Do you sometimes feel like you have too much stuff cluttering up your life? Can 20 pairs of shoes really make you happy? Two Northwest authors say maybe not.
Joshua Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus are childhood best friends who had normal, 20-something lives. They had good jobs, homes, cars, clothes, and gadgets. But one day they figured out all that stuff wasn’t making them happy. So they got rid of it. Now they live simply in Montana, and travel the country spreading the word of Minimalism.
“Minimalism is a tool that people can use,” says Nicodemus, “to help question the things in their life to find out what truly adds value. It helps people get the clutter out of the way to make room for the things that are truly important.”
Millburn says five years ago, their lives were radically different. They were both living the American Dream. “Six figure salaries, big houses with more bedrooms than inhabitants, luxury cars, closets filled with expensive clothes, all the trappings of success,” says Millburn.
But along with that came that things that were harder to see. “Massive amounts of debt, stress, anxiety, discontent," says Millburn. "I was overwhelmed by the lifestyle.”
Then two things happened, Millburn’s mother passed away and his marriage ended. He started reevaluating his life and learned about the minimalist movement online. He spent the next eight months paring down his life. “[I was] figuring out what things added value to my life and jettisoning whatever else that was superfluous. I got rid of about 90 percent of my possessions. Now everything that I do own, serves a purpose or brings me joy,” says Millburn.
Nicodemus followed suit, getting rid of things he didn’t need. Now, the two are living with less, writing a blog and books on their lives as minimalists. They’re in Boise on a 100 city tour for their new book “Everything That Remains.” They’ll be talking about their book Saturday at 6 p.m. at Rediscovered Books in Boise.
Nicodemus and Millburn say they’re satisfied with their newly simplified lives. “I’ve never been happier,” says Nicodemus. “I chased happiness for a long time and then I realized I could skip the pursuit of happiness and just be happy, and I am really happy now,” says Millburn.
Copyright 2014 Boise State Public Radio
