Minilmalist WIP | Minimalism vs Cosplay - An unusual battle of extremes

Minimalism has changed my life in many ways. I am sure many are bored to hear the same thing. But it is true, this lifestyle will not only change the way how you live in general but it will change the way you think. Individuals who have converted to or casually followed this lifestyle can easily tell you how it has impacted them in how they see things now. One of the major change in us minimalists is ethics.

At least to me, the ethics in the clothing making industry - or simply fast fashion - affects me greatly. I am in no way an expert in this topic nor I have the figures to argue with you, so I will leave the floor to the people I follow on YouTube to provide some insight on it:

• My Green Closet on “Affordable Sustainable Fashion - Conscious Shopping”
• TED x Talks on “Fast Fashion’s Effect on People, The Planet, & You” by Patrick Woodyard

For now, I’ll give you two of my favourite channels - there are more, but you can start with those. I am not necessarily an avid fashion-oriented consumer, but I used to be in that fast and cheap fashion trap. After learning the things involving how a single garment is made - I recently have changed the way on how I shop or obtain wardrobe items. I started to accept hand-me-downs and go to thrift shops.

In case you are curious, the thrift shops I mainly shop at are Beacon’s Closet and No Relations Vintage in Brooklyn, NY.

Now, the reason why I brought up this topic is because I enjoy cosplay. For readers not familiar with this term, a cosplayer is simply a person who dons a costume of fictional character. And the term “cosplay” refers to the exhibit of the costume - it comes from the words “costume” and “play”. This hobby is mainly appreciated and practiced by audiences who like Japanese animation, a.k.a. Anime. In the early 2000s, cosplay was steadily on the rise, especially in Japan. However, it wasn’t as popular in the west - it was not surprising that the availability of these costumes are non-existent. The only way to have access to a costume was to make it.

When I first started cosplaying, I did what most in the cosplay community would now frown upon, closet cosplay. Which is to use what you have in your closet or ready made clothes (bought from stores) to wear as a costume that in a way are similar to the character you are intending to portray. From what I have heard, most have started like that - so I did not pay too much attention it. After my first closet cosplay, I decided to invest in a sewing machine and start to make my own costumes from then on - that lasted about two years - and resulted in 10+ costumes! What a ride!

Now that my views in regards to cosplay has changed, it certainly made me question my hobby a lot. Cosplay has definitely made me a more skilled person, I can mend my own clothes, know how to operate a sewing machine and a serger, alter clothing items, make cloth items, etc. It has given me fun and sad memories. The list can go on, but I digress - the point I want to make is that cosplay has made me hoarder for keeping around all the unused fabrics, scraps, mock costumes, buttons, two sewing machines, wigs, costumes, makeup, etc. for about 4 years.

I live with roommates, and in the past, I was told multiple times that I have way too many things for one person. Why I didn’t listen to them?  To a person who lives on his/her own, collection of things and hoarding things are practically a dead weight. It is hard to move around with a mountain of things. And living on my own, even without the hobby, there are other things that are essential in my life that I still have to keep with me whenever I move. To tie this in with fast fashion, this hobby also creates a lot of waste - textile waste is one of the major pollutants on the planet. Therefore I do not want to add on to the pollution problem... or at least try reduce the amount of waste I am producing.

I am in no way trying to condemn the hobby, I LOVE cosplay - the hobby sparks a unique joy in me that no other hobbies can - but now it is time for me to think of other ways to compromise it with my new lifestyle and values.

Currently, I do not cosplay often. It is simply a hobby I only enjoy with friends and attending conventions. I used to own about 10+ costumes and possibly 20+ wigs - and since I have started practicing minimalism, I have donated or sold most of my handmade costumes and wigs. I freed myself from the ones I am not satisfied with, ones I do not want to wear anymore, and ones that I have bitter memories of. I have only kept the ones that are my favorite ones and comfortable ones.

Here are the methods on how I would want to approach cosplay as a minimalist:

• Purchase second hand costumes from other cosplayers;
• Closet cosplay;
• Thrift and alter clothing into cosplay (in Japan cosplayers used to be very creative and make their own version/interpretation of a character); and
• Re-use old favorite cosplays.

I have also been looking into @fabscrap on Instagram - FABSCRAP is an organization in NYC (yay! it's near me) that provides pickup and recycling of fabric scraps from design, fashion, and entertainment companies. I believe one can volunteer and get some of the fabrics fer free :D I may give it a try one day!

If you have other suggestions - please kindly let me know!

Re: The Fear of Empty Space by Tisha Morris

As I scrolled down through my newsfeed on Facebook, I’ve noticed The Minimalists have shared a blog post from Tisha Morris, titled “The Fear of Empty Space.” I immediately clicked on the link to read the post - my initial thought was “do I have a fear of empty space?” Much of the things I personally find interesting are readings that can help me understand myself and the human nature better. This was one of them.

It was a well thought-out and short post. I love those - always to the point and easy to understand. Morris poses different questions and ideas of why she thinks people have a paradoxical fear and yearn towards emptiness, space, void, etc. One particular line resonated with me the most:

“Fear breeds in empty space. It’s where we can hear our thoughts. [It] forces us to look at our life. We have to witness the choices we’ve made. We have to remember the ungrieved past.”

Morris points out that we avoid emptiness because it can invoke our real voices/thoughts - they can make us reminiscence the poor choices that we’ve made in the past or force us to view our decaying present and dim future. This is the kind fear that I’ve felt after I’ve forsaken most of the things/stuff I had in my room. It unearthed a “self” - found a “self” of me that is unkind and toxic to my own self.

