Minimalism and Vanity

These two words are contradictions to each other.

A Minimalist life is a chosen life of function over fashion. With that being said, all the elements in our lives that are there for looks, for image, should be kept too a minimum. And even more important, they should require next to none of our resources to (time and money) to acquire and maintain.

You see …… fashion is not a real purpose. It’s an image, and therefore an illusion. Image alone is a means to no end. Now obviously we all want to project a positive impression to others to improve relations, but doing this does not require a tremendous amount of our resources.

“Class is not something you buy. Look at you, you’ve got a $500 suit, and you’re still a low life”

Nick Nolte (48 hours)

Always, do I see people wasting enormous amounts of time on looks, on fashion:

  • A man spending two hours washing then waxing his car.
  • 10min for a woman to apply makeup in the morning.
  • An expensive hair cut where the barber has to do the edging just perfect. Edging and etching.
  • Re-painting the home when the old paint has not faded or gotten dirty.
  • Cosmetic surgery

Whenever I see these things I think “Who cares? What insecurity are you feeding? And if there are people in your life that apply a lot of value to the details of how your car/hair/home/face/boobs look, then these are the toxic people you should be ejecting from your life in the first place.”

Focusing on image too much drains intention/purpose from our lives.

Often have I found that people that always look amazing, well polished, cut, chiseled, and fresh out of a magazine, spend so much time on that look, that the image, that it is all that they are. That’s it! I will be 10 minutes into a conversation with them and realize that there is nothing there. Nothing behind the look. An empty space where ambition, drive, prospects, humor, and character should be.

On the flip side, the most stimulating conversations I have ever had have been with people who appear to have slept in their clothes last night. They don’t have time or interest in changing their clothes. They’re focused on a project right now.