It seems less prevalent than it used to be, but I remember back in the early 2000's when minimalism wasn't only trendy in places like offices and dorm rooms, it was a "new way of life" for a lot of people. A life without distractions and junk, and if you ask me...without life. After decades of our boomer parents and their parents amassing a large collection of "stuff", the younger generations (gen x and millennials) wanted to declutter and get rid of anything a person didn't have to have. I think most confused not buying new crap you didn't need, with getting rid of everything.
The problem was never in keeping stuff. It was in buying stuff. Minimalism attacked the wrong end of the pipeline.
Listen, I get it. We all have too much shit. Our parents and their parents had even more. We grew up with our homes having a lot of.... stuff. Part of this is a result of the Great Depression, which, rightfully so, caused people to hold on to even the smallest things. People lost their entire lives in the depression, everything they owned, so holding on to things became essential. A tin can could be a cup or a bowl or made into countless other things that might be useful and could not be afforded otherwise. It's exactly why you see a lot of older homes with construction oddities, jerry-rigging, and makeshift hardware.
Then we have the Golden Age of Capitalism that came afterward. Unprecedented economic growth and stability made acquiring stuff easier and more affordable than it ever had been before. This consumerist mindset was touted almost universally in media. It was "patriotic" to buy stuff and help the economy keep moving. "IT'S ONLY GOING TO GET BETTER!", they said. Now pair that with the need to keep things from the previous generation and you've got a recipe for disaster.
The aspiring minimalists looked at all of this and lost their collective minds, deciding the stuff was the problem.
I think they got it bass ackwards.
I'm not advocating for hoarding. Don't keep 37 empty laundry detergent bottles in your basement next to the washing machine, if you don't need or have a plan for them.
Instead, what I am advocating for is keeping more than you have to have. It's ok to keep things you don't "need". There are two categories here; stuff that you keep knowing it'll be used or useful, then stuff that you keep because of sentimental value or some sentimentally rooted purpose.
"Useless" Stuff
I keep a lot of stuff, I really do. A length of metal top rail from a fence, the bottom legs and rungs from a stool I cut shorter, a bit of conduit, a leaf from a long-gone dining room table, parts of an old ladder that was repurposed into a blanket holder, the old coffee pot that still works. I hold onto this stuff because it will be useful at some point. My nature and upbringing mean I already have some ideas in mind for things I keep, scenarios in which it would be useful. Keeping stuff only pays off if you're resourceful enough to do something with it, now or later. Good news though, that's a skill, not genetics.
What I get out of it is a self-sufficiency that money can't buy. Now, I can't like manufacture wood screws in my garage or anything. It's not that level of self-sufficiency. But if I want another raised bed, I have everything I need already, from stuff I've kept.
Want a bird bath? I've got terracotta saucers, a roll of old bailing wire, and some well past retired garden hose in the garage. Tree hanging bird bath coming right up. Costs zero dollars and an hour of my time.
Tony Stark was able to build this in a cave! With a box of scraps!
Obadiah Stane
sentimental stuff
I know parents keep a lot of stuff already. Not necessarily every single paper brought home from school, but a lot of stuff. Even keeping a minimal number of sentimental things when kids are growing up means at least one big tote full, probably 2-3. For me? Let's just say it's a lot more than that. That's just the stuff directly pertaining to them, not counting the other totes of "sentimental to me" stuff and stuff that has been passed down from my parents, their parents, and family.
What does it cost me? Some space, in my basement. What does it give me? Decades of memories, for myself and those after me. Kids, grandkids, great grandkids. Will my kids have to deal with my massive amount of stuff when I die? Sure will, that's their problem. What is the alternative, deciding for my kids what matters to them before they ever get to look? What if one dumb scrap of paper triggers a memory once lost? That's worth the cost of a tote from Menards.
I'm 99% sure I keep even more than my mom did when I was growing up. Sports jerseys my kids have worn, old pajamas, figurines, little notes and scraps with writing on them. Keeping this stuff costs me nothing but an always on sale tote from Menards every once in a while. And some space. One thing I need to be clear about is that I DO go back and look at this stuff, even if it's just to punish myself with nostalgia. I don't want to shove stuff away and forget it was ever a memory.
I don't mean everything lives in a tote in your basement, either. These memories, this stuff, should be out on display. The house being cluttered isn't a moral failing, it's just your life on display. The random figurine you have, art on the fridge from 3 years ago, that weird ceramic pot thing your kid made... that's not clutter. A minimalist looks at a lived-in house and sees a mess. I see a house that remembers things.
I want to feel like a wizard who is surrounded by the collections of his many adventures.
Hank Green
One man's trash...
We don't need more shit, we really don't. But the stuff we already have isn't the enemy. Some of it will build the next raised garden bed. Some of it will hand your grandkid a memory you'd almost forgotten yourself. The disease isn't keeping things; it's treating everything we own as disposable. Minimalism threw out the cure with the clutter.
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