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Downloaded from
YTS.MX
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[newsman] Some experts
call it a retail apocalypse.
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Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX
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2019 marked one of the worst years
in a decade for brick-and-mortar stores.
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[man] Less Is Now.
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[interviewer] Why do you think
this idea of minimalism or simplifying
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is really catching on right now?
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Mm-hmm.
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I think it's because we have
the opportunity to have so much. [laughs]
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A portion of America's
definitely addicted to stuff.
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Probably not in the classic
psychology sense of addiction.
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We just love stuff!
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Monday, today, is supposed to be
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the biggest online shopping day
of all times,
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reaching around three-and-a-third
billion dollars in online sales.
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Anything that you can think of,
you can get on your doorstep,
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now within 24 hours.
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That's… That's almost like magic, right?
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When you look up at the sky, you may soon
see Amazon's army of new-age deliveries.
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[newswoman] The electronic aircraft
would have a 15-mile range
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and deliver packages within 30 minutes.
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[man] The consumer world understands
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that if I can get you
to choose before you think,
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I'm gonna get you
to buy things you do not need.
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My senses are just being bombarded
with reminders,
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like, "Hey, you should buy this.
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You'd be happier if you buy this."
You know?
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[laughing] And it's just sort of like,
in so many ways,
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they're trying
to beat you into submission.
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"Okay, I'll buy it! I need it! I need it!"
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Amazon, hiring once again.
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The company looking to recruit
100,000 workers
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to meet surging levels
of e-commerce demand.
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Lots of smaller retail businesses
are being lost,
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and the power is being consolidated
in the hands of these giants.
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Stuff is contributing to our discontent
in so many different ways,
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because it's taking the place
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of the things that actually
do give us more happiness.
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I found minimalism about seven years ago
in the midst of a breakdown.
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I was overworked. Um, I was exhausted.
I was heavily stressed out.
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There has to be more to life
than just working.
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I think immediately I got up,
and I went to my closet,
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and I started pulling my clothes out.
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Uh, I stayed up until 3:00 a.m.,
and I just packed so many things.
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[woman] As I started
slowly releasing things,
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I gained a sense of freedom.
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[woman 2] Change is definitely coming.
Change is inevitable,
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because you can't continue to consume
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more than the planet can replenish
every year.
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You just physically can't.
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So the question is not
if we are gonna change as a society,
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but how we are gonna change.
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'Cause we're either gonna change
by design or by disaster.
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It all started with one question.
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How might your life be better with less?
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[birds chirping]
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-[man] Want some tea?
-[woman] Sure.
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[man] Okay.
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[woman] It's in the… Yeah. Okay.
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[man] Yeah, y-you know, I mean,
aesthetics are important to me,
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but what I care most about
is having a place free of clutter.
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So when you look around my place,
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not everything
is necessarily minimalist design.
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I don't go out of my way to specifically
have only minimalist aesthetics.
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But to me, it's… it's clutter-free.
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We often confuse simplicity with easy,
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but it's actually the exact opposite.
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Living a simple life,
it takes a lot of work.
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It takes a lot of work to be intentional.
What's easy is going with the flow.
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It's going out, and going to IKEA,
and buying the cheap furniture
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every time you think you need
a piece of furniture or an end table.
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It is very difficult to go through
some of these stoical experiments
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to see what you can live with
or live without,
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but, in the end, it's worth the work.
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[host]
People go, "Check out this documentary.
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-These guys, The Minimalists."
-[hosts 2] The Minimalists.
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[host 3] The Minimalists are with us.
Joshua and Ryan.
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[TV journalist] They have books,
a podcast, and a Netflix documentary,
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all guiding typical consumers
on how to downsize their way to happiness.
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[Ryan] I don't think you can understand
how Josh and I came to be minimalists
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without looking at our upbringings.
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Both of us grew up poor.
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Our moms had issues with substance abuse,
and we really never had enough.
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Dude, look at this. This is hilarious.
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[laughter]
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Even our furniture.
[chuckling] It was like…
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It was like do-it-yourself furniture.
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That's like our cupboard in the kitchen.
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I was really a happy kid
up until, uh, about the second grade
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when my parents got divorced.
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It happens to a lot of kids,
their parents get divorced.
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But I remember things
really getting dysfunctional when…
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uh, when my mom left my dad.
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And there was just a lot of…
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a lot of partying, I remember.
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And, um, you know, as a kid,
it looked like a lot of fun.
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My mom did a good job
of making it look fun.
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I met Josh in the fifth grade
when I moved to his middle school.
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[laughs] Oh!
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[Ryan] It could have been
that we were both from broken homes
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and didn't have much money growing up,
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or maybe it was that we were
the two fattest kids in our grade,
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but we just hit it off,
and we became best friends.
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[Joshua] When we were growing up,
I feel like we could've used minimalism,
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because minimalism is basically
the intentional use of resources you have,
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and if you have very few resources,
like we did growing up,
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man, we could've done much better
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by being more deliberate
with those resources.
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It's interesting,
because when you're poor,
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it's like, when someone
offers you something, you take it.
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I-I think about my household growing up,
and we had so much stuff,
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because we took every single thing
that was offered to us.
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However, we had a lot of stuff
that we didn't need.
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In fact, it was just clutter,
and it did not add any value.
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As we get more space,
we fill it with more things.
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As we get more things, we need more space,
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so we turn to storage lockers,
or we turn to bigger houses.
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And we never really stop to question,
"What is essential? What is necessary?"
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Then, "How much of the stuff is actually
adding any value to my life at all?"
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A decade ago,
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by the time I was 28 years old,
I had achieved everything I ever wanted.
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I was the youngest director
in my company's 140-year history,
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and I had all the fringe benefits
of a middle manager
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at a major corporation.
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The luxury cars,
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the closet filled with designer clothes,
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the big suburban house
with more toilets than people.
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I guess you could say
I was living the American dream.
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But then, my mom died…
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and my marriage ended…
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both in the same month.
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And these two events
forced me to look around
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and start to question
what had become my life's focus.
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You know what I realized?
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I realized I was so focused
on so-called success, and achievement,
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and especially
on the accumulation of stuff.
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I might have been living
the American dream,
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but it wasn't my dream.
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It took getting everything
I thought I wanted
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to realize
that maybe everything I ever wanted
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wasn't actually what I wanted at all.
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[woman] Corporations
and the drive for corporate profit
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is absolutely behind the addiction
to stuff that we have in this country.
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The way corporations are structured
in this country
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is they really need to keep growing.
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A corporation's primary obligation
is to their shareholders,
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to which they have to keep delivering
increased revenue,
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and that's sort of the foundation
of capitalism, growth.
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I-I don't think the problem has much to do
with how much we're growing,
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but rather how we answer the question
of "where are we going?"
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I think one of the biggest problems
we have in our world now
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is that people
really aren't free to choose.
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We talk about being in a free market
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or a free society,
but people aren't really free to choose.
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Because you just have
one or two large institutions
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that have these artificial monopolies,
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and they get to decide for everyone
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what you can watch,
what you can listen to.
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And so, manipulation of… of our interests,
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manipulation of our natural,
God-given taste really is happening.
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[man] Marketers are really impressive
in their ability to manipulate the mind,
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in their ability to create a need
or a perceived need
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out of something that was a want.
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We live in the most advertised-to culture
in the history of the world.
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Think about it.
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Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent
telling us we need this,
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and it has an effect.
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[Joshua] The money spent on advertising
in the United States
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has increased
from just over $5 billion in the 1950s
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to $240 billion a year today.
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And since the turn of the 21st century,
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much of that spending has moved
from television and radio
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to digital advertising.
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The result, intelligent and predictive ads
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that seem to know us
better than we know ourselves.
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Companies have figured out
how to stitch our devices together,
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so they know when you pick up your tablet
or switch to your smartphone,
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when you change the channel on your TV
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or speak to your smart device.
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Using the GPS on your devices,
they can track your movement
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to see which billboards you pass,
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which stores you frequent,
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and even the amount of credit card debt
you've racked up.
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They map these movements
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to know when it's the perfect time
to message you next.
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And the end goal is always the same.
To get you to buy more stuff.
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And one of the tricks they use
is what we call deficit advertising.
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They send us advertisements
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that make us subconsciously feel
like we are inadequate, um,
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if we don't have this product.
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So, "I will not be loved
if I don't have this toothpaste."
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"My children will not value me
if I don't have this dish soap."
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Everyone's gonna want this.
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It's no different
than the premise of working out at a gym.
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It's the massaging hand sauna.
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-[woman] This is gonna make you thirsty.
-A perfect set for every occasion.
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-You can feel it, you can see it.
-[muffled] You can totally feel it.
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[Annie] This bombardment of messages
that we are not enough.
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So think about what that does
to people, just every day,
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over and over, getting messages,
"You are not enough.
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Your hair, your clothes, your skin,
your body is not enough."
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Just relentless.
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So then we want to go be enough.
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And because we've lost
these other ways of being enough…
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The other ways of being enough
are having a community, having a purpose,
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you know, having an identity
besides the brand on you.
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Because we've lost those,
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we misplace our desire
for belonging and satisfaction
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by buying more stuff.
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We don't really say,
"Okay, I'm gonna turn stuff into my idol."
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We don't say that in our intellect.
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No one intentionally does that.
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But we can tell by our behaviors
that that's actually what we've done.
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Because you know,
if you're saying to yourself,
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"Well, if I just had that car,
I'd be happy then.
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If I just lived in that house,
I'd be happy then.
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If we moved to that neighborhood,
we'd be happy.
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If I had that couch or those new drapes,
I'd be happy then."
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And that means that you're worshiping
at the altar of stuff.
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You have officially contracted
the disease of "stuffitis."
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And so, it becomes a spiritual thing then,
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because it's in competition
with the things that really matter.
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[T.K.] Everybody's selling something.
