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A review by krista_lm
The Afrominimalist's Guide to Living with Less by Christine Platt
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
This book is a revelation. ✨
I've read a couple different books about minimalism - Marie Kondo's book, The Year of Less, Cozy Minimalist, etc., plus many blogs and Instagram accounts.
Christine's voice is unique for a couple reasons. First, she is a woman of color, and she includes a recurring section titled "For the Culture" in her book. These sections, or asides, speak directly to Black culture. I am not Black, but having a different take on minimalism that was not from a white author or Marie Kondo (the only ones I'd learned from so far) brought such nuance and perspective and freshness to this space.
Second, she spends approximately half the book getting us to deal with WHY we spend and consume and find it hard to let go. Psychology and emotion are POWERFUL, and when I tell you I audibly cringed when I came to "It Started In Childhood" .... let's just say she read my mail. Ouch. But her point is - if you don't deal with the "why," you can get rid of all you like, but you'll end up right back where you started.
Confession: that's exactly what I've done. 😬
Third, she goes beyond a stereotypical aesthetic and arbitrary "rules" (black and white colors, 100 items only, etc.) to help you figure out how minimalism works for YOU. She herself uses color and patterns and keeps items that celebrate her ancestry and heritage. I actually picked up her book partly in response to her Insta account - like dang. Her space looks GOOD. And I'm sorry but I cannot do black and white, so I needed a different example. 😂
One tip that has helped me already is her philosophy of "need, use, love." An item should connect to all three of those categories to be allowed into your home. This has really helped me think about sentimental items, because let's be honest...I love them all. BUT, when was the last time I needed to use one in order to feel the emotion I kept it for? When was the last time I needed it to evoke that sentiment? There's a nuance there that I haven't heard anywhere else.
I've read a couple different books about minimalism - Marie Kondo's book, The Year of Less, Cozy Minimalist, etc., plus many blogs and Instagram accounts.
Christine's voice is unique for a couple reasons. First, she is a woman of color, and she includes a recurring section titled "For the Culture" in her book. These sections, or asides, speak directly to Black culture. I am not Black, but having a different take on minimalism that was not from a white author or Marie Kondo (the only ones I'd learned from so far) brought such nuance and perspective and freshness to this space.
Second, she spends approximately half the book getting us to deal with WHY we spend and consume and find it hard to let go. Psychology and emotion are POWERFUL, and when I tell you I audibly cringed when I came to "It Started In Childhood" .... let's just say she read my mail. Ouch. But her point is - if you don't deal with the "why," you can get rid of all you like, but you'll end up right back where you started.
Confession: that's exactly what I've done. 😬
Third, she goes beyond a stereotypical aesthetic and arbitrary "rules" (black and white colors, 100 items only, etc.) to help you figure out how minimalism works for YOU. She herself uses color and patterns and keeps items that celebrate her ancestry and heritage. I actually picked up her book partly in response to her Insta account - like dang. Her space looks GOOD. And I'm sorry but I cannot do black and white, so I needed a different example. 😂
One tip that has helped me already is her philosophy of "need, use, love." An item should connect to all three of those categories to be allowed into your home. This has really helped me think about sentimental items, because let's be honest...I love them all. BUT, when was the last time I needed to use one in order to feel the emotion I kept it for? When was the last time I needed it to evoke that sentiment? There's a nuance there that I haven't heard anywhere else.