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A review by barjeanne22
The Afrominimalist's Guide to Living with Less by Christine Platt
3.0
A nice read overall, though I often wished it had gone deeper rather than being more surface level on a range of topics. Maybe I'm just a more advanced minimalist than I thought... I feel like I've already taken on a lot of this introspection. Maybe I'm just a nerd, but I wanted more info on how our overconsumption trends are influenced by our hyper marketing culture and capitalism (rather than pinning all the blame and reaction responsibility on ourselves) and how the legacies of slavery and discrimination tangibly show up in Black consumerism today. There would be a sentence or two bringing these up and then it would move on.
The main section that got me thinking was asking what areas of my life I tend to overbuy in and why I may still have trouble letting go of those things even after decluttering. It prompted some interesting reflection for me.
I rolled my eyes a bit at reading "deals that would be criminal to pass up" over and over - is that more of a universal feeling than I think it is, especially in the Black community? I don't have that compulsion myself, but she talked about it as if most of us think that way. When she referenced four attachment motivations, she breezed right by number 2, stimulation. I don't think it actually plays a minor role in many people's overconsumption (Christine included as she's described things here) I would have been interested in exploring why the act of shopping sometimes is just chasing a feeling rather than a useful, mindful exercise. Are we doing out of stress, anxiety, problem avoidance?
Lastly, the layout of the book bugged me a bit and felt cluttered. Multiple kinds of gray boxes, callouts, quotes, and I couldn't really tell the difference between them. I was frustrated when the narrative was separated mid-sentence by a new page of culture call out when I wished they'd just allowed a bit more space in the layout to keep sections together, since this wasn't a long book.
The main section that got me thinking was asking what areas of my life I tend to overbuy in and why I may still have trouble letting go of those things even after decluttering. It prompted some interesting reflection for me.
I rolled my eyes a bit at reading "deals that would be criminal to pass up" over and over - is that more of a universal feeling than I think it is, especially in the Black community? I don't have that compulsion myself, but she talked about it as if most of us think that way. When she referenced four attachment motivations, she breezed right by number 2, stimulation. I don't think it actually plays a minor role in many people's overconsumption (Christine included as she's described things here) I would have been interested in exploring why the act of shopping sometimes is just chasing a feeling rather than a useful, mindful exercise. Are we doing out of stress, anxiety, problem avoidance?
Lastly, the layout of the book bugged me a bit and felt cluttered. Multiple kinds of gray boxes, callouts, quotes, and I couldn't really tell the difference between them. I was frustrated when the narrative was separated mid-sentence by a new page of culture call out when I wished they'd just allowed a bit more space in the layout to keep sections together, since this wasn't a long book.