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And that doesn't mean that…
that selling is always bad. It's okay.
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I want my grocery store
to sell things that I can go buy.
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I want to be able to buy food, right?
So I want them to sell that to me.
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It's not about looking at people
and condemning them for having an angle,
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or for having something they're marketing,
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or for having a product
that they're pushing.
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It's… It's making sure you understand
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that what other people are pushing
is not always consistent.
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It's not always compatible
with what it is you need.
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My shopping habits before minimalism
were compulsive.
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I was spending money,
and it was out of control.
235
00:12:07,643 --> 00:12:11,731
Shopping was a crutch.
It was a place I would go to.
236
00:12:11,814 --> 00:12:14,942
Some people like to emotionally eat.
I would emotionally shop.
237
00:12:15,025 --> 00:12:16,485
I was all about the deal.
238
00:12:16,569 --> 00:12:21,782
So I was all about, um, finding,
you know, that 99% off item
239
00:12:21,866 --> 00:12:24,535
that I could get, you know,
for a huge discount.
240
00:12:24,618 --> 00:12:27,329
I would most likely buy that item
241
00:12:27,413 --> 00:12:29,665
thinking this was the only chance
I would get.
242
00:12:29,749 --> 00:12:32,126
I would have, uh, nail clippers.
243
00:12:32,209 --> 00:12:35,463
I would buy fancy ones,
normal ones, regular ones, you know.
244
00:12:35,546 --> 00:12:38,048
Ones that had a different little thing
to go on it.
245
00:12:38,132 --> 00:12:40,134
I would buy just random stuff like that,
246
00:12:40,217 --> 00:12:42,887
and then I would realize,
like, I'm wasting my money
247
00:12:42,970 --> 00:12:44,597
on things that I already have.
248
00:12:44,680 --> 00:12:48,517
I bought a scooter. A 150 cc scooter.
249
00:12:48,601 --> 00:12:50,895
I thought somehow
that would change my life.
250
00:12:50,978 --> 00:12:54,607
I could imagine myself
riding this in Atlanta.
251
00:12:54,690 --> 00:12:58,444
And if you've ever been
in Atlanta traffic,
252
00:12:59,111 --> 00:13:02,573
the last thing you want to be doing
is riding on a scooter.
253
00:13:02,656 --> 00:13:05,409
I felt like I deserved it.
I felt like I worked really hard,
254
00:13:05,493 --> 00:13:09,288
and these beautiful items would show up
and make me so happy.
255
00:13:09,371 --> 00:13:14,293
And then the feeling of shame
would creep up and guilt,
256
00:13:14,376 --> 00:13:17,296
and the bills would show up, um, and I…
257
00:13:17,379 --> 00:13:19,173
It was just a… a bad cycle.
258
00:13:24,345 --> 00:13:26,180
[Joshua] You know,
it's strange in retrospect,
259
00:13:26,263 --> 00:13:28,974
but I didn't realize we were poor
when I was a kid.
260
00:13:29,058 --> 00:13:31,101
We were on food stamps
and government assistance,
261
00:13:31,185 --> 00:13:33,312
but that seemed totally normal to me.
262
00:13:33,813 --> 00:13:35,523
Poverty was sort of like oxygen.
263
00:13:35,606 --> 00:13:38,567
It was all around me,
but I couldn't see it.
264
00:13:38,651 --> 00:13:40,778
It was just there.
265
00:13:41,529 --> 00:13:45,866
Shortly after I was born, my father's
mental health took a turn for the worse,
266
00:13:45,950 --> 00:13:48,536
and that's when everything
started to change.
267
00:13:49,036 --> 00:13:50,871
You see, when Mom married my dad,
268
00:13:50,955 --> 00:13:54,667
she didn't realize he suffered
from manic depression and schizophrenia,
269
00:13:54,750 --> 00:13:57,211
but she found out pretty quickly.
270
00:13:58,295 --> 00:14:01,966
And Dad's mental illness
was only amplified by his alcoholism,
271
00:14:02,049 --> 00:14:06,595
which made him mean, and aggressive,
and completely unpredictable.
272
00:14:07,763 --> 00:14:11,225
I guess the physical abuse started
around the time I was three years old.
273
00:14:11,308 --> 00:14:13,978
In fact, my very first memory as a child
274
00:14:14,061 --> 00:14:18,566
is of my father extinguishing a cigarette
on my mom's bare chest.
275
00:14:19,733 --> 00:14:24,530
Things only got worse from there,
until, eventually, we escaped.
276
00:14:25,573 --> 00:14:28,993
Mom and I moved 20 miles south
to a suburb of Dayton,
277
00:14:29,076 --> 00:14:30,578
which sounds nice, right?
278
00:14:30,661 --> 00:14:31,829
The suburbs!
279
00:14:32,830 --> 00:14:34,874
But it wasn't really nice at all.
280
00:14:40,212 --> 00:14:42,298
It's gonna be right up here on the right.
281
00:14:44,550 --> 00:14:47,011
You see that green house right there?
That's it.
282
00:14:49,805 --> 00:14:52,933
-[turn signal clicking]
-Oh, man.
283
00:14:54,143 --> 00:14:55,060
Look at that.
284
00:14:55,728 --> 00:14:59,982
It's all boarded up,
and it has, like, this wrap on her.
285
00:15:02,151 --> 00:15:04,194
-[car door opens]
-[Joshua] Wanna take a look?
286
00:15:05,029 --> 00:15:07,740
We lived in a house
that was literally falling apart.
287
00:15:07,823 --> 00:15:09,617
The rent was $200 a month.
288
00:15:10,200 --> 00:15:12,745
Our home always smelled faintly
of empty beer cans
289
00:15:12,828 --> 00:15:14,455
and stale cigarette smoke.
290
00:15:14,538 --> 00:15:15,789
I can still smell it now.
291
00:15:16,373 --> 00:15:19,543
Cockroaches scattered
every time I turned on the kitchen light.
292
00:15:19,627 --> 00:15:21,128
And whenever the power got shut off,
293
00:15:21,211 --> 00:15:24,757
we'd run an extension cord from next door
to keep the TV glowing.
294
00:15:25,674 --> 00:15:27,051
Here's the front door here.
295
00:15:30,137 --> 00:15:31,221
Oh, shit.
296
00:15:32,765 --> 00:15:36,143
It looks like they might have squatters.
It's totally falling apart.
297
00:15:39,605 --> 00:15:43,233
So when we first moved down here,
I know we signed up for food stamps.
298
00:15:43,317 --> 00:15:47,154
As a kid, I didn't know the difference
between the white and green money we had,
299
00:15:47,237 --> 00:15:49,365
because the food stamps
were these white bills,
300
00:15:49,448 --> 00:15:52,534
and then, you know,
green money was just… just money, right?
301
00:15:52,618 --> 00:15:55,537
And she would trade the…
302
00:15:56,872 --> 00:15:59,333
She would trade the white bills…
303
00:16:00,376 --> 00:16:03,837
for the green bills, 'cause you needed
the green bills to buy alcohol.
304
00:16:04,505 --> 00:16:07,466
And so, she'd buy
whatever beer was cheapest.
305
00:16:07,549 --> 00:16:11,595
You know, Milwaukee's Best
or the bottom-shelf bottles of wine.
306
00:16:12,721 --> 00:16:16,392
I'd come home each day from school…
I was about six.
307
00:16:17,059 --> 00:16:23,440
I would find Mom just passed out
on the couch day after day after day.
308
00:16:23,524 --> 00:16:25,776
It became this normal occurrence and…
309
00:16:27,945 --> 00:16:31,240
I feel like
I didn't realize it at the time,
310
00:16:31,323 --> 00:16:35,411
but I kind of thought it was…
kind of thought it was my fault, you know.
311
00:16:37,037 --> 00:16:40,249
As things started unraveling,
Mom's drinking got worse.
312
00:16:40,749 --> 00:16:44,920
Now don't get me wrong, my mom
was a good person with a good heart
313
00:16:45,004 --> 00:16:46,797
and a hilarious sense of humor.
314
00:16:46,880 --> 00:16:50,676
Somewhere along the way, she'd simply lost
a sense of meaning in her life.
315
00:16:50,759 --> 00:16:53,262
And I knew
the only way for me to break the cycle,
316
00:16:53,345 --> 00:16:56,140
the only way for me to find
the meaning that she'd lost,
317
00:16:56,223 --> 00:16:58,392
was to make a lot of money when I grew up.
318
00:17:01,895 --> 00:17:03,814
I remember back when I was a teenager,
319
00:17:04,356 --> 00:17:07,067
I spent most of my summers
working for my dad,
320
00:17:07,151 --> 00:17:09,319
painting and hanging wallpaper.
321
00:17:09,403 --> 00:17:12,865
And you should have seen
some of the houses we worked in.
322
00:17:12,948 --> 00:17:16,201
Some of them were unbelievably fancy.
323
00:17:16,827 --> 00:17:19,038
Ten thousand square foot garages,
324
00:17:19,121 --> 00:17:21,040
indoor swimming pools,
325
00:17:21,123 --> 00:17:22,750
private bowling alleys.
326
00:17:23,250 --> 00:17:27,713
Nothing I aspired to own myself,
but it was pretty impressive.
327
00:17:27,796 --> 00:17:33,469
And then, one day, we started to work
on this really, really nice house.
328
00:17:33,552 --> 00:17:36,305
It wasn't like
a multi-million-dollar nice house,
329
00:17:36,388 --> 00:17:39,600
but it was something nicer
than my mom or dad had ever owned.
330
00:17:39,683 --> 00:17:41,351
The walls in their home,
331
00:17:41,435 --> 00:17:44,730
they were decorated with the smiling faces
of friends and family
332
00:17:44,813 --> 00:17:47,149
that affirmed the happiness
in their lives.
