Simpler Life

I listened to this as an audiobook and it felt like an ok podcast. Good themes and some nice prompts to give much more consideration to what you are doing and why.

I agree with others that the poverty section was horrible, anyone who has experienced real poverty, lives in a run down building in a really poor area will attest to the fact it is not noble or beautiful. It can be dangerous, exhausting and demoralising. That section really is for those who are rich enough to be voluntarily poor. I fully support conscious consumption and people buying a lot less but there is an inherent privilege in being able to do this that was not addressed by this book.

This book was not quite what I was expecting, and that’s not a terrible thing.

I was expecting a lot of advice and practical tips on minimizing different areas of my life. What I received was a birds-eye perspective on simplifying life as a whole, in addition to helpful mentalities to have on the journey (which is all arguably more important than basic advice)

Another way of putting it: Rather than this book telling you how to decide which clothes to remove from your wardrobe, it will make you consider the friends in your life and which ones deserve your time and energy.

Rather than dealing with the BS of 5 vs 10 pieces of clothing, this approach at simplicity and minimalism focuses on the largest drainers of our time/energy/life:

Poor relationships, poor jobs, poor friends, poor decisions.

So this book served as a healthy reminder to focus on the big things, not the small things.