Category Archives: Minimalism

familiarity

Getting rid of things is a task many of us striving for a new minimal way of life; removing, donating, purging. As a recovering pack-rat this is one of the hardest things I’ve tried to do for myself. There is still a hesitation when I look at my stacks of magazines I know I’ll never go back to read again. A hesitation before I remove the stack of t-shirts I haven’t worn in more months than I can remember but keep around ‘because I like them’. A hesitation with piles of things I am keeping ‘just in case’.

I have often wondered why.

Why isn’t it easy to remove this item. When I am honest with myself I know I’ll never use it. And even if I may think I will use it, when? In the next year? Doubtful.

However, I think I have figured out why I hesitate. I can even sum that up in one word….

Familiarity

I’m used to having this stuff around me. It, or something like it, have always been there. I am not going to place a value of good or bad on this, it just is what it is. I’m familiar with my stacks of things.

At the same time, I am tired of this being a familiarity. It is taking up too many cycles of my attention.

Time to become familiar with being a new way to live. Less junk to pay attention to = more attention for the things that matter. This is why I’m working on a version of minimalism that works for my life. I have better things to devote attention to. Time with my wife and son, time improving, time enjoying life. Now, I’ll still have things; but, only when they add value to what is truly important.

What did you remove today

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In my slow but relatively steady move towards a version of minimalism that fits my life, I have decided to remove at least one thing every day this month. Continuing to ‘clean things out‘. It may be a small goal, but it is reachable. It may be a short amount of time, but it is a commitment that will (hopefully) be easily accomplished.

It can be done.

To assist myself with this task I have set up a couple automated reminders.

A 7:00 AM reminder in my Google Calendar:

This starts my day with a reminder of the goal. It also put another thing in my inbox, forcing me to think about it, also forcing me to take action to I can delete that email.

A 8:30 PM reminder in my Google Calendar:

Accountability – it asks the question assuming the task is done, and has a link to where I have decided to log everything this month.

My Fargo.io ‘Getting Rid of Things’ log:

“Fargo is a simple idea outliner, notepad, todo list, project organizer.” Fargo is an interesting, fairly new site built by Dave Winer. (Yes, that Dave Winer, the same guy that wrote the 1st blogging software, and RSS, among others.) I find it perfect for this; web-based, uses Dropbox to store the file, simple.

In people’s own journeys to de-clutter and de-stress their lives, I’ve read a lot of different approaches; from having a packing party, to the approach I am working on this month. There was a great post on Becoming Minimalist today: 10 Decluttering Principles.

We will see where this road goes.

An Evening with The Minimalists

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On Tuesday the 18th, I drove up for a stop on The Minimalists tour. Ever since they announced it I have been looking forward to attending. I read their site quite often, and Joshua and Ryan are two individuals who have had a positive impact on my path away from being a pack rat and towards a version of minimalism that works in my own life.

Driving there I started to think I would be late. I had given myself an 1 hour and 45 minutes for the journey to Los Angeles, but traffic is not something I am a great judge of any more since I don’t hit too much of it living so close to work. When I arrived it was perfect timing and they started a few minutes after I got there. The Last Bookstore was standing room only, which was great to see.

Joshua and Ryan spoke about their own journeys to minimalism, the trials that got them there, and how it has had an amazing impact on their own lives. Then they answered questions from the large audience. One of the things that stuck out for me was Ryan’s discussion on his Mother and gift giving. He worked through her love of gift giving in his own way; essentially working to a solution of no gifts. This worked for him. The topic of gifts is something I can’t help but think of lately with Christmas so close. This year, if I was asked what I wanted, I would say something like t-shirts, almonds, or coffee. Things I do enjoy, and know I would use. (I don’t know if this is more of the minimalist, or, the old man in me though.) My own family enjoys gift giving very much, so this is an approach that works really well. Plus, we love giving them presents they will use.

In both his writing, and the evenings discussion, Joshua often talks about getting down to the things that add value to your life and I think that is an extremely good way to look at things. It isn’t about getting down to the fewest number of items possible, though one does thin out their possessions, it is about honestly looking at what adds value to your life. Being satisfied with what we have, the time we spend with others, and life itself.

