The art of limitation.

Sep 26, 2017 | 9 comments

/ I’ve been wanting to talk to you about practising the art of limitation in a rather limitless society for quite some time now. To have the courage to miss out on things. You’ve probably already heard about the term called FOMO; fear of missing out. And I know this feeling quite well myself, being an individual growing up in the 21st century. But I’ve learned to let go of this feeling. And it can be transfered to so many aspects of our lives. We are afraid to miss out on the newest posts on social media, afraid to not own the latest technology, fashion, trends, knowledge etc. We see this fear everywhere. And the intention is actually good, right? We just want to get the most out of our lives. But do we really get that in this constant hunt for new things?

Der er et emne jeg længe har tænkt på, at dele nogle tanker med jer omkring; nemlig at praktisere begrænsningens kunst i en ret så grænseløs tid (jeg skal i øvrigt snart have læst bogen ”Gå glip” af Svend Brinkmann der handler om netop dette). For vi lever i et samfund der er bange for netop at gå glip af ting – det har sågar fået sig et tilnavn kaldet FOMO; fear of missing out. Og jeg kender denne følelse. Jeg har selv lært at give mere og mere slip på denne følelse. Og den kan overføres til så mange aspekter af vores gøren og laden. Vi er bange for at gå glip af de nyeste opslag på de sociale medier, bange for ikke at være i besiddelse af den allernyeste teknolgi, mode, trends, viden. Overalt ses denne angst. Og intentionen er jo egentlig god nok, for vi vil jo bare gerne have mest muligt ud af vores liv. Men får vi det, i den evindelige jagt på alt muligt?

/ I love minimalism and simple pleasures, because to me, there’s so much beauty in what is NOT there too. Does that make any sense at all? We’ve been raised to fill emptiness with especially material goods, but this emptiness has shown to be the face of freedom to me. It’s in the emptiness I’ve learned to truly find myself. And I know it’s sounds almost too cliché to be true, but it is. It’s when this void is allowed to just be there, that my anxiety and stress levels are almost turned off. Now, by emptiness or void I don’t mean sitting in an empty room staring into a plain wall. I do that too sometimes, but don’t take my metaphor THAT litterally, haha! But the feeling of letting myself miss out on things and most importantly be fine with it is just awesome. It has taught me to really appreciate what’s already a part of my life. If we are gonna talk fashion and clothing, which obviously is the main subject on all my channels, I’ve truly found my own true style this way.

Jeg elsker minimalisme og simple glæder i livet, fordi der for mig opstår noget virkeligt betydningsfuldt i det, der ikke er der. Giver det mening? Vi er blevet opdraget til, at fylde tomrum ud med især materielle goder, men dette tomrum har med tiden vist sig, at være frihed for mig. Det er i dette tomrum jeg har fundet mig selv. Måske lyder det helt vildt kliché, men det passer. Det er når tomrummet for lov til bare at være der, at min tendens til angst og stress er på laveste blus. Nu er dette ”tomrum” jo bare en metafor. Det er ikke fordi jeg sidder og stirrer ind i en væg i et tomt rum eller noget – så bogstaveligt skal det ikke tages, haha! Men følelsen af at give mig selv lov til at gå glip af ting, og have det fint med det er intet mindre end fantastisk, og har lært mig at sætte pris på det jeg i forvejen har. Hvis vi snakker mode, hvilket jo er ét af hovedemnerne på mine sociale kanaler, så har jeg virkelig fundet mig selv og min stil.

/ I know I often say, that it’s important not to compromise if you want to have succes with your wardrobe (if that’s something you are interested in – it is a huge passion of mine as you know, but feel free to transfer this to other areas of your life and consumption too). But actually this can be discussed; we are running around like headless chickens, chasing all the newest trends even though we deep down know, that the joy of a fast-fashion on-trend item is super short term. We also know, that our environment is suffering because of this industry! So to be honest, I disagree with my own statement a little bit; we HAVE to compromise! Both for our environment, but also our own well-being, and this goes for our consumption of all sorts of things, not only clothing. I compromise when I choose the 2ndhand version of a pair of leather boots instead of purchasing the new pair. I compromise when I tell myself ”no more new items” for my wardrobe when I know I’m done buidling my capsule for that particular season. I compromise when I choose the more expensive fairtrade item over the conventional one because I wont have as much money left. And I can find many more examples! So what I’m trying to say here is, that the art of limitation is a skill worth achieving, not only when it comes to fashion and style, but also (more important) things, that steal your attention and leaves you with a feeling telling you, that you should have been more present in the moment (in your life!) instead of paying attention to frivolous details. 

