Review -The Minimalists: Less is Now Australian tour: important message

Right: Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus

The Minimalists: Less is Now

Australian tour

Brisbane Show Grounds

Over the Christmas holidays my step daughter and I sat down and talked about minimalism. She gave me a great idea she had read about to throw out an item each day and try to slowly get rid of all the excess stuff we have in our house and in our lives.

She said it made her feel lighter and better. I had heard about such things and looked around my own home and laughed to myself. 20 years ago, when we moved into our four-bedroom home with study and rumpus room on a 900 m block I thought we could never feel this place. I achieved that and still was thinking about what other stuff I wanted! These thoughts I admit have been bugging me for some time. So, when my step daughter gave me a Christmas present ticket to go and see The Minimalists I was very excited.

Before the show we went into the Paddock Bar to have a drink and a bite to eat. The Food vans were out and there were limited but great choices. The service was excellent and reasonably priced. When then popped across the road to the centre.

Be aware if you want anything to eat at the showgrounds, have a credit card. Water was $4.00

It was a full house. The Minimalists,a Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus, arrived on stage in their simple black jeans and shirt and began to reflect about their life and how they became Minimalists to give the audience a perspective of where they came from and where they’re going.

They are obviously go-getters because they came from a poor background and

worked hard to achieve their American Dream. In their 30’s they became disillusioned and wanted to find out what their purpose in life really was. These feelings were triggered by Josh’s , (Joshua Fields Millburn) mum passing away and the breakup of his marriage and Ryan really losing his way and self-medicating. Very moving stories and an interesting fact: the average American home contains 300,000 items in it, wow! A scary thought: could I be the same?

They were very polished (maybe a little too so) and sometimes it felt staged, but for me the message was important. We as humans keep striving for too much stuff instead of trying to find what is really real to us and how we can give back to our society.

The clever banter was there and they used comedy to try and lighten the load and what I found very positive was that they didn't preach, they just tried to open our minds.

Towards the end towards there was a question-answer segment. This was probably the best part of the show because real people asked real questions about how they could change their life. Some asked funny questions like: “are you wearing your red underwear pants tonight”. This was very much an in-joke about red underwear being the last clean pair available..

But for me the most important question came from 14-year-old girl who had been travelling with her mum and dad and five siblings. She asked how she could maintain her own inner beliefs while going to school and being pressured with consumerism of future friends

The answer was basically “be true to yourself” something that resonated with in the whole audience. I enjoyed the night because I did not know a lot about the duo but they made me think and look around my own house a little more carefully.

When I went through a major store the next day I thought: “do I really need that” and the answer was “no”. In this age of global warming and too much plastic around this I think this can only be a good thing.

The Minimalists have a very expansive website I suggest you check it out find out if this lifestyle would suit you.