I don’t often ask questions but felt compelled to this time. I explained that I was just starting out on my minimalist path, but didn’t expect that my wife really would; and that I was completely fine with that. I wondered if they had come across any others with a similar situation and if they could speak to that. Ryan first commented that it was really good that I didn’t care whether or not my wife also started working towards minimalism. They often hear the opposite, and it quickly becomes an issue with most couples they know of. (I really couldn’t see it becoming an issue for Dawn and I, we are as much a happily married pair as we are individuals whom love and respect one another’s views.) Ryan and Joshua went on to state that as I continued on my path, never go about “showing what I’ve done, what I’ve gotten rid of” but more to “show the benefits of how minimalism has impacted my own life.” Again, this is something I wholeheartedly agree with. I couldn’t help but to relate the sentiment to my Buddhist path.

In listening to them, as well as meeting them afterwards, I couldn’t help but feel like I was speaking with old friends. They truly are wonderful people, working to show others the benefits of minimalism with their own lives.

Speaking with the crowd before their talk

A great discussion

Joshua and Ryan were signing, but I buy their books on the Kindle.

Reminding Joshua of a comment he left on my blog.

Great to meet these two wonderful people.

While you’re here, I recommend adding TheMinimalists.com to your reading list, and, go check out the books they have authored.

Minimal Advent Calendar

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Recently, I found a link on swissmiss that really caught my eye; a minimal advent calendar. Dawn loves Christmas time, and I thought this would be a great idea to give her. Though I would have liked to support the artist who had the idea, I didn’t really have time to order it and wait for it to ship from Germany. Hopefully I can support them through a different purchase for someone at a later date. Plus, I am lucky; my friend Mike M. at work is a fantastic woodworker!

I showed Mike the item and told him my idea, and he said he’d be able to do it in no time. He’s a good guy and wouldn’t take money for it, so, I do owe him lunch. (thanks again Mike!!)

What I really loved about this, besides the minimal aspect of the item, was that Ian and I could write personal notes to Dawn for each day. Here is the little man crafting his priceless notes to momma. I love what he wrote for her.

We each crafted notes; things we could do for her, personal notes, and shared memories. I know I enjoyed writing the notes, and I could tell the little man did as well. He can be so creative.

The advent calendar, full of notes.

Then, we made her sit at the table so he could place it in front of her while she had her eyes closed. He, of course, had the notes in a very specific order; planning exact days he wanted her to open specific ones he’d written.

I think she enjoyed her surprise, and will be able to enjoy it all month.

Cleaning things out.

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I’ve been enjoying enjoying reading a few sites relating to ‘minimalism’ for a while now. Not the art movements, but more about living life with fewer possessions. They have been inspiring to me. For most of my life, I’ve held on to things, collected things, had major piles of stuff all over the place. As I get older, and honestly as my Buddhist practice deepens, I realize I don’t need a lot of these things.

Over the weekend I had a few hours to myself. This is a rare occurrence and instead of sitting down and watching TV (something I don’t do too often anyways), I turned on some music and went to work on my side of the closet.

I had been meaning to do it for some time and was happy to able to work on it. Going through what I had in there was funny; I guess I had forgotten all the clothes I owned. After not much time at all, I was able to clean out my side of the closet and rid myself of 1/2 of what was in there. This felt great.

An added bonus to this was previously I thought I needed to go shopping for a few shirts. Well, I found shirts I had forgotten about that fit great, so no shopping trip needed.

Now, I’m not convinced I’ll ever ‘qualify’ to really be considered a ‘minimalist’ but it was a good start. What little time it took make a good impact and I plan to continue with other areas of things I own (some of which may very well own me when I really think about it, but that’s another topic).

Here is a list of the ‘Minimalist’ sites I read fairly regularly:

I’m curious, have any of you gone through a similar change in thinking? Any other sites you recommend on this topic? Would love to hear.