Comments on: A Guide to Self-Reliance Minimalism

By: Ashesela

Ashesela — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:43:52 +0000

I think that this is a great article! I completely understand as well, I rely on 'stuff' because I am not confident in myself. I really have to work on that… thanks so much for the eye-opener! :)

By: Lola

Lola — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 10:12:22 +0000

I would highly recommend NOT reading “The Happy Minimalist.” The website offers nothing either.

By: Simple Living News Update

Simple Living News Update — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:09:03 +0000

[...] A Guide to Self-Reliance Minimalism [...]

By: Suzanne

Suzanne — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 03:33:34 +0000

"Having a conviction that you don’t need stuff to survive or succeed."

Although I'm a minimalist materially, I don't think a blanket conviction to not needing stuff is useful. Here's why. If you want to be a successful internet entrepreneur, you need the right stuff. Of course you could do it on dial-up and a 5 year old machine, but cable and a 2 year old machine is going to make it easier. Any crafts-person will tell you that having the right tools, and good quality tools makes all the difference.

I like to be very deliberate about the tools I surround myself with and the degree to which they enhance and/or clutter my life. I also consider the environmental impact of them.

"Stuff" is a big domain. I know where you're coming from though.

By: Michael Michalowski

Michael Michalowski — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 03:17:21 +0000

I like the term “Self Reliance Minimalism” a lot because I feel empowered when reading about it. It sounds really great to gain more power from within yourself instead of focusing on outer things. It empowers me to think about appreciating my body more, to train and to see whats possible for myself “alone”.

By: Omar Eduardo Fernández

Omar Eduardo Fernández — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 18:51:06 +0000

I just re-read this post, it's excellent. I have also been de-cluttering, reducing, and simplifying, but all of this has been with a goal. I do it to make sure that I can make the best use of my time, energy, and mind. I find that by taking certain steps to simplify, I can have a much more quite mind that allows me to do more focused work as necessary.

Thank you for this post.

By: Minimalist Pursuit « bigger than me

Minimalist Pursuit « bigger than me — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:29:34 +0000

[...] like to say that this works in conjunction with (rather than against) the what Jeffrey Tang calls ’self-reliance minimalism’. While his is a more secular view, I couldn’t agree [...]

By: markflagg

markflagg — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:57:17 +0000

The miniaturization of the telephone, combined now with its multi-functionality, can give one an illusion of living with less. “I've just got my IPOD,” but there are a fifty apps on it, so my focus is all on the phone as I walk about ignorant of the actual world. Yesterday, a gorgeous Indian Summer day, a man walked in the woods texting. He couldn't see the forest for the Ts, you could say.
I'd say he has become much less self-reliant, since he can't go anywhere without his phone.
He is linked to a virtual world perhaps, but out of touch with this one. He has made his 'self' minimally vital to the real world as he's taken himself out of it.

By: Jeffrey Tang

Jeffrey Tang — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 18:26:12 +0000

I can see the difficulty there. Simplification is good, I think, but there are limitations. The extreme of simplicity is stasis, where nothing changes, nothing happens. It applies to technology too … a computer can only be so small before it becomes physically unusable.

For me, minimalism (and simplification) always has a stopping point. That's why I prefer to start from the top (i.e., a situation where things are bigger and more cluttered) then slowly pare down until I'm satisfied. What do you think?

By: markflagg

markflagg — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:58:11 +0000

I came across your discussion while poking around for articles related to miniaturization (in electronics, consumer goods, medical devices, cars, etc.) and self-concept. I'm speculating on the paradox of how our abilities to express a self concept suffer with the 'growth' – proliferation of small things originally meant to foster communication. Think of Twitter, cell phones, texting…
A 140 character tweet means little room for developing ideas. 'Ten thousand birds twittering/ telephone wires sing/ Still there is no symphony.' (This is the paradox of Haiku)