333
00:17:47,232 --> 00:17:51,695
And the stuff in their home,
it filled every nook and cranny.
334
00:17:52,279 --> 00:17:54,406
I pictured myself living there.
335
00:17:54,490 --> 00:17:59,495
I pictured how happy I would be
if I could just own a house like that,
336
00:17:59,578 --> 00:18:01,705
filled with all that stuff.
337
00:18:02,998 --> 00:18:05,584
So, I turned to my dad and I asked him,
338
00:18:05,667 --> 00:18:09,713
"How much do I need to make
in order to own a house like this?"
339
00:18:10,714 --> 00:18:15,427
He looked at me and he said,
"Son, if you can make $50,0000 a year,
340
00:18:15,928 --> 00:18:18,806
you could probably afford
a place like this."
341
00:18:19,306 --> 00:18:22,768
So that became my benchmark. $50,000.
342
00:18:23,894 --> 00:18:26,396
Then, during my senior year
of high school,
343
00:18:26,897 --> 00:18:30,943
Josh and I, we were sitting
at the lonely lunchroom table together,
344
00:18:31,026 --> 00:18:31,902
and we started to talk
345
00:18:31,985 --> 00:18:35,614
about what we were going to do
with our lives after we graduated.
346
00:18:35,697 --> 00:18:38,242
So I told him,
"I don't know what I'm going to do,
347
00:18:38,325 --> 00:18:43,163
but if I can find a way
to make $50,000 a year,
348
00:18:43,664 --> 00:18:45,249
I know that I'll be happy."
349
00:18:46,250 --> 00:18:49,545
So that's what I went and did.
That's what Josh went and did.
350
00:18:49,628 --> 00:18:53,423
We got sales jobs
and we started earning 50 grand.
351
00:18:54,383 --> 00:18:55,759
But something went wrong.
352
00:18:55,843 --> 00:18:58,804
I wasn't happy.
I had to go back to the drawing board.
353
00:18:58,887 --> 00:19:01,974
And thank goodness,
I found out what had happened.
354
00:19:02,683 --> 00:19:05,394
I forgot to adjust for inflation.
355
00:19:06,645 --> 00:19:07,813
So I thought to myself,
356
00:19:07,896 --> 00:19:11,483
"Well, maybe $65,000 a year,
maybe that was happiness.
357
00:19:11,567 --> 00:19:13,277
Or maybe 90,000,
358
00:19:13,360 --> 00:19:15,696
or maybe six figures,
359
00:19:15,779 --> 00:19:19,366
or maybe owning a bunch of stuff.
360
00:19:19,449 --> 00:19:21,702
Maybe that was happiness."
361
00:19:21,785 --> 00:19:23,453
Whatever happiness was,
362
00:19:23,954 --> 00:19:28,542
I knew, once I got there,
I'd finally feel free.
363
00:19:29,501 --> 00:19:33,839
I bought new cars, and electronics,
and closets full of expensive clothes.
364
00:19:33,922 --> 00:19:36,717
I bought expensive home decorations
and furniture,
365
00:19:36,800 --> 00:19:39,428
and I always had the latest gadgets.
366
00:19:39,511 --> 00:19:43,390
And when there wasn't enough cash
in the bank, I paid for expensive meals,
367
00:19:43,473 --> 00:19:47,477
rounds of drinks, and frivolous vacations
with credit cards.
368
00:19:48,103 --> 00:19:53,525
As I made more money, I spent more money,
all in the pursuit of happiness.
369
00:19:53,609 --> 00:19:56,486
All in the pursuit of the American dream.
370
00:19:58,113 --> 00:19:59,656
[man] One thing I think is unique is
371
00:19:59,740 --> 00:20:03,118
when you're an immigrant,
the American dream is still a good thing.
372
00:20:03,202 --> 00:20:05,913
I think it's only people
who grew up in the American dream
373
00:20:05,996 --> 00:20:07,539
that no longer value the American dream,
374
00:20:07,623 --> 00:20:09,249
because it's become
the American nightmare.
375
00:20:09,333 --> 00:20:13,545
[Annie] People in the US work longer hours
than almost any industrialized country,
376
00:20:13,629 --> 00:20:17,466
depending on which data you look at,
but we work enormously long hours.
377
00:20:17,549 --> 00:20:21,220
We work as long hours
as people did during feudal society.
378
00:20:21,303 --> 00:20:23,847
We have such short vacations, if any.
379
00:20:23,931 --> 00:20:26,183
Half the country doesn't even take
two weeks of vacation.
380
00:20:26,266 --> 00:20:28,560
We're commuting longer hours
than ever before,
381
00:20:28,644 --> 00:20:32,814
and then we're spending more time alone
in front of screens than ever before.
382
00:20:32,898 --> 00:20:36,235
We're losing the stuff
that actually makes us happy
383
00:20:36,318 --> 00:20:38,487
and makes society more safe and secure,
384
00:20:38,570 --> 00:20:39,863
which is community.
385
00:20:40,364 --> 00:20:41,865
Um, we're losing that
386
00:20:41,949 --> 00:20:45,244
and changing that time
to work and buy more stuff.
387
00:20:46,119 --> 00:20:50,874
[Erwin] What you don't want in your life
is this endless horizon of aspiration.
388
00:20:50,958 --> 00:20:53,460
"I just need a bit more of this
or a little bit more of that.
389
00:20:53,543 --> 00:20:55,879
I need more success,
more income, more wealth,
390
00:20:55,963 --> 00:21:00,592
a bigger house, bigger car, bigger this,"
because that's just an endless black hole.
391
00:21:00,676 --> 00:21:03,303
When we get all of the things
that we want,
392
00:21:03,387 --> 00:21:08,225
we tend to be wrong in the predictions
that we made about how happy we would be,
393
00:21:08,308 --> 00:21:10,727
because the brain normalizes those things.
394
00:21:10,811 --> 00:21:13,230
After a few months of that,
you normalize it,
395
00:21:13,313 --> 00:21:15,899
and you say,
"All right, that was great at the time,
396
00:21:15,983 --> 00:21:19,319
but now I have a new set of desires,
a new set of dreams,"
397
00:21:19,403 --> 00:21:21,571
and everything that is the ceiling today
398
00:21:21,655 --> 00:21:25,993
becomes just the ground floor
for a new level you're trying to get to.
399
00:21:26,076 --> 00:21:29,913
And so, really what the American dream is
is this sense of freedom.
400
00:21:29,997 --> 00:21:33,250
Now how do you get that?
Just by gathering up more money?
401
00:21:33,333 --> 00:21:34,251
Nope, won't do it.
402
00:21:34,876 --> 00:21:36,920
Not if you gather up yet more stuff
403
00:21:37,546 --> 00:21:40,507
to go with your more money,
because you're still gonna be teetering.
404
00:21:40,590 --> 00:21:43,385
You just added zeros to your stupidity
is all you did then.
405
00:21:43,468 --> 00:21:48,807
And so, what happens is you have to learn
to contract your, in quotes, "needs,"
406
00:21:48,890 --> 00:21:52,269
so that you can create
a buffer around your life
407
00:21:52,352 --> 00:21:54,855
and create this independence
to where you've got enough savings
408
00:21:54,938 --> 00:21:58,066
that you can say, "Take this job
and shove it," if you need to.
409
00:21:58,150 --> 00:22:00,652
You don't have a bunch of debt
pounding down on your head,
410
00:22:00,736 --> 00:22:03,613
buying things that you don't really need
411
00:22:03,697 --> 00:22:05,490
with money you don't really have
412
00:22:05,574 --> 00:22:07,576
to impress people
you don't even really like.
413
00:22:07,659 --> 00:22:10,996
And so, what you've done there
is you gave up your independence,
414
00:22:11,079 --> 00:22:13,123
you gave up your freedom…
415
00:22:13,999 --> 00:22:16,626
in return for some stuff
416
00:22:16,710 --> 00:22:19,921
that's gonna be worth nothing
in next year's garage sale.
417
00:22:20,005 --> 00:22:24,009
[Erwin] You almost have buyer's remorse,
and you also have this gambler's dilemma
418
00:22:24,092 --> 00:22:26,428
where you gambled for this
and now you have it.
419
00:22:26,511 --> 00:22:29,431
Do you want to give it up
even though it makes you unhappy?
420
00:22:29,931 --> 00:22:32,100
So I think a part of the process
for all of us
421
00:22:32,184 --> 00:22:35,145
is making sure we actually
are going after what we truly want.
422
00:22:35,228 --> 00:22:38,273
And when we have something,
to do an honest evaluation of going,
423
00:22:38,357 --> 00:22:41,777
"Is this something I want to define
my life? Do I really want to keep this?"
424
00:22:44,738 --> 00:22:48,367
[Ryan] Chasing the American dream,
it cost me so much more than money.
425
00:22:48,450 --> 00:22:53,246
My life was filled with stress,
and anxiety, and discontent.
426
00:22:53,872 --> 00:22:57,501
It got to a point in my life
where I didn't know what was important.
427
00:22:57,584 --> 00:22:59,086
But one thing was clear.
428
00:22:59,586 --> 00:23:03,465
I had this gaping void in my life.
429
00:23:03,548 --> 00:23:09,221
So I tried to fill that void
the same way many people do, with stuff.
430
00:23:09,888 --> 00:23:13,975
I continued to work 60, 70,
sometimes 80 hours a week,
431
00:23:14,059 --> 00:23:17,396
forsaking some of the most important
aspects of my life.
432
00:23:17,479 --> 00:23:21,066
I barely thought about my health,
or my relationships,
433
00:23:21,149 --> 00:23:23,193
or things that I was passionate about.
434
00:23:23,276 --> 00:23:25,362
I was living paycheck to paycheck.
435
00:23:25,445 --> 00:23:27,322
Living for a paycheck.
436
00:23:27,406 --> 00:23:29,032
Living for stuff.
