What can a 24-year-old teach us about shoring up our values before we run out and buy more?

Summary

What can a 25-year-old teach us about shoring up our values before we run out and buy more? In the opening episode of the podcast, we speak with Sasha Newton, a young professional in Northern California. Based on her own life experience, she makes the case that real growth can be found in letting things go, then living in the tension of not yet knowing exactly what we want. Later, when we’re clear about why we want things, we can be economical with our money and our time, while dialing back potential waste and disposal on the planet. On the day we recorded this episode, Sasha had just sorted her closet and let of 60-70%.

About my guest

Sasha Newton is a young professional currently living in the San Francisco Bay Area. She co-founded Peer Point, a program that supports youth in dispute resolution. Sasha graduated from Pomona College with a double major in Cognitive Science and Asian Studies and she speaks Spanish, Mandarin, Italian and Russian. Sasha also is an avid athlete on land and in water; in high school and college she competed in interscholastic swimming and polo.

Main topics

4:26the average woman has 125 articles of clothing
5:45letting go of things from the past feels like growth
6:58acquire a professional wardrobe at no cost
10:55value simplicity, utility and high quality
11:14perfect definition of a gift
13:13the right tool at the right time
14:23China, France, Sweden
15:07Capsule wardrobe

Additional resources

Fresh Lifelines for Youth (host of the Peer Point program)
flyprogram.org

How many clothes do I really need?
www.nytimes.com/2022/10/10/style/clothes-wardrobe-need.html

Capsule wardrobe
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capsule_wardrobe

Sasha’s tip for building a wardrobe at no cost
Use Facebook local buy/sell/trade groups to post a note about why you are building a wardrobe, the style or purpose you need it for, your size, and your willingness to pick it up wherever the donor would prefers. Say that you’re open to photo-sharing before pick-up to make sure it’s a match with what you want.

Book to check out
The Year of Less, by Cait Flanders

Podcast theme music
empty by Tea K Pea
freemusicarchive.org/music/tea-k-pea/

To hear more episodes of The Void Project, subscribe on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Transcript

Hi.

How do you feel about podcasts that are … personal?

Because this one gets personal.

It’s also about our stuff.

What?!

Yeah, the stuff you we buy or find or accept as a gift or inherit and it all builds up and up and up over time. Until one day we realize we’re in charge of managing it all.

Why do people do that?

Okay. I could stop right there. That would make for a pretty good podcast.

But that’s not as deep as we could go. Here’s a way more interesting question:

Might our belongings be a distraction that hides things we’d rather not see?

And then, what do people actually discover when they finally do let go?

My name is Kira Higgs. I’m a strategist, structural consultant, meditator and cyclist. I started a personal project a couple of years ago that I labelled, The Void Project.

The little tasks I laid out for myself produced insights galore — about our stuff and about how what we keep in our midst can enhance, or detract from, our lives.

It wasn’t solely about clearing physical things to make more space in my home and office.  It was to leverage the movement of books, papers, tchotchkes, email — all that and more — to stir up concepts that lie below the surface of my conscious awareness.

Now, as a podcast, The Void Project shares stories about real journeys of discovery without glossing over the bumpy bits.

I talk with people who pared down. They share their experiences, the lessons they learned, and some of the wonders that resulted.

Ten lives. Ten conversations. Ten people who did it for themselves or for others.

Let’s do this. Let’s get personal.

Podcast theme music
empty by Tea K Pea
freemusicarchive.org/music/tea-k-pea/

To hear more episodes of The Void Project, subscribe on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.