THRIVE WITH LESS

Hi TWL Community,

Exactly two years ago today we were 19 days into our month-long challenge to see what our lives would look like with some things trimmed out. What started with smaller closets, more home meals, and less driving grew into a project that went far beyond our individual lives and sparked a conversation that we've been thrilled to be a part of for the last two years.

  Until now, the film has only been viewable through screenings and DVDs and we are extremely grateful for everyone that has contributed to the project in those ways! In the pursuit of keeping conversations alive on minimalism and sustainability, we want to offer our documentary free to anyone, anywhere. So here's your chance to revisit the film or see the full Thrive With Less documentary for the first time online via this link: https://vimeo.com/thrivewithless/film

  Please feel free to share the film with anyone you like. The project came into manifest with the sole intention of bringing these topics to light, so engage your peers and keep us posted if you take on any new challenges yourself.

  We still have DVDs for sale on our website along with the opportunity for screenings at your community centers / schools / churches / etc. We've been blown away by your support and engagement with us, and we hope to keep in touch in moving forward.

  Our best thoughts to you in striving for lasting joy. With warmth,

  The Thrive with Less Team (Matt, Colin, Josh, Ryan, Mo, Jaclyn)

We had a great time in Huntington, IN last weekend. Not only did we get to show our film and talk about it with some great people, but we also had a chance to make some new friends and cook a meal together. It's truly an honor and privilege for us to be able to continue to spread the word about minimal living while meeting such incredible people along the way.

It's been almost a year since we released Thrive With Less! We've been so encouraged by the response and support we've received from YOU our friends, neighbors, co-workers, and greater audience as a whole.

Would you like the chance to revisit our journey or share it with your community? Our DVDs are now on sale in a limited, hand-stamped case made from recycled materials. Visit our website to purchase: http://blog.thrivewithless.com/dvd 

A huge thank you to everyone who came out and supported our film at the Capital City Film Festival! It's always great to get to show our film to a wider audience, and we saw many new faces at the screening, who brought up some great ideas while we talked about the film.

This is why we do what we do. Starting conversation and engaging in new communities; that's the whole reason we set out to make this film.

Last week we had a seriously great time hanging out at GLCC all day. Colin and Josh had the opportunity to speak to students in the morning giving a quick glimpse into what we learned through the whole TWL process. We were then invited to dinner with students followed by tea and coffee with Ryan [our facilitator] in his home. [He also peeled some carrots for his 4 year old son, who provided much entertainment for our time there.]

After the screening of the film, we went on to have a 2 hour discussion and nearly everyone stayed for the duration of our dialogue. It was so great to hear students open up about how they've been thinking about or struggling with similar issues of materialism, and it's incredibly humbling that we have been given the opportunity to inspire and engage in these students lives.

Multiple people stated they wanted to start their on TWL challenges and our new friend Kevin has decided to be off of Facebook and twitter for the month with only 4 shirts and 1 pair of pants as well. Yeah Kevin!

We're continually blown away by the reach of our film, and how conversations such as these consistently spring up!

It may be the middle of winter in Michigan, but that's not keeping the TWL crew from keeping their local commutes to bicycle. Yes, it's quite a rush and a chill to bike through the blowing snow get hit with slush flying up as cars go by, but what better way to be present in your environment?

It helps to be prepared though, here are my winter biking essentials:

-Warm boots

-Wool socks

-Gaters to protect my pants from the spray

-rear fender [don't want a dirty butt at work]

-safety glasses to keep out the wind and snow

-a giant scarf [for warmth and to look great]

-mittens that keep out the most tundra of winds

A screening of Thrive With Less was recently hosted in Blacksburg, VA and we received a lot of positive feedback from the viewing of the film. Here's what they had to say:

How does TWL “translate” from six college students to 46 middle-aged, middle-income people in Blacksburg, VA?  We showed TWL and immediately launched into this very discussion.  We pondered how this would be seen by the poor.  We went back and forth on the differing needs of families with children.  We marveled at college-aged “kids” coming to such meaningful conclusions about what mattered in life.  More than one of us expressed that we wished we had had this much wisdom in our 20’s.  A local member in our community had built a tiny-house as part of her Master’s degree and she came to discuss that experience.  This led to a lengthy discussion about housing codes and communal living in the 21st Century.  In the two days that followed our showing of TWL, I heard from numerous people how they were still talking about what they had seen.  It is fair to say that it gave each in attendance pause. The question, “What’s holding you back?” still resonates in Blacksburg.  Thank you TWL team for this important work!

But, we want to take this further. We want this experience to be able to effect lots of people in the same way we've been profoundly effected by it. And we need some help if we're going to get there. We've decided to launch a Kickstarter campaign to help us raise some money to keep spreading the word about our film and our mission. We've funded this entire project by ourselves thus far, for six college students, it's been incredibly challenging. So we're looking for some help from you.

Check out the video above and then head over to our Kickstarter page. We've got some really cool rewards available if you decide to partner with us, so please do what you can to help us out. And even if you don't want to contribute monetarily, help us out by spreading the word about our campaign so we can connect with more and more people.

Happy Monday everyone!

We've got some very exciting things in the works for you over in the Thrive With Less community, starting with two opportunities to see the film!

First, this Wednesday we'll be hosting an event at the former Barnes and Noble space in East Lansing, MI. It's going to be really special, not only will we be screening the film and having a discussion with you about it, but we'll also be having a potluck dinner and participating in a community art project. We're partnering with MSU Students for the Broad Art Museum, who have been working with a Los Angeles based artist named Fritz Haeg to create a giant crocheted rug for the opening of the new museum. The MSU and East Lansing communities have been helping in the creation of the piece, and, to make it even better, it's all made through found and reclaimed materials. We hope you'll check it out!

Next, we are thrilled to announce that we've been accepted into the East Lansing Film Festival's Lake Michigan Film Competition. We'll be showing our film as part of the festival, as well as competing against other films. The cool think about LMFC is that all the films in that competition have to have been produced in the states bordering the Great Lakes, so everything in that competition is a product of this midwest community we call home. Pretty cool! We'd really appreciate any help you can give in supporting us and spreading the word.

We do have one more announcement for you coming very soon, but I can't say anything about it just yet.... Stay tuned though, we should have some information about it this week!

Lastly, thank you all so much for helping us out in the ArcLight Cinemas contest. We haven't found out the results just yet, but we are hopeful!