437
00:23:30,534 --> 00:23:33,161
[Joshua] It's like I was swerving
from credit card purchases
438
00:23:33,245 --> 00:23:34,913
to reckless spending
439
00:23:34,996 --> 00:23:40,335
to accumulating debt to maintain
a lifestyle I didn't even enjoy.
440
00:23:41,002 --> 00:23:44,506
I had all of the stuff to fill
every corner of my consumer-driven life.
441
00:23:44,589 --> 00:23:49,594
Giant televisions, fine china,
stainless steel appliances,
442
00:23:49,678 --> 00:23:53,932
marble countertops,
expensive watches, tailored suits
443
00:23:54,015 --> 00:23:57,978
and more, and more, and so much more.
444
00:23:59,271 --> 00:24:03,733
Then, toward the end of 2008,
actually it was two days before Christmas,
445
00:24:04,276 --> 00:24:05,610
I got a phone call from Mom.
446
00:24:06,528 --> 00:24:08,947
She had just moved down to Florida
earlier that year
447
00:24:09,030 --> 00:24:11,741
to finally retire on Social Security.
448
00:24:12,409 --> 00:24:18,081
But on December 23rd, she found out
she had Stage IV lung cancer.
449
00:24:19,916 --> 00:24:22,419
And in less than a year, she was gone.
450
00:24:23,587 --> 00:24:26,381
I spent a lot of time with Mom
that year down in Florida
451
00:24:26,465 --> 00:24:30,343
as she struggled
through her chemo and radiation.
452
00:24:30,427 --> 00:24:33,972
But when she passed, I realized
I needed to make one last visit.
453
00:24:34,681 --> 00:24:37,309
And this time,
it was to deal with her stuff.
454
00:24:38,310 --> 00:24:42,439
So I flew from Dayton, Ohio,
down to St. Pete Beach, Florida.
455
00:24:43,106 --> 00:24:45,192
When I arrived, do you know what I found?
456
00:24:57,662 --> 00:24:58,580
Stuff.
457
00:24:59,080 --> 00:25:03,668
Like three houses worth of stuff crammed
into Mom's tiny one-bedroom apartment.
458
00:25:03,752 --> 00:25:06,087
Now, it's not like Mom was a hoarder.
459
00:25:06,171 --> 00:25:08,924
I mean, I didn't find any dead cats
in her freezer.
460
00:25:09,633 --> 00:25:11,551
But she owned a lot of stuff.
461
00:25:12,135 --> 00:25:14,638
Sixty-five years' worth of accumulations.
462
00:25:14,721 --> 00:25:16,681
Did you know
the average American household
463
00:25:16,765 --> 00:25:19,184
has more than 300,000 items in it?
464
00:25:19,601 --> 00:25:21,019
300,000!
465
00:25:21,520 --> 00:25:25,649
Just take a look around at your average
basement, or attic, or garage.
466
00:25:25,732 --> 00:25:26,608
What do you see?
467
00:25:26,691 --> 00:25:29,819
Unused sporting goods, exercise equipment,
468
00:25:29,903 --> 00:25:32,948
camping gear, holiday decorations,
469
00:25:33,031 --> 00:25:35,909
musical instruments, spare parts,
470
00:25:35,992 --> 00:25:37,911
outdated electronics,
471
00:25:37,994 --> 00:25:41,414
random cords and miscellaneous cables,
472
00:25:41,498 --> 00:25:45,043
magazines, and cassette tapes,
and compact discs,
473
00:25:45,126 --> 00:25:48,004
tchotchkes, and knickknacks, and trinkets,
474
00:25:48,088 --> 00:25:51,132
and all the things
we forgot we even owned.
475
00:25:51,216 --> 00:25:57,013
Boxes, and bins,
and entire rooms stuffed with stuff.
476
00:25:58,223 --> 00:26:01,768
We had so much. So much stuff.
477
00:26:01,851 --> 00:26:03,979
My closet was out of control.
478
00:26:04,062 --> 00:26:07,649
So I had a closet full of clothes.
I had a dresser full of clothes.
479
00:26:07,732 --> 00:26:10,652
Photography equipment, bicycle equipment.
480
00:26:10,735 --> 00:26:12,571
Skin care products, beauty products.
481
00:26:12,654 --> 00:26:14,447
Shoes, purses.
482
00:26:14,531 --> 00:26:16,700
I'd open the closet, stuff would fall out.
483
00:26:16,783 --> 00:26:19,244
I don't know why,
but I had three soccer cleats,
484
00:26:19,327 --> 00:26:22,163
even though
I don't really even play soccer. [laughs]
485
00:26:22,247 --> 00:26:25,125
You know, things people had given me
throughout the years,
486
00:26:25,208 --> 00:26:27,919
whether those be cards, or objects,
487
00:26:28,003 --> 00:26:31,298
or tokens that I'd kept
from different events we'd gone to.
488
00:26:31,381 --> 00:26:34,551
But it was just a never-ending,
uh, you know, turnstile
489
00:26:34,634 --> 00:26:36,595
of, uh, "I need this. I need that."
490
00:26:37,345 --> 00:26:39,139
[woman] It's so easy to buy things
491
00:26:39,222 --> 00:26:42,100
that we think are the solution
to our problems.
492
00:26:42,183 --> 00:26:46,187
I remember when I had babies,
and I really wanted them to sleep well,
493
00:26:46,271 --> 00:26:50,442
and I thought I just needed the perfect
sleep device in order to make that happen.
494
00:26:50,525 --> 00:26:53,069
So I had probably
four different types of swaddles,
495
00:26:53,153 --> 00:26:55,780
multiple different types
of zip-up sleep devices.
496
00:26:55,864 --> 00:26:59,451
There are… If you go on Amazon,
you can find there are dozens and dozens
497
00:26:59,534 --> 00:27:03,330
of different types of mechanisms
to get babies to sleep.
498
00:27:03,413 --> 00:27:05,498
Pieces of equipment that you can buy.
499
00:27:05,582 --> 00:27:10,712
But the reality is that getting babies
to sleep is just really hard,
500
00:27:10,795 --> 00:27:15,425
and we can fall into this trap of trying
to buy our way out of the hard times.
501
00:27:15,508 --> 00:27:19,304
And it's… it's often not very successful
and very expensive.
502
00:27:19,387 --> 00:27:22,515
[T.K.] I actually think the best way
to know if you have too many things
503
00:27:22,599 --> 00:27:25,852
isn't by waiting to see
if you run out of room to keep them,
504
00:27:25,935 --> 00:27:30,231
but asking yourself if you've run out
of purposeful things to do with them.
505
00:27:30,315 --> 00:27:32,609
When you've run out of purposeful things
to do with things,
506
00:27:32,692 --> 00:27:35,862
even if you only have one thing,
you already have too many things.
507
00:27:35,945 --> 00:27:40,784
The reason we are so depressed
and so empty when we have so much
508
00:27:41,534 --> 00:27:45,413
is that if you get more
of the wrong thing, it becomes less.
509
00:27:45,497 --> 00:27:47,999
There are deeper things that…
that fulfill us.
510
00:27:48,083 --> 00:27:50,210
Our need for meaning,
our need for progress,
511
00:27:50,293 --> 00:27:52,003
our need for intimacy.
512
00:27:52,629 --> 00:27:55,131
The reason the message of minimalism
is so powerful
513
00:27:55,215 --> 00:27:59,052
is because we're bingeing
on all the wrong things,
514
00:27:59,594 --> 00:28:03,098
and we're dying of hunger
for the things that really matter.
515
00:28:06,976 --> 00:28:10,438
But, of course,
most of us aren't hoarders, right?
516
00:28:11,856 --> 00:28:12,941
No.
517
00:28:13,024 --> 00:28:14,943
We just hold on to a lot of stuff.
518
00:28:15,026 --> 00:28:17,445
We hold on to a lifetime
of collected memories.
519
00:28:18,071 --> 00:28:22,200
I know Mom certainly did, and I had
no idea what to do with any of it.
520
00:28:25,161 --> 00:28:27,580
So I did what any good son would do.
521
00:28:29,040 --> 00:28:29,958
I called U-Haul.
522
00:28:30,709 --> 00:28:33,628
I called U-Haul, and I asked
for the largest truck they had.
523
00:28:33,712 --> 00:28:36,548
In fact, I needed one so large
I had to wait an extra day
524
00:28:36,631 --> 00:28:39,175
until the 26-foot truck was available.
525
00:28:39,259 --> 00:28:42,721
As I waited for that U-Haul to arrive,
I invited some of Mom's friends over
526
00:28:42,804 --> 00:28:44,597
to help me sort through her stuff.
527
00:28:44,681 --> 00:28:49,728
I mean, there was just too much stuff
to go at it alone.
528
00:28:50,395 --> 00:28:53,440
Her living room was stuffed
with big antique furniture,
529
00:28:53,523 --> 00:28:55,108
and old paintings,
530
00:28:55,191 --> 00:28:57,777
and more doilies than I could count.
531
00:28:57,861 --> 00:28:59,320
And her kitchen was stuffed
532
00:28:59,404 --> 00:29:01,698
with hundreds of plates,
and cups, and bowls,
533
00:29:01,781 --> 00:29:03,992
and ill-assorted utensils.
534
00:29:04,075 --> 00:29:06,494
And her bathroom was stuffed
535
00:29:06,578 --> 00:29:10,498
with enough makeup,
and face creams, and hygiene products
536
00:29:10,582 --> 00:29:13,001
to start a small beauty supply business.
537
00:29:13,084 --> 00:29:16,588
And it looked like someone was running
a hotel out of her linen closet,
538
00:29:16,671 --> 00:29:19,799
which was stuffed
with mismatched bath towels,
539
00:29:19,883 --> 00:29:21,926
beach towels, and dish towels.
