Jasmine for Miles

The title for this post probably sounds like it could be radical and politically-charged, and you're probably thinking I'm going to come down hard on capitalism and claim that minimalism is anti-capitalist. Wrong. Minimalism and capitalism can coexist harmoniously when we approach each one from the right angle. And unlike other Western minimalists, I'm not going to chastise anyone for being a consumer in a capitalist economy. I've read a lot about minimalism in the West and one thing I don't like to see other Western minimalist authors do is try to shame people for being consumers in a capitalist economy. While I can agree that I think we largely have too much stuff, I don't have any interest in making anyone feel bad for their purchases. Consumerism is necessary. Mindless consumerism, though, is not so necessary, but it happens. We're generally overworked, underpaid, always stressed, and sometimes acquiring excess stuff happens as a byproduct of emotional e

Not a lot of minimalist writing (that I've read, at least) delves into hobbies. So many books are about discarding stuff and forming better relationships with material things, and might offer only a couple of paragraphs about hobby stuff--if the topic is approached at all. Hobbies require material things; minimalist lessons teach us how to part with material things. But hobbies and minimalist lifestyles aren't, and shouldn't be, at odds with each other.  I have learned a lot about how to live a calmer, happier life the deeper I've gotten into minimalism. Hobbies have always been a huge part of my life, and I haven't given them up even through years of decluttering and restructuring my life. I expect that no one really wants to give up all of their hobbies just for the sake of owning less stuff. So that begs the question... How do hobbies fit into minimalism? First off, so much of minimalism today is about getting rid of the excess of things or stuff that distract