i am sure i have a post already named this. i believe it is a quote from "walden" by thoreau. i read it in high school but definitely need to hit it again. it's timeless. so i don't know if anyone noticed but it's been a week since i've written a blog. that is a long time for me. what has happened, you may have wondered...maybe not. i moved into my new place on the 5th. it's a studio, it's awesome, i live by myself and i love it. i've never lived alone, always with family or roommates, both pains if you ask me. moving always forces you to take an inventory of your "stuff". i had three truck loads. part of that was goodwill donations and other things to get rid of. i decided i had no more use for those things and that someone needed it more than i. i am trying to simplify my life. i am always trying to do this, ask anyone i know! having my own place has made it easier though. i really take a certain pride in what my place looks and feels like. i want to make it home and if there is too much clutter everywhere it just doesn't feel that way.
physical "stuff" clutter is one thing. it is pretty easy to get rid of, if you make that decision. i cut my wardrobe probably in half because there were so many things i just never wore. i thought i would make good use of somethings and just didn't. i am wasteful and very privileged. i understand that, and take responsibility for my waste. my things have gone back into circulation, to people who need/want them more than i have use for. i am also dealing with other kinds of clutter - emotional, psychological and technological. the first two are a whole 'nother post.
i am working on less techy stuff though, i cut down my list of rss feeds. it became too taxing to read through all of them. i wasn't enjoying them anymore and just trying to get through them. most of them were food-related, food porn if you will. when i am bored i like to look at pictures of yummy food. the idea being i would cook those yummy things eventually but truthfully it never happens. i don't have enough time. if i need a recipe i can get one! so the ones i still have are friend's blogs, because i still want to know what's going on there. another thing is i have no internet at my place. at first i was worried because i NEED my internet! then as i thought about it more, if i have it 24/7 i'm on it 24/7. simple as that. so i am weaning myself off of internet. it's for the best. now i go online when i need/want to, not just to waste time. i want my time to be better spent than just mindlessly surfing the net. i go online at work on night shift, at school and i can go to a coffee shop anytime. laptops rule.
my blog has become kind of boring. since i don't have a lot of time to take pictures, i'm not. so there aren't any pictures. sorry. once i get my place in order i'll probably put some pics up. not quite there yet. i'm still figuring out where everything goes or should go. i'm getting rid of things as i go along, like the college graduation present i NEVER used (2003). it's kind of ridiculous how i have dragged things around with me to every new place (8 since 2004), sometimes the thing being a box of recycling i had to go through. ridiculous! i didn't just do it then, i always left it for later. such a procrastinator!! now i'm not saying i'm going to become a non-procrastinator, that just wouldn't be right. :)
one more thing for simplicity - "have to's". a lot of times we say that we have to do things. in reality, there is nothing you really HAVE TO do. you make choices everyday. maybe if you say no the result will be negative and worse than if you say yes, making it hard to say no. i am working on saying no and not using the phrase "have to". there is no use. do i have to get up, out of bed and to work? no, but then i wouldn't get paid and couldn't eat or pay rent. there are consequences to our actions. i don't have to stay at a job i don't like but if i am too lazy to find a new one then that is my problem. i don't have to ride the bus everywhere, i can buy a used car and work extra to make more money to pay for insurance and gas. i make the choice. it's nice to have that choice but at the same time, it's on my shoulders so i am responsible.
already i am freeing up time for things like playing my guitar and reading. i just finished "WICKED" which was pretty (wickedly) awesome. i wanted to read it before i saw the musical, which i was told and quickly realized isn't much like the book. the book is all dark and adult whereas the musical is appropro for kids as well. i'm curious to see how it'll turn out and what was changed from the book. i'm listening to the soundtrack too, i like to know the songs cause it's weird when you go see a musical and don't know the songs. so now i've got "popular" in my head right now. it's insane.
i'm working on another budget, since i've changed locations and other priorities. it will be simple, of course, and i want to drastically reduce my spending/consumerism. while it would be nice to be able to buy whatever i want, i am sort of glad i need to be on a budget because i am a crazy impulsive shopper who loves to spend money (that i don't have). i've always been responsible with my credit but basically i go out shopping then have to pick up extra shifts at work to pay for stuff. vicious cycle. i did that "no buying" for lent and that worked out well. i wonder if i could do it for a whole year, or more. just not buy things anymore. something to think about.
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congrats on the new place! man you're gonna find that it's SO much easier to simply when you've got your own place. you can clear things out very quickly. i'm the same way, my motto is "a clear desk is a clear mind" so i finish every work day by making sure my desk is absolutely clear of clutter (or whatever is left has a specific place that is for a certain purpose, like outgoing mail or something), the act of doing that clears my mind from holding on to any of that information and frees me to think about other things.
i have a hard time with the tech clutter... not actual electronic things, but my electronic signature on the internet. in my zeal to rid myself of clutter i'm always wanting to delete accounts and take myself off email lists, even when they're useful to me. in fact, yesterday i signed up for electronic payments with my cable company and the instant that i did it i regreted it because it was another online account that clutters up my mind when they used to just send me monthly bills in the mail that i didn't have to think about.
anyway, christmas time is the hardest on trying to free up clutter, because when i'm shopping for other people all i find are things for myself! yesterday i talked myself out of buying super mario wall stickers (they were really cool, you can make your whole wall look exactly like the nintendo tv screen) and a TON of fun gadgets from thinkgeek.com, it was very difficult, but i'm really happy with myself that i didn't succumb to the "wants."
also, i totally agree with the "have to" statement... i tell that to people at work all the time! "you don't HAVE TO do anything" that statement just makes you a victim so that you don't have to take responsibility for your actions, and over-victimization is one of my biggest philisophical pet-peeves. haha, that and computer animation of people... ewww...
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