540
00:29:22,010 --> 00:29:24,429
Don't even get me started
on Mom's bedroom.
541
00:29:24,512 --> 00:29:29,267
I mean, why did Mom have 14 winter coats
stuffed into her bedroom closet?
542
00:29:29,809 --> 00:29:33,271
Come on. She lived in St. Pete Beach.
543
00:29:35,732 --> 00:29:40,361
So anyway, there I was attempting
to finish packing all of Mom's stuff
544
00:29:40,445 --> 00:29:42,906
when I looked under her bed.
545
00:29:47,535 --> 00:29:51,623
I noticed these four boxes,
these old printer paper boxes.
546
00:29:51,706 --> 00:29:52,707
Kind of heavy,
547
00:29:52,791 --> 00:29:55,084
sealed with excessive amounts
of packing tape.
548
00:29:56,002 --> 00:29:57,670
I noticed each box was labeled
549
00:29:57,754 --> 00:30:00,757
with just a number written on the side
in thick black marker.
550
00:30:01,883 --> 00:30:02,926
And I stood there…
551
00:30:03,760 --> 00:30:04,677
looking down…
552
00:30:05,887 --> 00:30:09,224
wondering what could possibly
be inside those boxes.
553
00:30:14,020 --> 00:30:16,856
Turns out it was
my old elementary school paperwork.
554
00:30:17,690 --> 00:30:19,776
Grades one through four.
555
00:30:20,819 --> 00:30:23,321
As I opened those boxes,
my curiosity ran wild,
556
00:30:23,404 --> 00:30:27,325
and I thought to myself, "Why was Mom
holding on to all that stupid paperwork?"
557
00:30:28,076 --> 00:30:31,704
But then all these memories
came rushing back, and it was obvious.
558
00:30:34,582 --> 00:30:37,460
Mom had been holding on to a piece of me.
559
00:30:38,044 --> 00:30:41,589
Mom was holding on to all the memories
inside those boxes. Right?
560
00:30:41,673 --> 00:30:42,799
But wait a minute.
561
00:30:42,882 --> 00:30:45,760
Those boxes had been sealed
for more than two decades.
562
00:30:45,844 --> 00:30:50,849
It was clear Mom hadn't been accessing
any of the memories inside those boxes,
563
00:30:50,932 --> 00:30:54,394
which helped me understand
something important for the first time.
564
00:30:55,520 --> 00:30:58,231
Our memories are not in our things.
565
00:30:59,315 --> 00:31:01,317
Our memories are inside us.
566
00:31:01,401 --> 00:31:03,736
You see,
Mom didn't need to hold on to those boxes
567
00:31:03,820 --> 00:31:05,238
to hold on to a piece of me.
568
00:31:05,905 --> 00:31:07,699
I was never inside those boxes.
569
00:31:08,533 --> 00:31:12,412
But then I looked around her apartment,
I looked around at all her stuff,
570
00:31:12,495 --> 00:31:15,623
and I realized I was getting ready
to do the same thing.
571
00:31:15,707 --> 00:31:17,458
If I'm being honest with myself,
572
00:31:17,542 --> 00:31:20,503
I was just gonna selfishly cling
to most of Mom's stuff.
573
00:31:20,587 --> 00:31:23,172
But, of course,
I wasn't gonna get any real value from it
574
00:31:23,256 --> 00:31:25,425
as it sat there locked away in perpetuity.
575
00:31:25,508 --> 00:31:27,468
But the truth is that, by letting go,
576
00:31:27,552 --> 00:31:29,929
I realized I could add value
to other people's lives.
577
00:31:30,013 --> 00:31:34,601
So I donated most of her stuff
to her friends and to local charities,
578
00:31:34,684 --> 00:31:37,478
finding the stuff a new home.
579
00:31:37,562 --> 00:31:39,439
And the few items I was able to sell,
580
00:31:39,522 --> 00:31:42,233
I was able to take that money
and donate it to the two charities
581
00:31:42,317 --> 00:31:45,278
that helped Mom
through her chemo and radiation.
582
00:31:46,195 --> 00:31:51,034
You see, I realized
I could contribute beyond myself
583
00:31:51,117 --> 00:31:53,119
if I was willing to let go.
584
00:31:54,871 --> 00:31:56,497
When I finally returned to Ohio,
585
00:31:56,581 --> 00:31:59,918
I returned with just a handful
of sentimental items.
586
00:32:00,001 --> 00:32:02,670
An old painting, a few photographs,
587
00:32:02,754 --> 00:32:04,589
maybe even a doily or two,
588
00:32:04,672 --> 00:32:08,009
which helped me understand
that by having fewer sentimental items,
589
00:32:08,092 --> 00:32:11,304
we're able to enjoy
those sentimental items much more.
590
00:32:11,387 --> 00:32:14,265
I get far more value
from the few items I kept
591
00:32:14,349 --> 00:32:18,561
than if I were to water them down
with dozens or even hundreds of trinkets.
592
00:32:18,645 --> 00:32:22,732
Ultimately, I had to let go
of what was weighing me down
593
00:32:22,815 --> 00:32:24,233
before I could move on.
594
00:32:24,776 --> 00:32:25,693
To move on…
595
00:32:26,569 --> 00:32:29,572
I had to take an inventory of my own life.
596
00:32:31,741 --> 00:32:35,078
Turns out I had an organized life.
597
00:32:35,662 --> 00:32:38,748
But really,
I was just a well-organized hoarder.
598
00:32:38,831 --> 00:32:40,792
And if you would've looked
beneath the surface,
599
00:32:40,875 --> 00:32:43,878
you would have found a lifetime
of unchecked consumption.
600
00:32:44,504 --> 00:32:46,297
As companies continue to innovate,
601
00:32:46,381 --> 00:32:49,592
our ability to show restraint
is getting more and more difficult.
602
00:32:49,676 --> 00:32:50,885
Outsourced labor
603
00:32:50,969 --> 00:32:54,597
combined with advancements
in shipping, manufacturing, and logistics
604
00:32:54,681 --> 00:32:58,226
has dropped the cost of consumer products
to an all-time low.
605
00:32:58,309 --> 00:33:01,980
And now, with one-click purchasing,
same-day delivery,
606
00:33:02,063 --> 00:33:04,857
and a society
that has normalized credit card debt,
607
00:33:04,941 --> 00:33:06,901
we've dug ourselves into a hole.
608
00:33:07,694 --> 00:33:10,905
The average American
carries four credit cards in their wallet
609
00:33:10,989 --> 00:33:13,992
and the average credit card debt
for indebted households
610
00:33:14,075 --> 00:33:16,661
is more than $16,000.
611
00:33:16,744 --> 00:33:20,915
Each year, we spend more
on shoes, jewelry, and watches
612
00:33:20,999 --> 00:33:22,667
than on higher education.
613
00:33:23,376 --> 00:33:26,629
[Denaye] I remember when I was a kid,
there was something called layaway.
614
00:33:26,713 --> 00:33:29,465
We'd go to the department store
and pick out our school clothes,
615
00:33:29,549 --> 00:33:30,967
and my mom would put it on layaway,
616
00:33:31,050 --> 00:33:34,429
which meant she would go and make payments
once a week for several weeks
617
00:33:34,512 --> 00:33:37,432
until she paid all of it off
when she had all the money paid in.
618
00:33:37,515 --> 00:33:39,434
That's when we got
to bring home the stuff.
619
00:33:39,517 --> 00:33:42,687
This concept does not exist now.
If you want the stuff,
620
00:33:42,770 --> 00:33:44,939
you put the credit card down
and take it right away.
621
00:33:45,023 --> 00:33:48,484
And I think that functional change
in the way that we buy
622
00:33:48,568 --> 00:33:51,738
has made a difference
in what our expectations are
623
00:33:51,821 --> 00:33:54,574
and a sort of sense of entitlement
about what we should have,
624
00:33:54,657 --> 00:33:57,994
and when we should have it,
and if we should have to wait for it.
625
00:33:58,077 --> 00:34:02,373
[Dave] America, sadly, has gotten
increasingly emotionally immature.
626
00:34:02,457 --> 00:34:04,876
"I want it, and I want it now,
627
00:34:04,959 --> 00:34:07,128
and I deserve it because I breathe air."
628
00:34:07,754 --> 00:34:10,339
This is a four-year-old child
in the cereal aisle
629
00:34:10,423 --> 00:34:12,633
throwing a fit
because they can't have Froot Loops.
630
00:34:13,426 --> 00:34:16,888
And yet it's a 54-year-old woman
I'm talking to or man I'm talking to,
631
00:34:16,971 --> 00:34:19,265
'cause he can't buy
this little item he wants,
632
00:34:19,348 --> 00:34:21,267
'cause he doesn't have the money.
633
00:34:21,350 --> 00:34:25,354
Guess what? You're never gonna have
the money for everything you want.
634
00:34:26,105 --> 00:34:29,942
[T.K.] The kind of debt that creates
the most problems in our society
635
00:34:30,026 --> 00:34:34,072
comes from a felt need
to keep up with appearances.
636
00:34:34,155 --> 00:34:40,286
Placing unnecessary burdens on yourself
in order to maintain some kind of image.
637
00:34:40,369 --> 00:34:43,414
If I can't afford a BMW,
638
00:34:43,498 --> 00:34:46,626
but I go into debt
in order to acquire one,
639
00:34:46,709 --> 00:34:50,296
I'm doing that because
I-I want the… the social rewards, right,
640
00:34:50,379 --> 00:34:53,508
of… of being seen
as a certain kind of person.
641
00:34:53,591 --> 00:34:55,510
Once your basic needs are met,
642
00:34:55,593 --> 00:34:58,805
the way that we as humans
determine what is enough
643
00:34:58,888 --> 00:35:01,140
is relative to the people around us.
644
00:35:01,224 --> 00:35:04,602
Um, and so, that's where the saying
"keeping up with the Joneses" came up.
