How to Embrace Minimalism With Christine Platt
This week, we’ll learn how to cut back on your belongings and embrace a minimalist lifestyle with the help of author and advocate Christine Platt (aka Afrominimalist ). Christina’s personal journey from overconsumption to minimalism is a source of inspiration, and she helps us understand how everything from childhood to property psychology makes us cling to much more than we need to. Hear Christina’s advice on how to start getting rid of the trash without overwhelming yourself, how to behave like a minimalist, and why the first step to becoming a minimalist isn’t something you might think about.
Christina’s new book , An Afrominalist’s Guide to Living With Less, is out on June 15th.
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Highlights from this week’s series
From an interview with Christine Platt:
On the important first step to getting rid of the trash:
[B] Before you begin this letting go process, first understand why you have more than you need. Why did you end up in this place of overconsumption at all? Because everyone just wants to jump right there, like, “I’m ready to go to my closet. I am ready to find what causes joy, and I get rid of everything that does not give. ” Right? But it’s like, until you understand why you have all those things that do not cause joy, you risk being in the same space over and over again.
On how to lead a minimalist lifestyle as a parent:
[M] minimalism is such a process of self-discovery … [and] one of the most difficult things for me was that I allowed and was responsible for all the excesses and excessive consumption that my child had because she did not have a job … Right … So why do we act like over-consuming them is their fault? We allow and allow these things in their lives, whether we do it out of guilt, whether we fulfill our own childhood desires and expectations that have not come true. You know, there are so many reasons why we feel obligated to screw up if you want to use that word, or just give this life of abundance to our kids that they don’t really ask for. After all, most kids are totally overwhelmed with whatever is given to them … You have to learn to say no, be it to yourself, grandparents, you know, friends, etc. family. She doesn’t need more. And I usually offer a solution. She doesn’t need anything else, but, you know, her birthday is in July, which is usually a long time to get back to school. So why don’t you donate a backpack full of supplies in her honor? Offering people a solution or other alternative is usually very helpful indeed.
On one of her slow and sustainable approaches to trash disposal:
One of the challenges I started on Instagram was to actually get people to give up one thing every day for one year. And … at the end of the year, you will have released at least 365 items. And that’s why so many people signed up for this challenge because they said, “Okay, it just takes so much pressure off me.” And they go into their closets and say, “I’m going to let go of one thing.” And then maybe some days they let go of 30 [things], some days they let go of 60 [things], but some days they suppress, and they let go of one. But this very idea is that slowly and surely you will get to where you reach your goal, living with less, you know, feeling that feeling of liberation without the pressure that comes with trying to do it like this weekend military mission. A weekend to clean up everything you’ve accumulated over the past few decades? When you say it out loud, it sounds absolutely impossible. And for most people, it’s just that. And I’m just asking, why are you putting so much pressure on yourself, especially when it’s an endless journey?
For more advice from Christina, we recommend listening to the entire episode.
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