Minimalism, More from Less?

What material possessions actually enhance your quality of living? What adds value to your life, really? These are the questions that writers/producers Joshua Fields-Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus want everyone to answer in their documentary “Minimalism: A Documentary about the Important Things”.

Minimalism is a concept that has long been associated with many cultures. The idea that less clutter and excess stuff might help one achieve clarity in life is not an alien concept. However, for Americans, who’ve grown up in the biggest consumer society ever produced, the idea of only possessing items which are inherently necessary for ones life, seems rather foreign.

This documentary combats the initial reluctance of our nation to part with their meaningless possessions by interviewing happy, successful people who all describe themselves as “minimalists”. Beginning with testimonies from Fields-Millburn and Nicodemus themselves, who are childhood friends that left their six-figure telecommunications careers to pursue true happiness via simplicity, the film exhibits the personal stories of those who are at the frontlines of the growth of minimalism in America.

Examples range extraordinarily from Colin Wright, a successful former media executive-turned-author that moves to a different country every four months and owns nothing more than what he can carry in two backpacks, to Joshua Becker who lives a seemingly average life in a nice suburban house with his wife and two young children. The common factor among everyone featured though, is that they, in some form or another, have realized that more possessions will never bring more happiness. As is stated by Fields-Millburn and Nicodemus in the film, their mission is not anti-stuff or anti-consumption, but rather against the ideas of consumption and possession without a thought or purpose.

This film makes one think about the decisions they make on a daily basis, and the potential power that those decisions would hold if they were made more intently. I would consider the documentary a must-watch, especially for anyone who is seeking more value from their life, which is hopefully everyone.