Newminimalists are non-fragile.
I invented the notion of being a "New...minimalist" around 5 years ago when I recognised that the world was headed for a huge global shake-out.
My first thought was that I must become a minimalist and cut the clutter from my life. I did that with surprisingly little discomfort. However. After that I focused in on what happened to me whenever I felt "special". I noticed that this sensation was occurring more and more for me. And. Whenever it did I felt an instant energy surge and this made me think more and more about expansion not contraction. Minimalism had taken the clutter from my life and now I needed to be a different person not just a shadow of what I had been before. Now I felt I had to understand what had happened to me and what I needed to do to sustain it as a positive in my life.
The breakthrough came as I was writing my sci-fi novel "The sixth dimension" which has an underlying narrative about battle between "collective wants" and "individual needs". As I thought my way through that project I decided that if I was to discover a new version of minimalism then it had to be able to include everyone no matter their circumstances. Therefore I began to focus on needs not wants. This lead me to the conclusion that if you have expansive needs then you are as valid a minimalists as anyone who has few needs. More recently, as some of you know, I have applied my ideas to the problems of surviving and thriving in these fragile times. My thinking today is that while you will do this in unique ways there is a universal process that each of you can use. Reduce collective wants. Automate habits. And create new beliefs.
Here is an example of a band that is anti-fragile in our fragile times. They have a core set of needs based on music. They have a core set of habits that supports those needs. And they have a core set of beliefs that support a musician's thoughts and habits.
Foxes and Fossils is an anti-fragile entity that will continue to survive, and thrive, as much of the global music industry implodes around them. They are building a strong global brand on Youtube. However they do most of their best work through a series of local gigs [in carparks with traffic all around them - go figure!]. Most members of this band are part-timers and actually live in 5 different states in the USA. Plus. As their stage name suggests they are a fairy-dust mix of young and old musicians. Also they are a cover band so they do songs that live in the long-tail of musical tastes. And so on and so on......
Richard
My mission is to lead individuals beyond their version of this Orwellian world. The way I plan to do that is to instruct them in the simple disciplines that change the ways they separate their needs from other peoples' wants and therefore alter their habits and beliefs.
Comments