Dayton Based Duo, The Minimalists, Stop By UD For Sustainability Week

By: Carley Roberts – Contributing Writer

Joshua Fields Milburn and Ryan Nicodemus returned to their hometowns and made a stop at UD’s Kennedy Union ballroom Thursday to speak about living a simplistic lifestyle while still achieving the American dream.

Known as The Minimalists, Milburn and Nicodemus have been featured on various media outlets, including the Today show, Time Magazine and The Wall Street Journal. Their documentary, “Minimalism” has been named the number one indie documentary of 2016.

Milburn and Nicodemus grew up dealing with difficult challenges in their lives, including moneyand drug issues amongst their parents. As young adults, the two thought money would solve all of their problems, but they found out they were wrong. Money did not give their lives the purpose they were searching for.

Milburn decided to implement a minimalistic lifestyle after the passing of his mother. He did not know what to do with all of her belongings, so he decided to sell and donate her things but made sure to keep a few items of personal value. After this moment, he realized he could be happier and live a better life with less materialistic items. During the talk, Milburn described the excess things stored in people’s houses are just “collected memories.”

Nicodemus added to this notion of life before being a minimalists.

“My life, it lacked meaning, purpose, passion,” said Nicodemus.

The audience came to the event curious and skeptical about the minimalist movement, but left inspired by the duo’s wise insights on their unique lifestyle.

Milburn and Nicodemus’ talk was co-sponsored by the Hanley Sustainability Institute and was a feature of this year’s Sustainability Week programming. Pick up a copy of Flyer News, hitting the stands on Tuesday, for highlights from Sustainability Week.
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Photo Courtesy of Carley Roberts and taken from theminimalist.com