Fill your life with stories to tell, not stuff to show.
The simplicity/minimalism movement is a beautiful community. And I enjoy any opportunity to promote writing that encourages people to live more by owning less.
So fix yourself a nice warm cup of coffee or tea. Find a quiet moment this weekend. And enjoy some encouraging words to inspire more simplicity in your life today.
Simplify Magazine. Simplify Magazine is a new, quarterly publication designed to help families focus on the things that matter most. I am excited to be involved with it. The first issue releases this summer, but you can sign up now to receive the first issue free.
How I Went From Being A Hoarder To A Minimalist | Mind Body Green by Eve O. Schaub. No one can clean your clutter for you. Clutter doesn’t have a place to go yet—they are objects in limbo that are the result of deferred decisions.
The Disease of More | Mark Manson by Mark Manson. Success is often the first step toward disaster. The idea of progress is often the enemy of actual progress.
How to Declutter the Toys | Simple Families by Denaye Barahona. Play with purpose.
How The Rich Are Poisoned by The Preference of Others | Medium by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. When people get rich, they lose control of their preferences, substituting constructed preferences to their own, complicating their lives unnecessarily, triggering their own misery.
Gina says
Being put off by vulgar/crass language isn’t an issue of being religious or not, or “adult” or not. It is a matter of being able to express oneself with better language – and to grasp the matter being put forth without needing vulgarity to entertain you. Yes, there is judgement in this. We have become lazy, sloppy people with regard to the language we consume. “Deal with it” is another symptom of this. It’s lazy at best; we should demand better of the people we give attention to. It’s sheer respect for each other.
Also, as a single and childless person I can assure you the ‘families’ framework leaves my needs and concerns out.
Mandla P Mlotshwa says
I wish I could be satisfied with the least!
Melissa McIntyre says
Ok, so I pretty much NEVER comment anymore (sorry, Joshua!) But just wanted to say I LOVED this weekend reads! The content was varied and different than the usual. Also, just wanted to put this out there…RELAX!!! To all the people freaking out about the language! Don’t like it? Stop reading. You know, kind of like, “turn the other cheek”??? “To each his own”? If you want to be offended or appalled by something, get some worldly perspective. Widows and orphans? Starvation? The poverty and filth that MOST OF THE WORLD lives in? And the statistics often posted by Joshua about all of our “wealth” and “clutter”. Be appalled by all of THAT. And for the record I am a Christian married mother of 7 children…..and I laughed at the language! Gasp!!!!
Judy says
We are appalled by those horrible things you mentioned . So where we can do our best…why don’t we? Why add more filth to an already polluted world. Words do matter.
Melissa McIntyre says
Maybe the words are to get your attention because apathy is RAMPANT in our culture.
Naresh Saini says
This is fantastic! I try to read this every week but need to be more deliberate about it! I will be pinning this for later too!
Miss Ellie Mae says
Hi Joshua – Mark Manson needs his mouth washed out with soap (preferably Fels Naptha) and an Oxford Dictionary so his vocabulary expands past that of a juvenile 15 years old.
Vicki K says
Joshua, I appreciate the articles you choose for the weekend reads. Perhaps, you could give a language advisory for such articles that have it. Really, it is not a holier-than- thou position that prompts my request – just that I choose not to clutter my mind and thoughts with that kind of language especially on the weekend which is a refreshing time to not be around it.
Thank you for your consideration.
Pat says
The cursing in the article, The Disease of More, was disappointing and unnecessary to its relevance. I’m disappointed that you featured it. I’ve enjoyed your site very much until I ran across this particular article. I would suggest that Mark Manson consider applying the minimalist approach and unclutter his otherwise brilliant and helpful writing of colorful language.
Mary Kay says
I was not offended by the Manson piece. I found his ideas interesting and refreshing!
I often get offended by faith-based, “holier than thou” pieces that I read. Do you know what I do when that happens? I stop reading it. I’m an adult. I know what I like and what I don’t. I don’t need an advisory (caution: the author believes in God and is eager to push his ideas on you). Sometimes I even read stuff written by people with religious beliefs just to get a different perspective! I take responsibility for only reading what I want to read. I just want to encourage people to be open minded and consider that what is offensive to one person is not necessarily offensive to others.
Michael says
Thank you for the comprehensive reading suggestions list. I read them all and particularly enjoyed the first article. )Note: there was no need to identify the subject- “I” -twice or more as too many of these articles evidenced! What has happened to simple grade school grammar that now professionals don’t seem to know the basics?)
All that aside, every article was excellent but while Mark Manson’s point were apt and well founded, it was incredibly off-putting his incessant need to insert crassness into his prose. It undermined his authoritativeness and made me want to skim rather digest his many excellent points. His swearing cheapened the experience (beyond that already noted, almost expected use of redundant subject identification). Why do authors writing an otherwise professional article feel the need to switch to vulgarity like some boozy comedian? As we learned growing up, swearing is for the boorish and lazy minded. It’s a cheap way out. The English language is so incredibly diverse and robust that there’s absolutely no reason to cheapen it with the gutteral, almost base reflex of jumping to 4 letter words unless one is either intellectually lazy, not terribly imaginative or perhaps just not terribly educated. I hope others out there consider honing their art more creatively than the incessant lurch towards the dumbing down of language and, in turn, people.
psalmlady says
Perhaps a language warning could be included when posting a link that contains profanity?
Sometimes, unfortunately, a great and inspiring read will include something offensive…whether in word or thought.
Thanks for keeping us inspired, God bless!