1/ Can I Get Something?
A thread by @JFM 2/ As you leave a museum, you’re often forced to exit through the gift shop. It’s consumerism’s last gasp. And, sadly, it works. Every time my daughter, @EllaSandwich, bounds through the knickknacks, tchotchkes, and souvenirs, she begs to bring one home:

1/ “Unteachers”
A thread by @JFM & @RyanNicodemus 2/ The more experienced we are, the more unlearning we have to do.

1/9 Channel Surfing
By @JFM & @RyanNicodemus 2/9 We’re always seeking something better.
Something nicer, faster, newer, sleeker, bigger.
Something more. Something else. Some thing.

1/8 The Four Paths
By @JFM 2/8 Whenever we fail to make a decision, we fail to grow.

Habitual Complaining
By @JFM Overheard on a flight yesterday:⠀
⠀
“This plane is taking too long.”⠀
“This bag is so freaking heavy.”⠀
“This drink would be better over ice.”⠀
⠀
These aren’t benign observations; they’re sneaky complaints.⠀

How to Go Clothes Shopping
By @JFM The average American tosses 88 pounds of clothes each year. Yet we keep buying more when we actually need less.

More Complete
By @JFM A dozen art galleries adorn the two-mile walk from my home to our studio. Whenever I stroll past a gallery, I often think, Wouldn’t that painting look great in our living room?

Do I Want to Keep This?
By @JFM Even as a decade-long minimalist, I still need to cull my excess from time to time.

Would You Be Willing To?
By @JFM Whenever something is going wrong, whenever I’m not getting the desired outcome, whenever I need support, these five words help more than anything else: Would you be willing to (blank)?

Screenless Saturdays
By @JFM & @RyanNicodemus The rhythm of life is not unlike a heartbeat. When everything is running smoothly, a balanced existence oscillates from productive to phlegmatic.

The Rule of Two
By: @JFM We’re all searching for that 25th hour in the day.

1-in-10-out Rule
By @JFM Being a minimalist doesn’t mean you’ll never buy anything new. It means you’ll do so with intention. It also means you’ll let go aggressively and deliberately.

Or you could do both simultaneously.

Consumerism Is the Original Virtue Signaling
By @JFM & @RyanNicodemus There’s a lot of talk about so-called “virtue signaling” these days. However, public expressions to demonstrate good character aren’t new: we’ve been virtue signaling with our sparkly new objects for decades.

Or perhaps value signaling is more accurate.

Let Go the Best You Can
By @JFM & @RyanNicodemus We look around our homes and see everything we once wanted—everything that was supposed to makes our lives happy and better and complete. And now they’re collecting dust. Unused.

Your Five Most Precious Resources
By @JFM & @RyanNicodemus A simple life involves, perhaps above anything else, the deliberate use of resources. To inspire you in that effort, we fashioned a handy acronym to help you identify and budget your most precious resources: S.T.E.A.M.

Just Do Something
By @JFM & @RyanNicodemus The iconic Nike slogan “Just Do It” is famous for a reason—like any helpful maxim, it’s pithy, instructive, and simple.

But what if you don’t know what “it” is?

Eudaemonia: A Better Kind of Happy
Guest Essay by @colinismyname Most decisions we make can be traced back to our desire to be happy.

But happiness is a fuzzy term, and is often—incorrectly, I would argue—conflated with a collection of other terms: fulfillment, pleasure, contentment, and satisfaction, among them.

Five Questions Worth Asking Before Buying
By @JFM Before committing to the next purchase, ask yourself five questions:

Unsolicited Discharge
By @JFM Last week, @RyanNicodemus & I filmed a conversation about dealing with criticism. While I agree with everything we said, I’d like to add a few words.

Essentials, Nonessentials, and Junk
By: @JFM Everything we own can be placed in three piles.

Scrolling Is the New Smoking
By @JFM You’re eating dinner with a friend at your favorite restaurant. Amid the sounds of utensils and dishes and mastication, you hear the muffled ring of the mobile phone in your friend’s pocket.