3 min read Newsletter

Simply Essential Newsletter: 11/19/23 Edition

Hi Friends of Quaint,

As always, thanks for being here and enjoying Simply Essential with us 😄

✏️ Educational Corner (behind-the-scenes)

This week in our educational corner, we wanted wanted to share a cheeky story from within our team. We're looking behind the scenes at Quaint, but more importantly, we wanted to share a cool moment between one of our software engineers (i.e. our tech guys) and our essentialism scientist (i.e. our practiced and proven essentialist).

Our software engineer, let's call him Mitch, and our essentialism scientist, let's call her Nadia, we're sitting around, working on a new feature for our website. During the conversation, Nadia was giving Mitch an overview of her work, explaining how she writes educational material, edits submissions from our community, and then ultimately publishes the writing. In doing this, Nadia was getting pretty technical into the type of things she's looking for in her own or other's writing - essentialism language, minimalist techniques, mindfulness themes, Quaint ethos, etc, etc, etc. And through this all, Mitch was rather taken aback. Mitch has been on our team for a short-ish amount of time, and he really had a lot of questions. He isn't a practiced minimalist or essentialist, he doesn't practice mindfulness, and he most just goes-with-the-flow.

Mitch was enthused at how specific and particular Nadia was in her work, but he couldn't help but ask, "I thought minimalism and essentialism were supposed to be simple? This sounds really precise." Nadia chuckled and was compassionate to Mitch's comment.

This moment was something we've heard over and over from newcomers to minimalism and essentialism, and we always take 2 specific learnings from this:

One, essentialism is a process, full of learning and life. There are intricacies that can be learned through practice and experience, but it takes time. And two, those of us that have practiced minimalism and essentialism for many years need to remember that at its core, minimalism is meant to be comprehendible and digestible. We need to do our best to ground ourselves in the foundations of essentialism and not get caught too far in the weeds when teaching our friends and community.

We always love when we can share new ideas with our co-workers and team members, but we also hope that you, and others in the Quaint Community, take a piece away from this short story. Thanks for reading :)

🍁 Environmental and Sustainability Tips

1. Mindful Consumption:

In our journey towards sustainability, remember to be mindful of our consumption habits. We can opt for products with minimal packaging, embrace reusable alternatives like water bottles and shopping bags, and explore local, eco-conscious brands to support a circular economy that minimizes environmental impact.

2. Energy Efficiency at Home:

Create an eco-friendly home by focusing on energy efficiency. Make the switch to energy-saving appliances, practice vigilant energy conservation by turning off lights and electronics when not needed, and consider renewable energy options like solar panels to reduce your carbon footprint and contribute to a cleaner, greener environment.

3. Waste Reduction Challenges:

Join us in a waste reduction challenge! Embrace the mantra of "reduce, reuse, recycle" by composting kitchen scraps, separating recyclables from general waste, and participating in local clean-up initiatives. Together, we can make a tangible impact on reducing our ecological footprint and fostering a sustainable community.

📖 Quote of the Week

💡
Inventor, novelist, and philosopher Lin Yutang says:

“The wisdom of life consists in the elimination non-essentials.”

What are the non-essentials you can eliminate?

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🗣 Feedback? Send it our way

We love hearing from each of you!! If you have feedback, questions, or simply want to chat, never hesitate to reach out to us at quaintsocial@gmail.com.

As always, thanks for being here, friends.

Talk soon,

🕺 The Quaint Team