I was like an unfocused college student. I would read and watch all sorts of things, as long as they had already received high acclaim. I was studying great people and great works, but I wasn’t really making my own choices; I was just consuming information haphazardly. All that, I think, has started to change. Having minimized my material possessions, I’ve also started to minimize the information I take in. I no longer follow useless news, gossip, or random stand-up comedy. I don’t try to fill my conversations with things that other people have made or done. Instead of focusing on the voices of others, I focus on and believe in the voice that’s coming from me. What I often feel now is that I’m “returning” to myself. I used to feel that so many great things had already been produced in the world that there was nothing I could add. I was so worried about what other people would think that I developed an oversized fear of making mistakes. If I came up with a great idea, I’d reject it because it came from me. This is what I imagine. There used to be another “me” who lived inside me. He had the same size, shape, and form as my usual “self.” But the more concerned I became about the outside world, the smaller the inside me got. He was so battered that he could barely get back on his feet. But I now feel as though that little old me has finally gotten up. Minimalism has given me the focus to revive my inner me.
— Fumio Sasaki, Goodbye, Things: The New Japanese Minimalism
Portrait of Fumio Sasaki by Irwin Wong for The Sunday Times. “If you like it, chuck it: secrets of Japan’s most radical minimalist.”
What a wonderful return to acceptance of self
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Sure is.
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Intriguing. Certainly something to be said for simplifying life. I have found that I am more focused (and satisfied) with simple activities in these mompnths of severely curtailed external activity.
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Yep, me too Lori. Me too.
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How clearly he is able to articulate his own re-discovery. In these days when I can barely figure out what the hell is happening around me, such ‘aha’ moments strike me as even more remarkable.
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Yes, and so young. HIs book is one that I won’t be able to shake from my consciousness.
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That is exactly how I’ve been feeling.
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Reblogged this on It Is What It Is and commented:
I really need to this this!! Can I afford to on this ‘current American reality’, though? … “the more concerned I became about the outside world, the smaller the inside me got. He was so battered that he could barely get back on his feet. But I now feel as though that little old me has finally gotten up. Minimalism has given me the focus to revive my inner me.” … Fumio Sasaki, Goodbye, Things: The New Japanese Minimalism.
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Sounds like he grew up never being told that he matters. Pretty screwed up! Well, I’m glad he figured it out and is coming out of that shell.
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Laughing….love that.
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Is Fumio related to Marie Kondo? 😉
I honestly can’t handle minimalism right now – we already had to give away stuff for thousands of CHF after our removal and of course we still have more than enough – but it’s a mind-thing, and I haven’t the mind for it!
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Unrelated. Get your Mind to it!
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it was supposed to be a weak joke….
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Mission accomplished!
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There is a me and an I. The me exhibits the stains of worldly influence through passing time. The I is unique and unchanged since birth. When the stains of the world are allowed to be cast aside, what is left then is the I and me as one.
-Ala
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And I and me are still working this Alan. 🙂 Thank you.
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I could certainly use this advice…
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Me too!
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