meaningful life.
While I heard of The Minimalists and may have read a few Facebook posts they wrote or saw them interviewed on TV, I never really paid much attention to them or their books before. Now, after reading Love People, Use Things, I have to admit I am intrigued by their premise that once we have fewer things in our lives we can make room for the right kind of more. That personal relationships and our creativity often suffer when we succumb to the idea that having bigger, better, more up-to-date, more status symbol-type things in our lives. Part memoir, part confessional, part collection of rules and guidelines this book gave me quite a bit to ponder. I was shocked to read in their book how many possessions the average person owns, the amount of debt many people occur, and the lack of savings many have toward retirement. In the constant quest to acquire things many actually only add stress and unhappiness to their lives. That often overflowing collections are relegated to storage units--a growing and almost uniquely American phenomenon.
One of the exercises The Minimalists use is to advise someone very dedicated to removing clutter from their lives to pack up all their belongings as if they were going to move and then to unpack only the essentials that one needs in daily life progresses. This extreme exercise teaches what possessions we have are really important, as often much never needs to be unpacked. That made me reflect on when my husband and I moved from our house in Brooklyn, New York to a house in the Denver suburbs almost nine years ago. We had lived in our Brooklyn house 36 years, just a few years after we were married. When packing to move I was surprised by the amount of stuff we had accumulated over the years. It was all organized and much of it was hidden away in closets, basement and garage storage, and in drawers and cabinets. I discarded, donated, sold, and recycled much, but as you can see from the photos above a lot also moved West with us. Upon reflection, after reading this book, I would have pared down these boxes even more. The Minimalists made me realize that it is better not to keep things "just in case," or "maybe I'll need it someday." More often than not that never occurs or the object will have become outdated or out of style. An example of this is the much smaller size clothes most of us keep in the back of our closets "just in case we lose weight." Even if we do lose that weight we often find we don't reach for the old or even remember that we saved it!
Other exercises and suggestions in this book are how to get out of debt, the best investments to make, how to withdraw from constant use of electronics and smartphones, how to increase our creativity and utilize our time, how to improve our relationships with both ourselves and others.
When you read Love People Use Things you will most likely find, much as I did, much to think about beyond decluttering the possessions we have. It is a self-help primer to ridding ourselves of emotional baggage, of being driven to acquire more material things, and encouragement to instead enjoy our relationships, experiences, and have a life with fewer distractions.
If you'd like to learn more about The Minimalists go to their "Start Here" page on their blog to learn most about them and their social media sites and prior publications.
Disclaimer: I was provided with an advanced copy ( ARC) of the book Love People Use Things: Because the Opposite Never Works by Celadon Books in exchange for my honest review. No other compensation was provided
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