For the past week, after I have decluttered my things from my room - it gave me more time and physical space. The one thing I didn’t mind was the physical empty space that decluttering rewarded me with. However, a negative energy surged and enveloped my mind, it felt clouded - like how the weather has been lately (rainy, windy, and cold).  Thoughts of comparing myself to my peers and friends and family creeping into my mind, uncertain future vs my indecisive personality, etc. These were the reasons I did not post last Monday. I think I’ve been experiencing more of an emotional clutter now that I don’t have physical clutter that is distracting me from thinking about it.

“The void is also where creation is born. The same place we find our fears is also the place we find our soul. Follow the fear and you will find your authentic self. This is what we’re truly afraid of. Finding our true self comes with moving out of our comfort zone, changing family beliefs, taking risks, being seen, and vulnerability. The more these words scare you, the deeper your piles of clutter.” - Tisha Morris

Then, do I have a fear of empty space? I don’t believe so. I think of empty spaces as part of aesthetic aspect of life and it can reflect the aspect of a person too. It can go so many ways - I like empty spaces, more so when they are used beautifully. Life can be empty, but it can be full of life. If you get what I mean. Now, the problem is the emotional clutter that I have started noticing. At this moment, I will have to work on letting go of feelings (which does not sound easy). Maybe, as Morris says, I should somehow work on my mind in the arts (to induce creativity).

The Burning House Project | 2014

To many who are not familiar with art or photography in particular, I introduce you the “Burning House Project.” It is a photography project in which the subject is to answer the question: “What would you take with you if your house is burning?”

This project was introduced to me when I was still a student in college and was taking a course in photography. It was such a fun class, we got to use film SLR cameras to take photographs and develop them in a dark room. Good times! Anyways, so my professor talked about this brilliant assignment in class and proposed us to take on it.

The photograph above was taken in 2014 as part of my photography class portfolio. It was somewhat fun to think about the scenario, but it was also difficult. That year I still owned a lot of things - it was definitely during pre-minimalism time there. I owned a lot of stuff then, and sorting out my lot to come up with the things I would bolt out with during emergency was… a chore. I would imagine that I will end up dying because I needed to gather all these things. So, most things in the photograph were sentimental things that I would take with me if my house was in flames.

Here, I’ll list them for you (from left to right):

1. Box of letters and cards (I used to exchange handwritten letters with my best friend)
2. Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5 Digital Camera (no longer have it as of today - sold)
3. Plush toy (Mokona/Larg from XxxHolic)
4. Photo album
5. Peter Pan book (present from friend)
6. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows book
7. The Clow Book (Toy from Cardcaptor Sakura anime)
8. 1 TB HD (I have already started to digitalize documents/photos)
9. Leather military boots (to be donated - see from previous blog post)

Now that I assess the 2014 Burning House photograph, I am certain that I won’t be reaching for the same things again. I am planning to do another quick shoot of the Burning House project soon, so I am posting this old project now to later use to to compare it with the new project. Currently, I am not sure how it will be nor what items will I be taking with me this year (if my place burns) - but I am looking forward to see how it turns out!

2017 Earth Day Entry | Sustainable School/Work Lunch Swaps

Happy Earth Day 2017, everyone!!

To commemorate this day, I would like to show you the sustainable items that I have swapped to~

Ladies and gentlemen I here present to you the swaps I have made for school/work lunch. From left to right:

1. Bamboo/wooden cutlery (please pardon the stained spoon - I have been eating curry very frequently)
2. Metal straw
3. Handkerchief/fabric/cloth napkins
4. Stainless steel insulated mug/bottle (Zojirushi flip top cap bottle and S’well water bottle)
5. One of my many glass tupperware/lunch box

These are the things I bring to work for lunch. Though it is more work for me to prepare and have all of these things ready for work, I have been enjoying preparing my own meals. It gives me a sense of accomplishment when I do not create so much waste.

This way of living does not only give me this satisfaction, but it also helps me learn more about cooking, patience, respect, and about myself. I have been bringing my lunch to work for close to three years now and it has been a smooth journey so far. I did struggle a bit at first because I was still a student at that time - so I would forget to bring homemade lunch to school/work and buy from food vendors on campus (they are not the best food nor the cheapest nor the cleanest….). It is now all under control and I have not eaten lunch out in a very long time thus far.

Hope some of you decide to make at least ONE sustainable swap this year (psst! the stainless steel travel mug is a good start!)

“The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it.” - Robert Swan

Minimalist WIP | A break after decluttering

Today, after decluttering I took a break and decided to watch a video. Luckily, I was able found an interesting one on YouTube, it’s called “Goodbye, Things: The New Japanese Minimalism” uploaded by JapanSocietyNYC.

The video is a recording of a lecture or presentation given to an audience introducing the ideas behind Goodbye, Things: The New Japanese Minimalism, a book about the minimalism experience and reflections of Fumio Sasaki. The presentation was organized, precise, and informative, the author (who was also the presenter) poses simple everyday questions and shows us data to back up his own answers to these questions.

Here are a few points that was discussed in the video:

• Having more time, meaning of time
• Having more freedom
• Better relationships
• Obsessed with throwing things away
• Ease in moving to places
• Success v.s. satisfaction

It was definitely motivating to me listening to his view on minimalism and his experience on that lifestyle. Here’s a quote from the author, Fumio Sasaki: “I’ve let go of a lot of things; but the one thing that I’ve let go that is most important is the idea [of] ‘that money or fame is the most important thing’.”