drupagliassotti @ August 17, 2010 # No Comment Yet
Commodification is a form of sympathetic magic. That is, telling someone that if they buy designer clothes they will be considered as desirable as the celebrities who normally sport the stuff is akin to telling someone that if they put on a wolfskin belt by the light of the moon they’ll turn into a werewolf. [...]
drupagliassotti @ July 23, 2010 # No Comment Yet
My university department is about to move to a new building, which, as you can see from the photo, means that I need to pack everything up. That’s all right; I enjoy moving. It gives me a chance to scrutinize my possessions and think about what’s still working for me and what isn’t. And that’s [...]
drupagliassotti @ February 24, 2010 # No Comment Yet
Minimalism is not necessarily…. 1. Cheap. People often equate minimalism with the “college dorm room” look; particleboard and plastic. But you could be a minimalist who buys only objects of the very highest quality that reflect your exquisitely refined taste. 2. Frugal. Minimalism is often cited as a great way to save money. However, you [...]
drupagliassotti @ February 23, 2010 # No Comment Yet
Three or four years ago I spent a lot of time and money creating a series of scrapbooks that combined photos, art, and artefacts to describe my life. Last weekend I ripped them all into pieces. Most of the pages and photos were thrown away. The rest will be scanned and then thrown away. Minimizing [...]
drupagliassotti @ February 22, 2010 # No Comment Yet
Yesterday I blogged about why I’m wary of 100-thing minimalism. Despite my skepticism about the “100-thing” practice, however, I still believe it’s beneficial to avoid clutter and overconsumption. I agree with the voluntary simplicity guideline that you should strive to own only those items you (a) love, (b) use on a regular basis, or (c) [...]
drupagliassotti @ February 21, 2010 # 8 Comments
I’m 43; I’ve been practicing voluntary simplicity since 2000, with varying levels of successes and setbacks. This isn’t a minimalist blog, and I’m not claiming to be a minimalism expert. (4/26/10: Welcome, readers from Far Beyond the Stars; if you want my response to the post that sent you here, it’s over here. But please [...]
drupagliassotti @ December 12, 2008 # 2 Comments
I don’t decorate much for Christmas. The two Christmas celebrations I attend — Christmas Eve & Day with my sister and nephew, and a second January Christmas with the whole family — are all at other people’s houses, which means I’m not decorating for anybody but myself. And I don’t like clutter. Nevertheless, it’s about [...]
drupagliassotti @ August 20, 2008 # 2 Comments
Professors keep paper — way too much paper. After ten years of accumulation, this summer I began purging my files of articles I’d saved but no longer used. In doing so, I ran across an article I’d kept called “The Ineluctable Mysteries of Possessions.” The article disputes the assumption that the relationship between people and [...]
drupagliassotti @ May 2, 2008 # No Comment Yet
For the last 10 years I have been simplifying my life. A traumatic event started it off, as it does so often — in my case, divorce. But even though I had been shedding possessions since the divorce, it was another trauma — my mother’s sudden and unexpected death last August — that really made [...]
drupagliassotti @ March 9, 2008 # One Comment
I’m clutterphobic. There isn’t nearly as much written about clutterphobes as there is about clutterers, but it may be just as problematic in its own way. Does anyone else start to get twitchy about owning too many drinking glasses? (“I live alone — what do I need six drinking glasses for? I never have more [...]