First Line Friday // August 6, 2021 Featuring The Minimalists

First Line Friday is a weekly linkup hosted at Hoarding Books. To participate, share the first line of a book of your choice, add the link to the linkup on the host’s page, and check out what others are reading and sharing!     

Today’s First Line:

Our material possessions are a physical manifestation of our internal lives.

About the Book

Title: Love People, Use Things: Because the Opposite Never Works

Author: Joshua Fields Milburn & Ryan Nicodemus (aka The Minimalists)

Genre: Nonfiction, Self-Help, Minimalist Philosophy

Synopsis: In Love People Use Things, Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus move past simple decluttering to show how minimalism makes room to reevaluate and heal the seven essential relationships in our lives: stuff, truth, self, money, values, creativity, and people. They use their own experiences—and those of the people they have met along the minimalist journey—to provide a template for how to live a fuller, more meaningful life.

I started reading this book a few weeks ago. I was excited at first – I’ve followed the Minimalists’ podcast off and on for a while and appreciated their documentary. Personally, I don’t think this philosophy works on a comprehensive level, but I do think the idea of minimalism is much more beneficial than consumerism. I was excited when I started the book. Unfortunately, I won’t be finishing it. At a few chapters in, I found myself struggling to relate to the struggles and situations described in the book. If you’re rich and unhappy, or if you’re in debt and surrounded by more stuff than you know what to do with, then I am sure this would be a very helpful book. That just isn’t my situation. Sure, I could do with less stuff. I have duplicates of some items, things I’m holding onto purely for sentimental value, and a box here or there that I don’t get into more than once a year. But I don’t just have bags and piles of stuff lying around that I bought because I thought it would make me look cool or bring me happiness. I wear all of my clothes regularly, with the exception of some formal wear and cold weather gear. I don’t have a garage dedicated to stuff that I don’t look at or use on a regular basis. I live in a space that is big enough for me and that I can afford. It isn’t the nicest or biggest or the fanciest, but it fits my needs and, again, it’s what I can afford. Love People, Use Things speaks to those who are in a significantly higher financial bracket than I am. I don’t consider myself a true minimalist, but after thinking through the things that this book opens with, I simply don’t have many things to get rid of, so there is no point in continuing to read a book that is trying to convince me to get rid of things that I do not have.

There’s nothing wrong with the way this book is written. It simply isn’t written for me. I hope that a more fitting reader comes across it; I returned my copy to the library early so that I wouldn’t stand in their way.

What books are on your radar at the moment? What have you read recently that left an impression on you, either positive or disappointing?

Until the next chapter,

Jana