By Pattie Mihalik

newsgirl@comcast.netHow much stuff is too much?I’ve noticed money manager Dave Ramey often starts his radio show with this declaration:If you have a roof over your head and something to eat, you have enough.While that’s an oversimplification, the financial guru often makes the point that having the basics we need to live on can be enough. The rest is all gravy.The next question is, “How much is enough?”If you’re one of the millions of people who saw the movie “The Minimalist,” you know the next question:How much is too much?Joshua Milborn and Ryan Nicodemus who made that documentary have millions of people around the country pondering that question.I was surprised when that documentary was the most popular Indie movie of the year and even more surprised when Joshua and Ryan followed that success with four best-selling related books. The website, podcast and blog continue to draw millions of followers.I keep mentioning “millions of followers” for a reason. It proves the subject resonates with many of us.It’s become an honest-to-goodness movement.As many of you know, that minimalist movement involves getting rid of life’s excess and focusing instead on what’s important. It involves more than getting rid of stuff — it’s more about living by choice with very little stuff.If you’ve watched the documentary, you see people of all ages and class sitting in rapt attention as Joshua and Ryan talk about getting by with less.At 30 years of age, they both had six-figure jobs and oversized houses with stuff to clutter every corner. They said they worked 70 to 80 hours a week to support a consumer-driven lifestyle that resulted in plenty of stuff but little satisfaction.When they looked around, they saw a nation where too many of us were trying unsuccessfully to find happiness though things. After they changed their own focus on life and became minimalist in the true sense of the word, they discovered they felt happier and freer.They say they are now free from worry, free from depression and free from the trappings that demanded much from them but gave back little.I think they’re right when they say many of us are trying to fill the void in their lives with stuff.Feeling empty? Buy a new car. Take a nice vacation. Or so the thinking goes. But the emptiness returns so we buy more stuff then have to work harder and worry more to pay for all that stuff.Joshua and Ryan say they want to help others see that willingly having less helps us focus on making room for more — more time, more passion, more experiences, more growth and more contentment.After I saw the documentary, watched the podcasts and read their blogs, I had an interesting talk with my husband about being a minimalist.In my observation, David is a true minimalist but I am not. He says I’m stereotyping him and it’s not true.Well, you decide. This is man with few clothes yet he claims he has too much. He has few household gadgets and claims we have too many.He periodically empties closets and cabinets because there’s too much in them, he says. He even asks me to get rid of the food in the pantry and in our freezer because there is “too much.” He’s a man who lived happily on a sailboat for seven years with next to nothing. He could definitely win the minimalist’s challenge of living for three months with only 33 items.That’s a challenge I could never meet.But David makes a good point when he says we can be minimalists in some things and not in others. He points out that his crammed garage filled with too much “stuff” to allow a car in there shows he’s not a true minimalist.He’s also right when he points out that when it comes to my house, there is no clutter and no excess — until you get to my closets, that is. I have two walk-in closets so crammed with clothes that we have to keep reinforcing the rods that fall down from the weight of too many clothes.I go into a closet with the thought of ridding it of some of my clothes, but not much makes it to the box for charity.I confess to looking at an outfit I haven’t worn in a long time and keeping it anyway because “I might need it some day.” And believe me, the day comes when I do need it.I have a back closet filled with expensive career clothes I seldom have occasion to wear. Will I have enough gumption to pare down those clothes?After reading the minimalist’s blogs, I know I will get rid of some clothes — but probably not as many as I should.I simply don’t want to get by with one sweater and one pair of jeans, and I know I can never pare my clothes down to 33 items.If you want some interesting reading, go to theminimalists.com to read about Joshua and Ryan’s minimalist mission. You can even watch a trailer for the documentary. If you subscribe to Netflix, you can view the documentary there for free.Reading the essays on the website might give you some food for thought for your own life.Contact Pattie Mihalik at

newsgirl@comcast.net.