Documentaries about minimalism

It is impossible to start a new style of living and change drastically in a short amount of time. Good things take time and thus we came out with the 21 day minimalism challenge so that we can all have a taste of minimalism bits by bits. However there are many things about minimalism that we could not cover within this one month. We would therefore love to recommend some documentaries that will hopefully feed you more information from the people who have been practicing the ideology for years so that we can gain a deeper insight into the lifestyle.

Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things & Less is Now

Available on Netflix, the first two documentaries are both produced by The Minimalist. If you have not already known the minimalists duo, Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus, we will definitely recommend you to check out their website, podcast, social media and documentaries. In these films, you will get to know their journey in becoming the minimalists, their ways to tackle the hurdles while practicing minimalism and also interviews with different minimalists from different walks of life - families, entrepreneurs, architects, artists, journalists, scientists, and even a former Wall Street broker -- all of whom are striving to live a meaningful life with less. These are people who are dedicated to rejecting the American ideal that things bring happiness by showing the virtues of less is more.

Fun fact: we actually drew our inspiration for this month’s theme from them!

Taru Wo Shiru: To Know What is Enough

There is a Japanese saying, ‘taru wo shiru’, which means you have enough. The goal of our current economy is to create happiness in our life. In most of our lives, we have searched endlessly for ways to make it more convenient. However, deep down in our hearts, we realise there will always be some discontent. Filmed by Rob Lau and available for free on Vimeo, this brief 5-minute documentary captures a minimalist lifestyle to its core featuring six Japanese people who practice simple living. Check it out when you have 5 minutes to spare and get a gist of minimalism!