Jeg taler tit om, at hvis man skal have succes med sin garderobe (hvis man altså interesserer sig for den slags – det gør jeg som bekendt, men du kan egentlig også overføre følgende til andre aspekter af dit liv og forbrug), så er det vigtigt ikke at gå på kompromis. Men faktisk kan dette diskuteres; vi render hovedkulds rundt og jagter den ene trend efter den anden, men ved inderst inde godt, at lykken af at komme besiddelse af et fast-fashion produkt er ganske kortvarig, og vi ved også godt, at vores miljø er under hårdt pres af især fast-fashion industrien. Så jeg er faktisk lidt uenig med mig selv lige dér: vi SKAL gå på kompromis! Både for miljøet og vores egen skyld, og det gælder jo egentlig vores forbrug i alle mulige aspekter, ikke kun når det kommer til mode. Jeg går personligt på kompromis, når jeg køber et par læderstøvler brugt i stedet for fra ny. Jeg går på kompromis når jeg siger til mig selv, at jeg ikke skal købe flere nye ting til min garderobe, fordi jeg allerede har bygget denne sæsons capsule. Jeg går på kompromis når jeg vælger det lidt dyrere fairtrade produkt frem for det billigste alternativ, fordi jeg så ”kun” har råd til den ene ting. Og sådan kan jeg finde mange flere eksempler! Så det jeg prøver på at sige er, at begræsning er en kunst der er værd at praktisere, ikke kun når det gælder mode og stil, men også (vigtigere) ting, der stjæler unødigt meget af din opmærksomhed og efterlader dig med en følelse af, at du skulle have været mere nærværende i øjeblikket (eller livet generelt!).

9 Comments

  1. Mirjam

    Thank you for this thoughtful post, inspiring as always! I got inspired by you and have set myself the challenge of only buying things for my autumn capsule wardrobe second hand. It’s completely new to me and a big learning proces. So far I have purchased 2 pairs of boots secondhand and while one pair was not as great as it looked on the picture, the other pair was fine. I hope to get good wear out of them. Normally I would have run to the store to get them new but after seeing your secondhand items I took some time and bought them secondhand. So I guess old dogs can learn new tricks ?. I hope you do more blogposts and video’s on shopping secondhand. Lots of love from The Netherlands

    Reply
    • signeh24

      Haha, I like that metaphor! 😉 I’m sorry that one of the pairs of boots weren’t what you expected! Thats the tricky part with shopping secondhand sometimes. But hey, as you say you get wiser along the way :-* thanks for your comment! <3

      Reply
  2. Rebecca

    We not only need to compromise but be content with what we have. Your new brown boots and camel coat you added to your Autumn capsule probably gives you more joy than the typical women who comes home with bags and bags of clothes from the mall. I know I’m much more content with my wardrobe now that I limit the things I buy to a few pieces that I love ❤️
    Thanks for a great post ?

    Reply
    • signeh24

      You are SO right! thanks for your kind comment! <3

      Reply
  3. Julie

    Super relevant emne! Er selv i en proces hvor jeg øver mig i at gå på kompromis, både i forhold til min økonomi, mit forbrug, men også i forhold til samvær og ansvar vedr. andre. Jeg synes især det er svært at gå på kompromis og ikke tage overansvar for andre, lidt i stil med et overforbrug så “sørger” jeg hele tiden for alle andre, også dem hvor det egentlig ikke er mig der har ansvaret. Så bliver det nærmest FOMO på andres vegne

    Reply
    • signeh24

      Det er virkelig flot observeret af dig selv, kæmpe selvindsigt må man sige! Havde slet ikke tænkt over, at man kunne dreje den sådan, men det giver jo så god mening det du skriver!

      Reply
  4. Debbie

    Great post! Exactly how I feel! In my opinion minimalism most of the times isn’t about having less. It’s about having enough. That includes appreciating what you already have as well 🙂

    Reply
    • signeh24

      Exactly my thought! And thank you <3

      Reply
  5. Marie

    Tak for inspiration til en mere bæredygtig stil, Signe. Jeg har selv praktiseret utrolig meget fast-shopping men stadig uden den fede garderobe/stil. Det er ved at ændre sig nu. Også tak for inspiration til polyvore – det er hyggeligt og sjovt at bruge, og redder mig fra enhver tøjkrise.

    Reply

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