Keep It Simple at TEDxIndianapolis
“When asked how he created his masterpiece, Michelangelo said, ‘It was easy. You just chip away that which does not look like David.’ What if our lives are our masterpiece? What if we chipped away all that was unnecessary, all the clutter and the busyness, and focused on that which really mattered — our passions and our relationships.”
This is is the “big idea” Maura Malloy will share when she takes the stage at TEDxIndianapolis on Tuesday. Malloy, 36, is among approximately 20 speakers who will present their ideas at the conference with the theme of “Keep It Simple.” Other speakers include a homeless advocate, an origami artist, a musician and a handful of professors.
TEDx is a nonprofit organization that started 26 years ago as a four-day conference in California with the mission of presenting “Ideas Worth Spreading.” TEDx is a spin-off program of local, self-organized events. The first Indianapolis TEDx took place in 2012 at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. This year’s event will take place at the Christel DeHaan Fine Arts Center at the University of Indianapolis. Tickets are sold out, but the speakers will appear on a free online live stream at livestream.com/tedx/Indianapolis from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
In her talk, Malloy will share her journey to a minimalist lifestyle, as well as tools on how everyone can create their own “masterpiece” life. For Malloy, the spark ignited during a semester studying in India during her sophomore year at the University of Notre Dame. She was allowed one 40-pound bag of belongings for the semester. “It opened my eyes to how little you need to be joyful, especially when it comes to children,” said Malloy, who is expecting her first child in November.
Malloy, who grew up in South Bend, moved to New York City when she was 25 to pursue a career in acting. She ultimately turned to screenwriting, which she continued doing after moving back to Indiana with her husband, Rory Collins, 2012.
Leslie Bailey: Why I'm done organizing my clutter
She currently has two projects in development with actress Tessa Thompson attached to both films. The first, “An Illuminated Life” is a biopic about Belle da Costa Greene, an African-American woman who lived as a white woman while working as J.P. Morgan’s right-hand woman at the turn of the century. The other project, “Our Rebels,” is a smaller, independent film Malloy describes as a “platonic love story.”
But Malloy found the need for another creative outlet. That’s when she began writing about simple living on her blog, www.aserenespace.com. She also offers home organization and styling services, although those have been put on hold due to pregnancy. Her message remains the same.
“Remember what your David is — what your masterpiece or passion is. Find that first and then getting rid of the rest of the stuff will give you more time to pursue it,” she said.
Read on to learn more about Malloy, how maintaining “a serene space” has contributed to her creative success and her tips on “keeping it simple.”
Q: What does simple living mean to you?
A: “I really live by the William Morris quote ‘Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.’ For a long time I had so few possessions because there was no place to acquire them. I was living in a tiny apartment in New York. I didn’t have the money to rent a writer’s space. I had to write in my bedroom and even with the few things I had, it felt cluttered and I needed space. I couldn’t make the room bigger so I just paired down the possessions to make it feel bigger. I got rid of my desk, which I think in the modern world has kind of become obsolete anyway because we just carry our laptops. I even got rid of books — which as a writer was difficult — so I could have a bookshelf that became my desk. Then I had all this space to write everyday.”
Q: Did you find it easier to write when your space was clear?
A: “Yes, I would just roll out of bed, sit down and write. I needed space because I’m an introvert, and I need quiet to write. I couldn’t have bounced around coffee shops. I do that when I’m procrastinating. Then there was this part of me when I got a little older that did start wanting to have a home, and I started to realize what my taste was. I was really picky and if I couldn’t get some piece that I thought was beautiful, then I wasn’t just going to get something I didn’t love as much.”
Q: Why did you begin blogging and offering home organization services in addition to your day job?
A: “I started it a little over a year ago. I had the idea because I am a writer that needs to travel sometimes. When I moved to Indianapolis finding something to supplement the writing was tricky because I wanted to be able to leave for New York and LA when necessary. I had helped friends organize for years. I loved doing it and it would stress people out. I packed my girlfriends at the end of each year in college. I’ve done if for friends in New York. I love helping to organize when it stresses other people out. I had a girlfriend who kept telling me this was a great way to supplement my work.”
Q: It might be easy to live that way alone, but how did things change when you and your husband first moved in together?