645
00:35:04,685 --> 00:35:07,313
We judge our furniture,
our clothes, our car
646
00:35:07,396 --> 00:35:09,398
based on the people around us.
647
00:35:09,482 --> 00:35:13,486
It used to be that the people around us
were of similar socioeconomic background.
648
00:35:13,569 --> 00:35:16,114
So we were like, "It's cool.
We all got the same stuff."
649
00:35:16,197 --> 00:35:19,742
But now, with the onslaught
of television and social media,
650
00:35:19,826 --> 00:35:23,329
they have what's called the vertical
expansion of our reference group.
651
00:35:23,412 --> 00:35:26,332
Now I'm comparing my hair
to Jennifer Aniston's.
652
00:35:26,415 --> 00:35:28,709
Now I'm comparing my house
to Kim Kardashian's.
653
00:35:28,793 --> 00:35:33,214
I think that we are more stressed
and discontented today than ever before,
654
00:35:33,297 --> 00:35:36,592
because we know so much more,
or we think we know so much more,
655
00:35:36,676 --> 00:35:40,388
about what's going on inside of the house
of our neighbors and our friends.
656
00:35:40,471 --> 00:35:44,851
And the comparison is so much stronger
than in generations past,
657
00:35:44,934 --> 00:35:48,771
and we're constantly comparing our lives
to other people's lives.
658
00:35:48,855 --> 00:35:51,524
And when we do that,
it rarely measures up.
659
00:35:51,607 --> 00:35:53,860
This generation,
more than previous generations,
660
00:35:53,943 --> 00:35:55,695
we have to learn
how to manage our attention,
661
00:35:55,778 --> 00:35:58,906
because there are so many people
competing for it
662
00:35:58,990 --> 00:36:02,034
and telling us, like,
"Look at this, and you'll be happy!"
663
00:36:02,118 --> 00:36:03,995
"Buy this, and you'll be happy!"
664
00:36:04,078 --> 00:36:07,290
And you have to step back from all of that
and say, "No, no, no.
665
00:36:07,373 --> 00:36:09,208
I first need time
666
00:36:09,292 --> 00:36:12,461
to come up with my own ideas
about what's gonna make me happy."
667
00:36:14,922 --> 00:36:17,175
For me,
it all started with that one question.
668
00:36:17,842 --> 00:36:21,387
How might your life be better with less?
669
00:36:21,470 --> 00:36:25,308
By answering that question, I was able
to identify the purpose of minimalism.
670
00:36:25,391 --> 00:36:29,687
Not just the "how to,"
but the more important "why to."
671
00:36:29,770 --> 00:36:31,606
I realized, if I simplified my life,
672
00:36:31,689 --> 00:36:35,318
I'd have more time for my health,
my relationships,
673
00:36:35,401 --> 00:36:37,403
my creativity, my finances,
674
00:36:37,486 --> 00:36:41,032
and I could contribute beyond myself
in a meaningful way.
675
00:36:41,115 --> 00:36:44,911
You see, I was able to understand
the benefits of minimalism
676
00:36:44,994 --> 00:36:47,830
well before I ever cleaned out
a walk-in closet.
677
00:36:47,914 --> 00:36:52,376
And so, when it came time for me
to actually declutter, I started small.
678
00:36:52,460 --> 00:36:54,378
I asked myself another question.
679
00:36:54,462 --> 00:36:57,798
What if you removed
one material possession from your life
680
00:36:57,882 --> 00:37:00,718
each day for a month?
Just one. What would happen?
681
00:37:01,344 --> 00:37:05,473
Let me tell you. I got rid of way more
than 30 items in the first 30 days.
682
00:37:05,556 --> 00:37:07,516
Like way, way more.
683
00:37:07,600 --> 00:37:11,520
It became this kind of personal challenge,
discovering what I could get rid of.
684
00:37:11,604 --> 00:37:15,483
So I searched my rooms and closets,
my cabinets and hallways,
685
00:37:15,566 --> 00:37:17,235
my car and office,
686
00:37:17,318 --> 00:37:19,403
rummaging for items to part with,
687
00:37:19,487 --> 00:37:23,324
retaining only the things
that added value to my life.
688
00:37:24,575 --> 00:37:27,161
Pondering each artifact
in my home, I'd ask,
689
00:37:27,662 --> 00:37:30,039
"Does this thing add value to my life?"
690
00:37:30,831 --> 00:37:33,834
The more I asked this question,
the more I gained momentum
691
00:37:33,918 --> 00:37:36,879
and embracing minimalism
got easier by the day.
692
00:37:37,588 --> 00:37:40,925
The more you do it, the freer,
and happier, and lighter you feel,
693
00:37:41,008 --> 00:37:42,551
and the more you wanna throw overboard.
694
00:37:42,635 --> 00:37:45,304
For me, a few shirts led to half a closet.
695
00:37:45,388 --> 00:37:50,476
A few DVDs led to deep-sixing
an entire library of unused discs.
696
00:37:50,559 --> 00:37:51,936
A few decorative items
697
00:37:52,019 --> 00:37:54,814
led to junk drawers
who shed their adjective.
698
00:37:54,897 --> 00:37:59,318
It's a beautiful cycle. The more action
you take, the more you wanna take action.
699
00:38:00,695 --> 00:38:03,197
Once I started to get rid of stuff,
700
00:38:03,281 --> 00:38:05,491
it was just like the momentum
just took over.
701
00:38:05,574 --> 00:38:08,452
It was a snowball that I could not stop.
702
00:38:08,536 --> 00:38:11,455
I was ready to throw out
as many things as possible.
703
00:38:11,539 --> 00:38:15,042
[Rechna] When you open up those drawers
and look at what's in the back of them,
704
00:38:15,126 --> 00:38:17,003
I don't think I even realized
705
00:38:17,086 --> 00:38:20,548
half the stuff that we had
hidden away in closets and in drawers.
706
00:38:20,631 --> 00:38:24,593
[Victor] It… It really helped by focusing
on just one part of the house,
707
00:38:24,677 --> 00:38:25,928
instead of just thinking,
708
00:38:26,012 --> 00:38:30,141
"Oh, wow, I have 35 years of things
in my house that I need to get rid of."
709
00:38:30,224 --> 00:38:33,019
[Michael] We got rid
of our storage rental.
710
00:38:33,102 --> 00:38:35,980
A huge storage rental
that we'd been paying for for years
711
00:38:36,063 --> 00:38:38,691
and didn't really even know
what was in there, gone.
712
00:38:38,774 --> 00:38:41,610
I remember going through my CD collection,
713
00:38:41,694 --> 00:38:45,614
and I couldn't even remember
if I had a CD player in my car.
714
00:38:45,698 --> 00:38:49,076
That was the one thing that made me think,
"That's probably a reason
715
00:38:49,160 --> 00:38:53,581
for me not to hold on to these CDs anymore
if I don't even know if I can play them."
716
00:38:53,664 --> 00:38:56,625
As I began to get rid of things,
717
00:38:56,709 --> 00:39:00,629
one at a time, I just felt so much freer.
718
00:39:00,713 --> 00:39:01,797
There was freedom.
719
00:39:01,881 --> 00:39:04,967
When I started going through it,
I got rid of 14 pairs of pants.
720
00:39:05,051 --> 00:39:06,635
I couldn't believe
how high the stack was.
721
00:39:06,719 --> 00:39:09,680
And so, I actually, you know,
went through and counted them,
722
00:39:09,764 --> 00:39:12,516
and I'm like,
"14 pairs of pants sitting in the closet!"
723
00:39:12,600 --> 00:39:14,143
[Michael] We put our house up for sale,
724
00:39:14,226 --> 00:39:17,146
because
we just wanted to really start fresh
725
00:39:17,229 --> 00:39:19,690
and just grab life, you know, and…
726
00:39:19,774 --> 00:39:20,733
and really be free.
727
00:39:20,816 --> 00:39:24,570
It was a very freeing feeling, um,
to just get started,
728
00:39:24,653 --> 00:39:26,405
and so I… I ran with it.
729
00:39:29,367 --> 00:39:32,536
[Joshua] Over the course of eight months
after my mother died,
730
00:39:32,620 --> 00:39:36,916
I deliberately jettisoned
more than 90% of my material possessions.
731
00:39:36,999 --> 00:39:40,920
Although, if you visited my home today,
you probably wouldn't walk in and say,
732
00:39:41,837 --> 00:39:42,755
"Oh, my God!
733
00:39:44,173 --> 00:39:45,800
This guy's a minimalist!"
734
00:39:46,634 --> 00:39:51,180
No, you'd probably just ask
how we keep things so organized,
735
00:39:51,764 --> 00:39:54,850
and I'd just tell you
that my family and I, we don't own much,
736
00:39:54,934 --> 00:39:58,354
but everything we do own
adds real value to our lives.
737
00:39:58,437 --> 00:40:00,398
Each of our belongings,
738
00:40:00,481 --> 00:40:04,193
our clothes, our car,
our kitchenware, our furniture
739
00:40:04,276 --> 00:40:05,403
has a function.
740
00:40:05,945 --> 00:40:09,073
As a minimalist,
every possession serves a purpose
741
00:40:09,156 --> 00:40:12,410
or it brings me joy,
and everything else is out of the way.
742
00:40:13,119 --> 00:40:14,787
With all that clutter cleared, I…
743
00:40:14,870 --> 00:40:18,082
I finally felt compelled
to start asking deeper questions.
744
00:40:18,707 --> 00:40:22,086
Questions like,
"When did I give so much meaning
745
00:40:22,169 --> 00:40:23,921
to all these material possessions?
746
00:40:24,672 --> 00:40:26,799
What is truly important in my life?
747
00:40:27,716 --> 00:40:29,468
Why have I been so discontented?
