Surviving minimalism －ミニマリズムから生き延びる－

My wife recently discovered a smartphone app which allows the user to sell things directly to other people with the same app.  It’s a bit like taking your old things down to a second hand shop and cashing them in, except that you don’t physically have to go anywhere.

My wife is not a woman who does things by halves.  Every night I am disturbed by the sound of a smartphone camera clicking as she photographs more and more items to put up for sale on line.  She has sold old skirts and dresses; knick-knacks and souvenirs from Scotland; antique mugs and more.  She seems to have become obsessed with the idea of minimalism and downsizing.  She is like a black hole, ripping through the apartment and sucking into oblivion anything which is not firmly attached to the floor.

Not only is she selling her own stuff, I find my own pile of earthly goods getting smaller little by little too.  I have been encouraged and cajoled to get rid of a Braille writing tool (“You don’t use this any more, do you?”); fan goods to remind me of my favourite football team from back home (“You can’t go to the games while you’re in Japan anyway”); old audio books (“How many times can you listen to the same book?”) and more.

I have started to look for hiding places around the house for my things.  Otherwise I’ll be sitting on a bare wooden floor in my underpants.  It’s tough living in a minimalist household.

Or maybe one day she will point the camera at me and put my picture and description into her app.  If you see a Caucasian man for sale on line – second hand, a little worn but still serviceable – please give him a good home.

 

Vocabulary:

minimalism – The idea of living with only the smallest possible amount of material goods

to cash something in – To exchange something, such as a cheque or second hand goods, for money

 “[Someone] who doesn’t do things by halves” – [Someone] who commits 100 per cent effort to what they are doing; someone who doesn’t take half-measures

a knick-knack – A small, worthless object, such as a souvenir, office toy etc.

to downsize – To make something like a company’s scale, the size of your house etc. smaller

oblivion – Non-existence

to cajole – To persuade by persistent effort

bare – Empty; naked

Caucasian – Of a person, having a fair skin colour

serviceable – Of an item for sale, able to be used; working