Now that I've told you a little bit about changes that I'm trying to make and why I'm trying to make them, I thought I'd share some of the influences that I've considered as I've made the journey from adoration at the altar of crass consumerism to minimalist monk (I'm exaggerating, of course). I've considered many ideas and read many things over the past four years, and here are some of my major influences:
Into the Wild: Nothing I've read or seen has influenced me as deeply on an emotional level as this movie. If you've never seen it, I can't recommend it highly enough. I don't recommend it because of its philosophy, but rather because it is simply an excellent movie and one of my favorites. In short, the protagonist leaves behind most material comforts and possessions, as well as emotional attachments, in favor of living a life of adventure. As he dies of sickness and starvation, alone in the middle of nowhere in Alaska, he realizes that he may have taken things too far, especially as far as cutting off his human relationships is concerned. At one point, I was really into the idea of going it by myself and cutting myself off from everyone I know (Would it surprise you to know that I feel like this every day that I set foot in the office?), but I've since come to my senses and realized that not only is this completely inadvisable, it's not actually what I want.
Walden: Thoreau was one of the main influences on the protagonist in "Into the Wild", so I thought I would look into his most famous work, "Walden". Thoreau wrote this book while he lived alone and with few material comforts near the shore of Walden Pond (pretty place, by the way--we visited it a few years ago). I got bored with the book half-way through and never finished it, but the idea that a person could live and thrive without many possessions increased my interest in paring back my own possessions and getting more focused on things that were important to me.
Leo Babauta: Some might say that Leo Babauta is the most famous blogger and patron saint of the minimalist influence. He writes books and blogs on matters relating to minimalism and living a simpler life. On a whim, I checked out his book "Focus" and went from there to his blogs, zenhabits and mnmlist. I don't think Leo is a particularly gifted writer and I don't always agree with what he has to say, but he has a lot of good ideas for living a better life by living simply, removing clutter and distractions, and staying focused on personal passions.
The 100 Thing Challenge: I recently read this book and liked the premise. The author decides that he's going to try living with only 100 personal possessions for a one-year period. While you could argue that he cheated on some of the numbers (for example, he considered his entire book collection "one possession"), he has profound experiences as he starts to focus on what he needs versus what he wants, and then shifts from living in pursuit of possessions to focusing on experiences and building relationships. Again, not the best writing, but an interesting story and I like the concept. I don't think I'll ever get down to that few possessions--certainly I have no number in mind--but I respect and admire the people who try this sort of thing. Leo Babauta is undertaking a 50 thing challenge, by the way.
Dave Ramsey: I don't listen to him on the radio and don't watch him on TV, but I did read his most famous book "Total Money Makeover" and was inspired by its ideas about focusing on priorities, building up a safety net of cash rather than possessions, etc. I didn't care for its many Christian references (this was also an annoying part of "The 100 Thing Challenge", but I'm willing to overlook that in favor of the main premise of the book), but I realize that that probably won't bother most people.
Minimalist aesthetics: The little lady and I first visited the Walker Art Center at least five years ago, and we weren't particularly thrilled with what we saw there. We were particularly disgusted by paintings that included one or two colors painted on a canvas--no design, no shapes. How could anyone call that art??? Fast forward a few years later, and I've learned to really enjoy and appreciate art that contains few elements like that--simple colors, few designs or distractions, etc. You'll often see elements of this in my photography, which I've come to consider my main outlet of artistic expression. The photos I've included in this and my previous post are good examples of that. There is a lot of beauty to be found in stripping a scene down to its basic elements, either by limiting the use of color or by restricting the number of objects in the scene. You can see how taking these ideas and applying them to non-artistic aspects of my life might be appealing, particularly after considering the other ideas and influences I've listed here.
These are not all my influences, but these are some of the major ones. If you've got any that you like and recommend, I'd love to hear about them.
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