Goodbye, Things: The New Japanese Minimalism by Fumio Sasaki
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
A fascinating read.
Ill start by saying that yes, the Author loves Apple and admires Steve Jobs, however this was NOT in a common or overbearing sense that felt awkwardly out of place. We all have our personal heroes and we are reading a book from an Author who likes to use his as an example, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
Before reading this book, I agreed with minimalism in principle, despite not fully committing to the idea literally. However reading this book has allowed me to truly appreciate minimalism as an ideology rather than just the low level removal of items from your life. Minimalism is focused on not only the physical side, but also the mental and emotional sides of our lives too. We live in a time where we are being bombarded with information 24/7 from sources all around us. We aren’t made to be absorbing information 24/7, why should be accept it?
I do personally feel that the Author was at the opposite end of the spectrum before he became a minimalist, an example of why I think this is when he mentioned having up to $10,000 worth of books he never read, scattered across his floors and bookshelves mostly to impress visitors. I get it that he wasn’t a minimalist before, but that isn’t exactly normal ‘non-minimalist’ behaviour.
All in all, I feel like I benefited greatly from this book and feel more encouraged to use the lessons minimalism teaches in my physical, mental and emotional life.
A great read with practical tips, even if you cant follow them all or disagree with a few things, there is something there that everyone can benefit from.