Note: you know when you walk out of a room and come back to find something that you started, but never finished? Yeah, that’s what happened to me about four years ago with this post… But I thought it was worth finishing, so enjoy.

I follow these guys – The Minimalists, as they refer to themselves – and I got pretty excited when I saw they were coming to town on a book tour. I pulled a quote (of a quote) from their website in this post. By the way, I loved Fight Club so it was a trip to see them pull some dialogue from the movie and use it in their own post. And no, I didn’t read Chuck Palahniuk’s novel (which the movie was based on), but now I’m feeling a little inspired and I need some new books for my subway commute. I digress.

Anyway, I called up a friend and asked if she’d care to join me and watch them speak about their new book at the time, “Everything That Remains.” She gladly accepted and we met up after work a few weeks later at the Housing Works Bookstore Cafe on Crosby Street. It was already a little crowded by the time we arrived, so we made our way up to a spot on the mezzanine so we could get a good look (neither of us breaks the 5′ 4″ mark, a curse in large crowds).

Now, I know my friend has never claimed to be a minimalist or even inspired by the concept, but both she and I stood there riveted for the better part of an hour while Joshua and Ryan told us the story of their lives and what brought them to us that very moment in time. Big shots, finally making big bucks, buying big houses and filling them with fancy gadgets and furniture and clothes, and so on. Working so hard they didn’t have time to enjoy any of it. And finally, they woke up and they revolted. Jettisoned all of their hard-earned shit, got new jobs and freed themselves. Pardon me for adding this bit, but I couldn’t help thinking Joshua had this whole young-Christopher-Walken kinda thing going on, strictly in the visual sense – but am I right, guys?

As a New Yorker, I’m surrounded by the pressure to have fancy stuff, make more money and climb the corporate ladder. But I don’t buy into any of it. And the times when I did were not happy for me. I felt like a failure. I felt like I wasn’t climbing high enough, fast enough. And hearing these two fellows speak so candidly about their experience truly touched my heart and made me want to keep spreading the good word. So everybody – keep keeping on. Don’t let the pressure get to you. Do you.