The Decline of Deviance<\/a> by Adam Mastroianni<\/p>\n A Ton of Data Suggests People Are Getting Less Weird. Should We Worry?<\/a> by Jessica Stillman<\/p>\n Pop Culture Has Become an Oligopoly<\/a> by Adam Mastroianni<\/p>\n The Return of the Weirdo<\/a> by Ted Gioia<\/p>\n Why is everything boring? (hint: it\u2019s not Capitalism)<\/a> by Nicole Rudolph<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The last video on this list offers the best explanation I\u2019ve found. The mainstream culture has the idea that rich people like minimalist architecture and fashion, so marketers are selling a cheap version of that as \u201cluxury.\u201d And people are buying it.<\/p>\n The usual argument is that houses are boring due to the emphasis on resale value. There\u2019s some truth to that. When Cathy and I moved into our house in 2002, we painted one bedroom dark blue and another (the one that would become my office) forest green. But when we renovated the kitchen last year, we went all white. Honestly? I don\u2019t hate it. But if we were planning to stay here long-term, we would have stained the cabinets dark instead of painting them white, found some nice light fixtures instead of recessed lighting, and while we might not have replaced the old floral print wallpaper with something similar (our contractor said wallpaper costs 3x what paint does) we definitely would have painted the walls something other than white.<\/p>\n Still, that doesn\u2019t explain why people who are planning to stay in a house a long time, or who have the money to renovate and redecorate on a regular basis, are choosing bland and boring.<\/p>\n And while \u201cfast fashion\u201d is economically unsound and environmentally disastrous, why does it all blend together?<\/p>\n Perhaps I\u2019m not the best person to critique popular culture. I\u2019m old, I\u2019ve never been one of the \u201cbeautiful people,\u201d I like what I like and much of what I like is simple. But I know boring when I see it.<\/p>\n And I know what it does to us to be enmeshed in a flat culture.<\/p>\n A flat culture says \u201cdon\u2019t stand out \u2013 you might attract attention.\u201d I was talking about this with a local friend who pointed out that except in a very few cities, in the United States we don\u2019t ride subways or walk on the sidewalks. And so we don\u2019t encounter weird people face to face. And so we\u2019re afraid of them, and we don\u2019t want people to think we\u2019re \u201cone of them.\u201d<\/p>\n A flat culture says \u201cdon\u2019t stand out \u2013 it might hurt your resale value.\u201d One of the things I\u2019m dreading about moving (sometime in the next few years<\/a>) is trying to find a house without a homeowner\u2019s association, or at least, with an HOA that isn\u2019t run by lawn nazis.<\/p>\n A flat culture says \u201cdon\u2019t try something new \u2013 you might fail.\u201d This is perhaps the worst impact of this trend. And also, the lack of a strong social safety net makes the price of failure incredibly high unless you have generational wealth.<\/p>\n Beyond that, if all we buy are books and movies and music that are just like what we bought last year, that\u2019s all the publishers and producers will put out for next year.<\/p>\n And so in addition to living in the miasma of boredom, we\u2019re deprived of the cultural and technological discoveries and advancements that can only arise in an environment where people are willing and able to take risks. To be different.<\/p>\n An old clich\u00e9 says that bad times make for good art. People get sick of the status quo and decide to try something different. They want to protest and they protest through art. They find themselves in a place where they have nothing left to lose and so they stop trying to please \u201cthe market\u201d and just please themselves.<\/p>\n Good art in bad times doesn\u2019t have to be explicitly political. We don\u2019t need anyone to tell us that Trump is bad. How do we tell stories and create visions of something better? How do we find leaders who will push hope instead of fear?<\/p>\n Minimalism tells us to be small, keep our heads down, and keep our hands clean. Big, maximalist art and fashion tell us that a more beautiful world is possible. We can live lives that are bigger, brighter, louder, sexier, and more luxurious.<\/p>\n This is especially relevant to us as Pagans. Modern Paganism began in part as a response to the Church\u2019s insistence that the pleasures of life \u2013 food, drink, music, and especially sex \u2013 were sinful. While overindulgence can be harmful, if you\u2019re going to live in this complicated and often painful world you might as well enjoy it. Forget abstinence. Instead, all things in moderation, including moderation \u2013 we need occasional times of inversion and excess.<\/p>\n Many of us consider ourselves witches. Witches are the ultimate outsiders. Witches live how they want to live and do what they want to do, even if it hurts the resale value. Witchcraft is far more than aesthetics, but the aesthetics of witchcraft<\/a> are pretty cool. Cauldrons and black hats and cottages full of herbs deep in the forest are no one\u2019s idea of minimalism.<\/p>\n Neither is dangerous magic<\/a>.<\/p>\n As Pagans and witches we can show the mainstream a better way to live, simply by being ourselves as loudly as we can.<\/p>\n Yes, it\u2019s dangerous out there. For some, the risk is far greater than disapproving stares from the arbiters of popular fashion or a nasty letter from the HOA. I\u2019m the last person to encourage anyone to take needless risks. You must do what you think is best for yourself.<\/p>\n But at some point, the price of safety is your soul.<\/p>\n And as Florence Welch sings<\/a>:<\/p>\n I no longer try to be good<\/em> If you\u2019re going to go down, you might as well go down flying your own flag instead of mindlessly following some AI-driven algorithm.<\/p>\n So let\u2019s banish minimalism from our houses, our closets, and our entertainment. Cover your walls in paintings, or posters, or your own photographs (I have all of the above in my house). Get a beautiful comforter for your bed\u2026 that isn\u2019t white or beige (mine is a wine-colored paisley \u2013 it\u2019s 30 years old and I\u2019m going to make it last another 30 because I love it).<\/p>\n Eat the good chocolate and drink the good wine. Grow your hair long, color it wild colors\u2026 or cut it all off. If you don\u2019t like it, it will grow back. What do you<\/em> want?<\/p>\n Forget the music with the overproduced earworm lyrics. Find the music that makes you feel alive.<\/p>\n Watch movies that make you go \u201cwow\u201d \u2013 the ones that are visually amazing, not the ones that overwhelm you with camera tricks or CGI. For me that\u2019s the Edgar Allan Poe movies of Roger Corman and Vincent Price, the better example of Italian giallo (especially those by Mario Bava and Dario Argento), pretty much everything Hammer Films ever made, and of course, Bram Stoker\u2019s Dracula<\/em> by Francis Ford Coppola. More recently, Nosferatu<\/em>, Sinners<\/em><\/a>, and Guillermo del Toro\u2019s Frankenstein<\/em>.<\/p>\n There are beautiful movies in every genre. If horror isn\u2019t your thing, find that ones that feed your soul.<\/p>\n Most importantly, read stories about impossible people doing impossible things. And then start doing what you\u2019ve always been told was impossible, even though deep down you know it\u2019s not.<\/p>\n We need not spend a ton of money to do this. It doesn\u2019t cost any more to paint your bedroom green than to paint it white. So much minimalist fashion is artificially expensive, plus true luxury lasts. And you don\u2019t have to do it all at once. Just stop buying boring stuff and buy beautiful stuff when it\u2019s time to replace it.<\/p>\n![\"photo](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/243\/2026\/01\/Maximalism-bookcase-4x3-1.jpg\")
<\/a>The high cost of flat culture<\/h2>\n
Beauty as protest<\/h2>\n
This is why we\u2019re Pagans<\/h2>\n
Playing small won\u2019t keep you safe<\/h2>\n
\nIt didn\u2019t keep me safe<\/em>
\nLike you told me that it would<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\nBanish minimalism<\/h2>\n
Embrace maximalism<\/h2>\n