Out of Chaos an organizing newsletter

Mindfulness & Minimalism

This week I was again inspired by Dr. Samantha Boardman, whose newsletter was about how we often seek to solve problems by adding, when really sometimes what we need to do is subtract. It’s an idea I’ve been thinking about for a while, and it’s been promoted by such thinkers as Matthew E. May (The Laws of Subtraction) and Leo Babutta (The Power of Less). I often find myself telling clients that they don’t need a better filing system, they need less paper, or that they don’t need a custom closet, they need fewer clothes.

Boardman talks about how we have an additive culture. We seek to solve problems by adding things: meetings, medications, objects. I thought immediately of phones and food, both issues in my own house. I know there’s an explosion of attention issues and an often-attendant increase in medication, but I wonder: Would we need so much medication if we just got rid of our smart phones? Similarly, obesity and gastrointestinal issues are major problems, but I wonder if there wasn’t so much cheap, unhealthy food coming at us from all directions, would we need the medicine and the billion-dollar diet industry? If we just ate more simply, would our issues resolve themselves?

Then Thich Nhat Hanh died, and I reread Boardman’s piece, which she ends by suggesting we be more mindful. Maybe we try to solve problems with stuff because it seems the fastest way, and we are always busy. It takes time to decide what books to let go of or what clothes you really need. It takes focus. It takes being mindful. Hanh was the master of mindfulness, whose spiritual teachings were timeless and wise and nonjudgmental.  Hanh said, “Mindfulness is the capacity to be aware of what is going on, and what is there.” I often encourage my clients not to think about the shelving they saw that the think they need, and instead encourage them to look at what they already have. I say, “You have nice bookshelves, but maybe some of them are full of things you don’t read anymore. Maybe some of this stuff has been here so long you don’t even see it. Let’s settle in and spend some time seeing if there are books you can let go of, which will make room for the new stuff that you don’t have a place for.”

At first, they are reluctant. Going through books one at a time doesn’t give you the same serotonin rush as ordering a shiny new wall-unit. But once they focus on the task, they find it’s deeply satisfying. They realize there are items they can easily let go of, sometimes even things that someone else might enjoy. They realize that they don’t need to spend a bunch of money on endlessly taller, wider, fuller wall-units—who wants that? They realize that they already had not only everything they needed, but more.

In honor of Thich Nhat Hanh, let us be mindful this week. Be aware of when you pick up our phone. Do you really to use it? Or isn’t just a mindless reaction to a quiet moment? Be aware of what you eat. Are you actually hungry, or are you bored or anxious? And be aware of what you acquire. Do you really need it? Is it really the best solution to your problem? Or is there a simpler, more elegant solution that involves less, rather than more?