748
00:40:30,261 --> 00:40:34,598
Who is the person I want to become,
and how will I define my own success?"
749
00:40:35,182 --> 00:40:39,145
Now, these… these are tough questions
with difficult answers,
750
00:40:39,687 --> 00:40:43,524
but they've proven to be more important
than just trashing my excess stuff.
751
00:40:43,607 --> 00:40:47,945
And if we don't answer these questions
carefully, rigorously…
752
00:40:48,779 --> 00:40:51,615
then those closets
that we just decluttered
753
00:40:51,699 --> 00:40:54,952
will be brimming with new purchases
in the not-too-distant future.
754
00:40:56,579 --> 00:40:57,663
So, as I let go…
755
00:40:58,581 --> 00:41:01,917
and as I started facing
some of life's tougher questions…
756
00:41:03,043 --> 00:41:05,171
my life got simpler.
757
00:41:06,297 --> 00:41:08,591
The people around me
noticed something was different too.
758
00:41:09,592 --> 00:41:12,428
My best friend,
a guy named Ryan Nicodemus,
759
00:41:12,511 --> 00:41:15,222
whom I've known
since we were fat little fifth-graders…
760
00:41:15,931 --> 00:41:18,476
-he came to me one day and said…
-[thunder rumbles]
761
00:41:18,559 --> 00:41:20,478
[Joshua] "Why the hell are you so happy?"
762
00:41:21,812 --> 00:41:23,731
So I told him
about this thing called minimalism.
763
00:41:24,398 --> 00:41:27,610
And he said,
"What the hell is minimalism?"
764
00:41:28,110 --> 00:41:32,740
And so I said, "Minimalism
is the thing that gets us past the things,
765
00:41:32,823 --> 00:41:35,868
so we can make room
for life's most important things,
766
00:41:35,951 --> 00:41:39,580
which actually aren't things at all.
767
00:41:40,498 --> 00:41:41,499
You know what, Ryan?
768
00:41:41,582 --> 00:41:44,835
I think you might benefit
from this minimalism thing too, because…
769
00:41:46,462 --> 00:41:49,006
Well, because you've got a lot of shit."
770
00:41:52,259 --> 00:41:53,594
[engine turns over]
771
00:41:53,677 --> 00:41:55,554
[Ryan] That's when I remember really…
772
00:41:56,222 --> 00:41:59,475
really looking at what you were
doing different with your life.
773
00:41:59,558 --> 00:42:03,020
Like, I had to find out, like,
"Okay, what is Josh doing differently?"
774
00:42:03,103 --> 00:42:06,524
Because my life was so out of control.
I needed to make a change.
775
00:42:06,607 --> 00:42:08,943
You obviously had made some changes,
so that's…
776
00:42:09,026 --> 00:42:12,738
I remember that's when I invited you
for that really fancy lunch at Subway.
777
00:42:12,821 --> 00:42:15,533
-Yeah. [chuckles]
-And, uh, we sat down and…
778
00:42:16,492 --> 00:42:17,701
had… had our sandwiches,
779
00:42:17,785 --> 00:42:21,497
and I just remember asking you,
like, "Why the hell are you so happy?"
780
00:42:21,997 --> 00:42:24,667
And, you know, if it wasn't you
781
00:42:24,750 --> 00:42:27,002
-who told me about minimalism…
-[Joshua] Uh-huh.
782
00:42:27,086 --> 00:42:30,506
[Ryan] If it was anyone else, I don't know
if I would have been so quick
783
00:42:31,006 --> 00:42:33,759
to be willing to try it out.
784
00:42:34,760 --> 00:42:36,971
As we were sitting there,
having our lunch,
785
00:42:37,763 --> 00:42:41,267
he talked about how he'd spent
the last several months simplifying.
786
00:42:42,142 --> 00:42:43,310
Clearing the clutter.
787
00:42:43,894 --> 00:42:46,981
Making room
for life's most important things.
788
00:42:47,064 --> 00:42:50,025
So me, being the problem solver that I am,
789
00:42:50,568 --> 00:42:53,404
I decided to become a minimalist
right there on the spot.
790
00:42:53,487 --> 00:42:55,948
I looked up at Josh,
and I excitedly announced,
791
00:42:56,448 --> 00:43:01,203
"All right, man, I'm in. I'll do it!
I'm going to become a minimalist.
792
00:43:03,205 --> 00:43:04,081
Now what?"
793
00:43:04,164 --> 00:43:06,625
You see, I didn't want to spend
several months
794
00:43:06,709 --> 00:43:09,169
slowly paring down, like he had.
795
00:43:09,253 --> 00:43:13,007
I mean, that was great for him,
but I wanted faster results.
796
00:43:13,090 --> 00:43:16,427
So, we came up with a wild idea
called a packing party.
797
00:43:17,261 --> 00:43:20,723
We decided to pack all my belongings
as if I were moving.
798
00:43:20,806 --> 00:43:25,686
Then I would unpack only the items
I needed over the next three weeks.
799
00:43:25,769 --> 00:43:29,773
So Josh came over, and he literally
helped me box up everything.
800
00:43:29,857 --> 00:43:33,777
My clothes, my kitchenware,
my towels, my TVs,
801
00:43:33,861 --> 00:43:37,615
my electronics, my framed photographs
and paintings, my toiletries.
802
00:43:37,698 --> 00:43:41,493
Everything.
We literally pretended like I was moving.
803
00:43:41,577 --> 00:43:45,122
So after nine hours
and a couple of pizza deliveries,
804
00:43:45,205 --> 00:43:48,792
there Josh and I were,
sitting in my second living room,
805
00:43:48,876 --> 00:43:52,880
staring at these boxes
stacked halfway to my 12 ft. ceiling.
806
00:43:52,963 --> 00:43:54,506
Everything I owned,
807
00:43:55,007 --> 00:43:58,844
everything I had worked so hard for
over the last decade,
808
00:43:58,927 --> 00:44:00,971
it was all sitting there in that room.
809
00:44:01,055 --> 00:44:05,476
Just boxes stacked on top of boxes
stacked on top of boxes.
810
00:44:06,060 --> 00:44:08,437
Now each box was labeled really well
811
00:44:08,520 --> 00:44:11,023
so I'd know where to go
when I needed a particular item.
812
00:44:11,106 --> 00:44:13,192
Labels like "junk drawer,"
813
00:44:13,275 --> 00:44:14,985
"living room number one,"
814
00:44:15,069 --> 00:44:16,278
"kitchen utensils,"
815
00:44:16,362 --> 00:44:17,946
"junk drawer number seven."
816
00:44:18,030 --> 00:44:22,910
I spent the next 21 days
unpacking only the items I needed.
817
00:44:22,993 --> 00:44:25,412
My toothbrush, my bed and bed sheets,
818
00:44:25,496 --> 00:44:27,039
some clothes for work,
819
00:44:27,122 --> 00:44:29,124
the furniture I actually used,
820
00:44:29,208 --> 00:44:30,376
a tool set,
821
00:44:30,459 --> 00:44:31,502
some kitchenware.
822
00:44:31,585 --> 00:44:35,297
Just the things
that added value to my life.
823
00:44:35,381 --> 00:44:37,007
After three weeks…
824
00:44:38,133 --> 00:44:40,052
I had 80% of my stuff
825
00:44:40,135 --> 00:44:43,055
still sitting in those boxes.
826
00:44:43,138 --> 00:44:46,308
Just sitting there, un-accessed.
827
00:44:47,017 --> 00:44:48,727
You know, I looked at those boxes…
828
00:44:49,228 --> 00:44:51,438
I couldn't even remember
what was in most of 'em.
829
00:44:52,314 --> 00:44:55,859
All those things I brought into my life
to make me happy…
830
00:44:57,027 --> 00:44:58,612
they weren't doing their job.
831
00:44:58,696 --> 00:45:01,699
So that's when I decided to let go.
And you know what?
832
00:45:02,741 --> 00:45:06,203
I started to feel free
for the first time in my life.
833
00:45:06,787 --> 00:45:08,288
I got my time back.
834
00:45:09,415 --> 00:45:10,749
I got my life back.
835
00:45:11,667 --> 00:45:14,086
And as I changed my life,
836
00:45:14,169 --> 00:45:17,256
I was focused on community,
not consumerism.
837
00:45:18,048 --> 00:45:20,008
Giving, not taking.
838
00:45:21,051 --> 00:45:22,928
People, not stuff.
839
00:45:23,637 --> 00:45:27,975
It just made us really,
you know, reassess our lives,
840
00:45:28,058 --> 00:45:30,352
reassess our goals and our commitments.
841
00:45:30,436 --> 00:45:36,442
Friends, and family, and colleagues
have acknowledged a profound change in me.
842
00:45:36,525 --> 00:45:38,318
It's given me the opportunity
843
00:45:38,402 --> 00:45:42,197
to be that person
that I used to just talk about being.
844
00:45:42,281 --> 00:45:46,326
Because of the way that my values
have really been reorganized,
845
00:45:46,869 --> 00:45:50,122
I am grateful for every single second.
846
00:45:50,706 --> 00:45:53,917
Really, I began to find myself again.
847
00:45:54,668 --> 00:45:58,213
And for that, I am so thankful.
848
00:45:58,297 --> 00:45:59,423
Minimalism…
849
00:46:01,008 --> 00:46:02,384
it changed my life.
850
00:46:02,468 --> 00:46:05,888
This emotion washed over me.
You know, it was really overwhelming.
851
00:46:05,971 --> 00:46:11,477
And it was this feeling
of great abundance, you know.
852
00:46:11,560 --> 00:46:15,147
Like an abundance
where everything is fine.
853
00:46:15,230 --> 00:46:18,066
You have everything that you need,
all is well.
854
00:46:18,150 --> 00:46:19,359
And I don't think I'd…
855
00:46:20,486 --> 00:46:22,780
I get emotional
thinking back to it, right.
