Logo from TWL's Facebook page
For the past few months, I’ve watched something really cool come together. Six college students in Michigan took on six challenges, each focusing on a different aspect of their lives. Their mission? Learn to thrive with less.
What struck me from the beginning was the group’s deliberately broad focus. So often, when we think less, we think minimalism in terms of stuff. But excess doesn’t stop with physical things.
Thrive With Less tackled more than their possessions. From drastically limiting their wardrobes, to hosting community dinners, to blocking off sections of their living spaces, these students challenged themselves to live better without some of the things our society clings to. They talked with a builder of tiny houses and a professor of psychology, tried urban biking and urban farming.
They vlogged, blogged, and filmed the entire process. And then they made the video below, a documentary of the project, of their journey, of their experiences and reflections and realizations. It’s a beautiful culmination worth watching again and again.
(Yes, I know it’s an hour long. Make the time. You won’t regret it.)
It’s the most honesty and truth I’ve experienced in one place in a long time. They are vulnerable and tenacious. They fail, succeed, and question. They make you look around at your own life and wonder, “How much of this is excess? What keeps me from stripping some of it away?”
Without your expensive wardrobe and your social media accounts, without your McMansion, your SUV, your nights on the town, your high-profile career, who are you? What’s left when you take away all the layers plastered over you? The TWL crew doesn’t have all the answers, but they’ll show you their start. Maybe they’ll even inspire you to make yours.
Good luck walking away unchanged.
