My IKEA meatball moment that killed my minimalist obsession

I was at that big IKEA in Brooklyn about 3 years ago, you know the one with the escalator that goes through all the showrooms. I used to be one of those people who thought minimalism was the only way to live, like having more than 50 things meant you were a bad person or something. I told my buddy Mike that anyone with a coffee table full of coasters and magazines had no self control. Then I saw this family with three kids sitting on one of those Klippan sofas, surrounded by toys and blankets and just laughing, totally happy. I realized my stupid take about needing to own nothing was just me being scared of making my space feel like a home. The whole idea that having stuff makes you cluttered in your head is so dumb, it's just stuff. Has anyone else had a random moment in a store that made you ditch a dumb belief you held onto for years?

3 comments

3 Comments

kimreed1mo ago

Hold up, I gotta say I think you're reading way too much into a furniture store trip. Seeing a family laugh on a couch isn't exactly a deep life revelation, it's just a normal Tuesday. You swapped one extreme for another, like minimalism was some huge problem instead of just a trend people tried for a bit. Your whole world view hinged on a magazine rack and some coasters? That seems more like you were just looking for a reason to feel superior, not actually scared of making a home. Maybe the dumb belief wasn't about the stuff, it was about taking your own opinions so seriously in the first place.

kim1911mo ago

One random afternoon doesn’t rewrite your whole belief system, come on.

elizabethn567d ago

One random afternoon doesn’t rewrite your whole belief system, come on." Yeah, says the person who probably hasn't had a couch reveal shake their entire worldview. Next you're gonna tell me a single mustard stain on a white shirt isn't a life-altering event. Maybe kimreed just needed a quick trip to IKEA to realize their minimalism phase was just a fancy way to avoid buying coasters.