856
00:46:22,863 --> 00:46:24,156
[sniffles] Um…
857
00:46:24,740 --> 00:46:28,869
I don't think I had that feeling since
I was maybe four or five years old, so…
858
00:46:30,287 --> 00:46:34,082
This just deep knowing,
you know, that all I wanted,
859
00:46:34,166 --> 00:46:36,543
you know, all I was searching for,
all I needed…
860
00:46:37,419 --> 00:46:38,462
I already had it.
861
00:46:40,798 --> 00:46:43,342
[Ryan] A little over a year
after my packing party experiment,
862
00:46:43,425 --> 00:46:45,636
something unexpected happened.
863
00:46:45,719 --> 00:46:47,596
My boss called me on a Friday morning
864
00:46:47,679 --> 00:46:50,432
and told me to drive down
to Cincinnati that afternoon
865
00:46:50,516 --> 00:46:53,227
to meet him
at the company's Human Resources office.
866
00:46:53,310 --> 00:46:56,104
I walked into the conference room
and saw my boss
867
00:46:56,188 --> 00:46:59,650
and someone from HR sitting
on the other side of the conference table.
868
00:46:59,733 --> 00:47:01,568
My boss shook his head.
869
00:47:02,069 --> 00:47:03,654
"We've eliminated your position
870
00:47:03,737 --> 00:47:05,948
with the latest round of cuts,"
my boss said.
871
00:47:06,031 --> 00:47:08,492
"This change, it's effective immediately."
872
00:47:08,575 --> 00:47:11,912
After seven promotions
in less than a decade,
873
00:47:11,995 --> 00:47:13,956
I was laid off with no notice.
874
00:47:14,039 --> 00:47:16,500
And then I was surprised
by my next thought.
875
00:47:17,167 --> 00:47:19,920
"Isn't this the best thing
that could have happened?"
876
00:47:20,003 --> 00:47:22,756
It was like a huge weight
had been lifted off my shoulders.
877
00:47:22,840 --> 00:47:25,300
I knew it was time for me to move on,
878
00:47:25,384 --> 00:47:27,344
and this was the nudge I needed.
879
00:47:27,427 --> 00:47:29,346
My entire perspective had changed.
880
00:47:29,847 --> 00:47:33,183
And then I thought to myself,
"There might be some people out there
881
00:47:33,267 --> 00:47:35,310
who would find value in my story.
882
00:47:35,894 --> 00:47:38,438
Who would find value in our story."
883
00:47:39,273 --> 00:47:43,902
So Josh and I, we decided to do
what any two 30-year-old dudes would do.
884
00:47:44,862 --> 00:47:46,113
We started a blog.
885
00:47:47,281 --> 00:47:48,615
That was a decade ago.
886
00:47:48,699 --> 00:47:51,159
And you know what?
Something amazing happened.
887
00:47:51,243 --> 00:47:55,038
Fifty-two people visited our website
in the first month.
888
00:47:55,122 --> 00:47:57,916
I realize
that might sound unremarkable at first,
889
00:47:58,000 --> 00:48:00,460
but Josh and I, we were excited.
890
00:48:00,544 --> 00:48:03,130
And then other remarkable things
started happening.
891
00:48:03,213 --> 00:48:07,634
Fifty-two readers turned into 500,
500 turned into 5,000
892
00:48:07,718 --> 00:48:09,595
and now we have the privilege
893
00:48:09,678 --> 00:48:13,181
of sharing our message
with millions of people every year.
894
00:48:13,265 --> 00:48:15,767
It turns out,
when you add value to people's lives,
895
00:48:15,851 --> 00:48:19,563
they're pretty eager to share your story
with their friends and family
896
00:48:19,646 --> 00:48:21,690
to add value to their lives.
897
00:48:22,524 --> 00:48:24,526
It's fitting that we're back here.
898
00:48:24,610 --> 00:48:28,614
Not just in Dayton,
but here at Press, at this coffee shop,
899
00:48:28,697 --> 00:48:31,074
because this is
where it literally started for us.
900
00:48:31,158 --> 00:48:33,285
Even back
when we were in the corporate world,
901
00:48:33,368 --> 00:48:36,455
you and I would meet here,
and this was our place for creation.
902
00:48:36,538 --> 00:48:41,877
It was almost like we required this extra
space outside of the corporate world,
903
00:48:41,960 --> 00:48:44,254
outside of our cluttered personal lives,
904
00:48:44,338 --> 00:48:49,384
to come here, to figure out how to create,
how to simplify our lives.
905
00:48:49,468 --> 00:48:52,429
To take this sort of feeling
that we were experiencing
906
00:48:52,512 --> 00:48:54,389
and get it down onto the page.
907
00:48:55,057 --> 00:48:58,769
[Erwin] I think we should all be allowed
to Etch A Sketch our life and say,
908
00:48:58,852 --> 00:49:01,313
"I thought this is the life I wanted,
but it's not,
909
00:49:01,396 --> 00:49:03,148
and so I'm gonna start over again."
910
00:49:03,231 --> 00:49:06,485
If you have a longing, and a dream,
and a passion inside of you,
911
00:49:07,277 --> 00:49:10,781
why hold on to what you used to do
and who you used to be
912
00:49:11,406 --> 00:49:14,701
and… and lose who you want to become?
913
00:49:14,785 --> 00:49:17,621
No matter where we're at
on our journey towards less,
914
00:49:17,704 --> 00:49:20,457
we are always going to be pulled
in that direction.
915
00:49:20,540 --> 00:49:24,836
The direction of comparison, the direction
of being overwhelmed by the media.
916
00:49:25,420 --> 00:49:28,674
And the truth is
we have to constantly refocus ourselves.
917
00:49:28,757 --> 00:49:31,385
We make life unnecessarily complicated
918
00:49:31,468 --> 00:49:35,514
because we overlook or underestimate
919
00:49:35,597 --> 00:49:38,433
the… the sense of direction that can come
920
00:49:38,517 --> 00:49:42,270
from just taking a little time
to sit alone with ourselves,
921
00:49:42,354 --> 00:49:43,897
to sit in the quiet and say,
922
00:49:43,981 --> 00:49:46,858
"I'm not gonna get my ideas
about what a good life is
923
00:49:46,942 --> 00:49:49,611
from external sources of stimulation.
924
00:49:49,695 --> 00:49:53,281
I'm gonna listen to that inner voice
and see where that's guiding me."
925
00:49:53,365 --> 00:49:57,411
[Erwin] If people could just
make a decision to be fully alive,
926
00:49:57,494 --> 00:50:01,707
if they could just get rid of everything
that's sucking the life out of their soul,
927
00:50:01,790 --> 00:50:04,126
that's when you're gonna find
your passion.
928
00:50:04,209 --> 00:50:07,504
But your passion
will never be about yourself.
929
00:50:08,005 --> 00:50:12,009
Your passion will always be
about some good you can do in the world.
930
00:50:13,260 --> 00:50:16,471
That's why Josh and I
are right here right now.
931
00:50:16,555 --> 00:50:18,974
We really hope
we can add value to your life
932
00:50:19,057 --> 00:50:20,684
by encouraging you to let go.
933
00:50:21,184 --> 00:50:23,020
To imagine a life with more.
934
00:50:23,562 --> 00:50:26,565
More time, more meaningful relationships,
935
00:50:26,648 --> 00:50:29,735
more growth,
and contribution, and contentment.
936
00:50:29,818 --> 00:50:31,653
A life of passion,
937
00:50:31,737 --> 00:50:35,282
unencumbered by the trappings
of the chaotic world around you.
938
00:50:36,575 --> 00:50:39,911
What you're imagining
is an intentional life.
939
00:50:41,079 --> 00:50:42,330
Not a perfect life.
940
00:50:42,914 --> 00:50:44,124
Not even an easy life.
941
00:50:45,000 --> 00:50:46,001
But a simple one.
942
00:50:46,918 --> 00:50:51,798
And to get there, you might have to let go
of some stuff that's in the way.
943
00:50:53,175 --> 00:50:57,137
♪ Clearing space
I found a moment taking shape ♪
944
00:50:58,472 --> 00:51:02,601
♪ Collect the memories
We put them into frames ♪
945
00:51:03,852 --> 00:51:07,022
♪ The beauty of our day-to-day ♪
946
00:51:08,023 --> 00:51:13,445
♪ Hung on walls inside this home we built
The life that we had made ♪
947
00:51:18,158 --> 00:51:22,245
♪ You kept my childhood
In a box beneath your bed ♪
948
00:51:23,497 --> 00:51:27,584
♪ My teenage years
Upon some shelves inside the shed ♪
949
00:51:28,960 --> 00:51:31,922
♪ My crayon portraits on your fridge ♪
950
00:51:33,090 --> 00:51:35,467
♪ You saved every souvenir ♪
951
00:51:35,550 --> 00:51:38,220
♪ 'Cause you were scared
You would forget ♪
952
00:51:41,348 --> 00:51:43,934
♪ You kept all of my stuff ♪
953
00:51:46,228 --> 00:51:49,439
♪ As if your love wasn't enough ♪
954
00:51:52,984 --> 00:51:58,490
♪ But I always knew your love for me
Was something glorious ♪
955
00:52:02,327 --> 00:52:03,954
♪ Glorious ♪
956
00:52:08,625 --> 00:52:12,712
♪ Want to make my life
A monument to you and me ♪
957
00:52:14,172 --> 00:52:18,051
♪ The everlasting us
The unrelenting we ♪
958
00:52:19,511 --> 00:52:22,556
♪ And when my body turns to dust ♪
959
00:52:24,057 --> 00:52:29,187
♪ Remember that my love for you
Was something glorious ♪
960
00:52:33,024 --> 00:52:34,568
♪ Glorious ♪
961
00:52:38,321 --> 00:52:40,198
♪ Glorious ♪