{"id":3078,"date":"2025-12-23T17:16:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-23T17:16:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/badvibes.live\/?p=3078"},"modified":"2025-12-23T17:16:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-23T17:16:10","slug":"christmas-as-an-ultra-minimalist-no-tree-no-mince-pies-and-definitely-no-presents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/badvibes.live\/?p=3078","title":{"rendered":"Christmas as an ultra minimalist \u2013 no tree, no mince pies and definitely no presents"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Growing up in\u00a0the 90s<\/a>\u00a0in a low-income, 2-bed home, Robin Greenfield and his three siblings made the most of their modest\u00a0Christmas<\/a>\u00a0with their single mum.<\/p>\n

However, for the last 15 years Robin has tried to escape Christmas \u2013 even going to\u00a0Mexico<\/a>\u00a0with his friends and creating a\u00a0new festive tradition<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 seeing how long they could go before realising it\u2019s Christmas Day.<\/p>\n

\u2018Growing up, we celebrated Christmas, had the tree and all the presents. But now I have a bit of an aversion because it\u2019s a\u00a0consumer-driven holiday<\/a>. It\u2019s not living up to the values that it\u2019s espoused,\u2019 Robin, now 39 tells Metro.<\/p>\n

So, this year on the 25th, there will be no stocking in his home,\u00a0nor guests<\/a>, decorations or\u00a0Christmas tree<\/a>\u00a0and \u2013\u00a0 most importantly \u2013 zero gifts.<\/p>\n

That is because Robin is an extreme minimalist who has given away all of his possessions.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a stark contrast to his life in 2010, when he was living a typical American lifestyle in North Wisconsin, \u2018focused on material possessions, financial wealth and how society perceived me\u2019, running a marketing company and on the path of reaching his goal of being a millionaire by the age of 30.<\/p>\n

\u2018I was happy, healthy and loving my life. But I realised that nearly everything I was doing \u2013 the food I was eating, the car I was driving, the stuff I was buying, the trash I was creating, even the water I was drinking \u2013 was causing extreme destruction,\u2019 says Robin.<\/p>\n

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Christmas used to be a modest affair for Robin and his siblings (Picture: Robin Greenfield)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So he embarked on a radical experiment to give away nearly all his possessions and by 2020, he owned just 44 things, including a towel, his passport, computer and one book. And this year, he decided to take it even further, and very publicly give away everything \u2013 including his shoes and clothes \u2013 as he walked from\u00a0Canada<\/a>\u00a0to LA, where he sat naked in a park until someone leant him a blanket. For four months he owned absolutely nothing.<\/p>\n

\u2018What I learned from that was how little I needed in order to be happy and healthy, and that it is just as important to be able to be a contributing member of society.<\/p>\n

\u2018Some people, when they see someone who owns very little, they just assume that they\u2019re a mooch. But part of my practice is seeing can I own very little but still be a deeply contributing member of society? Absolutely I can. Because our presence is one of the most important gifts that we have.<\/p>\n

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Robin lives in a sauna house in rural Wisconsin on a friend\u2019s land (Picture: Sierra Ford Photography)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018My words can inspire others, I can educate others, and it doesn\u2019t require me to own anything in order to reach thousands of millions of people with knowledge and skills.\u2019<\/p>\n

Robin\u2019s minimalist lifestyle isn\u2019t limited to possessions \u2013 it extends to how he eats, washes, and even communicates. Over the years, the environmental activist has carried out a number of experiments in his lifetime, including\u00a0not showering for 1,000 days<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0wearing every piece of litter he created<\/a>\u00a0in a month.<\/p>\n

But for his latest project, consuming only food and medicine he has foraged, he\u2019s had to acquire more stuff, including tools, preserving equipment and lots and lots of jars.<\/p>\n

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The environmental activist has carried out a number of experiments (Picture: Robin Greenfield)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Robin, who hasn\u2019t owned a\u00a0phone<\/a>\u00a0for nearly a decade, now lives in a\u00a0sauna house<\/a>\u00a0in rural Wisconsin on a friend\u2019s land, which he has to clear out of every second Sunday so it can be used for its original purpose.<\/p>\n

\u2018I have some possessions, because foraging requires items to store all of the food,\u2019 he explains. \u2018So most everything I own right now, the vast majority is for food \u2013 jars and food processing and foraging equipment. I have a minimal amount of stuff.\u2019<\/p>\n

He doesn\u2019t even own loo roll, using instead the softest leaves he can grow that will decompose naturally in a composting toilet.<\/p>\n

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Robin says he has learned how little he needs in order to be happy (Credits: ornella le rouzic)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Speaking to Metro over Zoom from a laptop so old it\u2019s camera no longer works, Robin isn\u2019t visible, but his message is clear: We just don\u2019t need so much stuff.<\/p>\n

\u2018Not having a phone can be tough, but it is also worth it, because one of the greatest challenges of most of my peers is the constant connection and the inability to have time, to really rejuvenate inside and to really care for our bodies and minds.<\/p>\n

\u2018For me being offline is so utterly important for focus, clarity, balance, health and happiness. It\u2019s worth the inconvenience that I experience.\u2019<\/p>\n

And this year, Robin will not be celebrating \u2013 or even acknowledging \u2013 Christmas Day.<\/p>\n

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Robin argues that we have more than we\u2019ve ever had, yet are no happier than our ancestors (Picture: Robin Greenfield)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018It will not be any different from any other day. There will be no Christmas meal or gifts. There will be nothing of any sort.\u2019<\/p>\n

His dinner will be the same as what he has eaten every day for months. \u2018Wild rice and either venison or fish with mushrooms, stinging nettle, salt that I\u2019ve harvested from the ocean, some herbs, probably some apple or pear sauce, and some black walnuts.\u2019<\/p>\n

Robin argues that we have more than we\u2019ve ever had, yet are no happier than our ancestors \u2013 in fact, we may be worse off. His blog,\u00a0Downsize your life,<\/a>\u00a0lists a number of benefits to simplifying your existence, including saving money, breaking free from societal constraints and reducing environmental impact.<\/p>\n

\u2018Extreme consumerism isn\u2019t even giving us what we thought, which is happiness and health and meaning and purpose,\u2019 he adds. \u2018We\u2019re at an all time high for depression, anxiety, loneliness and overwhelm. So clearly, this excess is not working.\u2019<\/p>\n

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  Growing up in\u00a0the 90s\u00a0in a low-income, 2-bed home, Robin Greenfield and his three siblings made the most of their modest\u00a0Christmas\u00a0with their single mum. However, for the last 15 years Robin has tried to escape Christmas \u2013 even going to\u00a0Mexico\u00a0with his friends and creating a\u00a0new festive tradition\u00a0\u2013 seeing how long they could go before realising […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3080,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3078","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t