A: “Going through someone’s stuff is a good way to get to know someone. Rory loves his CD collection because he loves music, and I didn’t understand that until I realized why he couldn’t let that go. It just represented this whole coming of age time for him, even though CDs are obsolete now. So it was a matter of finding out what mattered to him and what didn’t matter to him went on a truck to Goodwill.”
“He admitted falling asleep in a bedroom that isn’t cluttered is a more peaceful way to fall asleep. He’s on board with that. But he made the joke in the first year: If there was anything he really loved, he would put it in a plastic bag and sink it in the pond behind out house to save it.”
Q: We live in a consumer-driven society. Is the desire to consume something you struggle with?
A: “Waiting to buy something or do something for instant gratification - that’s the hardest thing, but it’s also the most rewarding. I’m like any other American: I can walk into a store and find a million things I love, but if I can pause and think about it for a while, 85 percent of the stuff I will forget about. The things that stick around that I find more uses for or that is so beautiful and I love looking at it every day and will continue to do so six months later, maybe I will consider purchasing it.
Q: What inspires you to “Keep it Simple”?
A: “Once I realized how peaceful that made me feel, fewer things and only the necessities. And as I waited to buy one quality item instead of five shirts that will fall apart after the first wash, once I realized how peaceful that made my home I really jumped on board. That was the first time I thought of the word minimalists. I remember googling it and finding this whole online community and thinking, ‘Oh, other people think like this too.” I like the philosophy because it really can conform to what your life is currently. Because mine keeps adjusting and I’m in a stage of accumulation which is kind of uncomfortable but also necessary. It’s not worth getting super crazy about ‘How few things can I acquire for this baby?’ but instead of enjoying the process and knowing that I will donate when I’m done with the items.”
Q: Babies tend to require a lot of “stuff.” How’s that process been so far?
A: “It’s been so much fun. Because people know I like to live this way my close friends have given me nuggets about what I can take off the registry or what I can add that has value in five different ways instead of getting five different things. I’m trying to find simple, stylish, functional pieces, and I feel like that takes time and research. But if you’re willing to do the research it’s there. I had nothing for a baby, so I’m so grateful that people throw showers because it is a time when it’s OK to accumulate.”
Q: What do you think makes the concept of simple living daunting and what’s one small thing people can do to work on it?
A. “They see everything they have to do instead of breaking it down to smaller tasks or making small adjustments in your day. I’ve written about a four minute timer, not even a five minute timer, but four minutes where every night you just spending putting things away and getting ready for the next day. It’s a small amount of time, but it make a big difference.”
Call Star reporter Leslie Bailey at (317) 444-6094 and follow her on Twitter @Lesalina, Facebook.com/Lesalina, and Instagram @Lesalina.
WHAT: TEDxIndianapolis.
WHEN: 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Oct. 20.
WHERE: Online at livestream.com/tedx/Indianapolis.
COST: Free.
TEDxIndianapolis 2015 Speakers
Chris Baggot, Company founder, author.
Tyler Bush, Storyteller, performer and brand-builder.
Susan Dynarski, Professor of public policy, education and economics at the University of Michigan, writer for The New York Times.
Anthony Tepedino Garcia, Principal Street Plans Collaborative, author, contributing blog writer.
Dinh Truong Giang, Origami artist.
Chunlei Guo, Professor of optics and physics at the University of Rochester.
Emily Jacobi, Founder and executive director of Digital Democracy.
Bridgett Luther, President of the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute.
Paul Mahern, Owner of White Arc Studios, musician.
Maura Malloy, Screenwriter, lifestyle blogger.
Mary McConnell, State director of the Indiana Chapter of The Nature Conservancy.
Pauline Oliveros, Composer, recording artist.
Creek Stewart, Host of "Fat Guys in the Woods," survival guide author.
Maurice Young, Homeless advocate.
David Engwicht, Social innovator and founder, Creative Communities International.
Denver Hutt, Economic and community development liaison, MIBOR Realtors Association.
Malina Jeffers, Founder, Mosaic City.
Call Star reporter Leslie Bailey at (317) 444-6094 and follow her on Twitter @Lesalina, Facebook.com/Lesalina, and Instagram @Lesalina.
Watch it live
WHAT: TEDxIndianapolis.
WHEN: 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Oct. 22.
WHERE: Online at livestream.com/tedx/Indianapolis.
COST: Free.