Minimalism...Looking Back

For about sixty days of the last seventy, I've been getting rid of material possessions. The suggestion I followed is a pretty simple one.  On the first day, I divested myself of one item.  On day two, two items left the house. Day three...three items and so on till day thirty.  Over the course of thirty days, if you don't cheat, that ends up being four hundred and sixty five items. I went through one cycle of that practice, and now I find myself twenty days into the second cycle.  I also did about ten days in another location where I'd managed to collect a fair amount of material junk.  Ten days of not conducting the practice account for the remainder of the time.

Some observations from this foray into minimalism...

1.  I have quite a bit of useless junk. I didn't start out feeling this way, but that's one of the reasons it's good to start small. With over six hundred items divested, I have not found a single thing in the last thirty days that I've actually missed. That's pretty stunning because over the course of that time, I've certainly gotten rid of things that at the beginning of the journey I never imagined I'd be ready to give up. I still have things that I'm holding on to for less than good reasons, so I think I'll keep going with the goal of getting down to a set of material possessions that either have utility or bring me joy.

2.  The amount of money I've wasted on things of dubious value is stunning. Yesterday, I believe the nineteen items I ended up putting in the dumpster cost be about $110. In retrospect I really wish I had that money back. With a new outlook on life, that wasted cash would have been much better spent on an experience of one sort or another. On a related, but separate note, the way to financial wealth in America is keeping what you earn. That's a lesson that I learned far too late in life, and I still have a whole series of bad habits in that regard to tackle as well as a whole lot of past mistakes to undo. No one reads this material, but if you do and if you're young, keep that in mind going forward. Hold on to your hard earned money. It will buy you freedom if you can manage to resist the pull of advertising and the strong undertow of a relatively materialistic culture.

3.  I've held onto things for one of three reasons. a) Items have utility or bring some joy to my life.  This is really only a small handful of things that have endured the test of time. The rest of this junk was purchased on a whim, and looking back, I have made some serious mistakes in this regard. b) I keep items "just in case." This outlook isn't inherently negative, but it is a cost driver in terms of time (keeping things tidy), money (over insuring things I really don't need or wouldn't replace if I lost them), and focus (if you have too much stuff, your passion can be diluted...this is my theory anyway). c) Items are associated with some past aspect of my life or personality. This is probably the most insidiously damaging aspect of materialism. After having confronted this aspect of things, which I didn't even know existed until I started a disciplined approach to getting rid of them, I found that my material possessions were anchoring me to my past. Even the joyous aspects of my life in the past have long vanished in the wake of the creative destruction associated with the passage of time. Keeping the stuff because of the memories kept me anchored to a myth that, having slipped some of those anchors, is becoming less important to me moving forward into the future. Perhaps even more importantly, letting the past go has allowed me to enjoy the present with a lot less distraction. Finally, the happy memories don't vanish with the divestment of material.  Those thoughts are still there, but I find it much clearer in making new memories to layer on top of the older events that have shaped who I am right now.

Today was a good day, and I got rid of some things holding me back. I'm looking forward to tomorrow and the wide open spaces out ahead.

My Day Job is Eating My Lifestyle

I'm getting eaten alive by my day job. Things are going reasonably well for what I've been asked to do, I find myself in a position where the hardest thing about being successful is the ability to have the endurance to methodically execute the same series of policies and procedures over and over again.

There is a fair amount of mental endurance involved, but I don't feel like my creativity is being overly taxed. It's time to move on, and I need to come to terms with my inevitable exit strategy.

I'm looking forward to taking some time away from the humdrummery tomorrow, and we'll see what new challenges and opportunities unfold.

Keeping Up the Practice

Relatively long, but productive work at my day job today. I missed taking any photos worth putting up, so for now I'm just keeping up the daily practice.  I did calculate that over the last ten years or so, I've spent a little over 200 days commuting to and from work.

200 days.

That metric lends a little perspective to the pilgrimage which I plan on taking a little less time than that commuting time I've put in over the last decade. From that point of view the walk doesn't sound quite as irresponsible as it might seem at first blush.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow and the chance at stumbling on some other unique and informative perspectives.

Burning the Candle at Both Ends

My temporary uptick in work at my day job is proving to be quite a challenge. One thing I have learned is that the physical fitness I've gained through calisthenics and daily walking if proving to be the pivotal factor in keeping my mind clear and my body cooperating. There's a lesson in fitness in all of this because I started down this daily practice path a little over a year ago, and I did not have to rely on the reserves of body centric strength until the last month or two.  Being prepared has really paid off.

Eight People Preparing Their Physical Beings for the Unknown on the Anacostia

We all walk a path into the unknown, and up till a little over three years ago, I'd been able to mostly rely on youth coupled with a lack of preparation and luck to see me through the scrapes I found along the way. It was an undisciplined approach to life, and proved successful enough that I never really stopped to think about the assumptions of the future that I was foolishly relying upon to keep me on a tenable path.

Fortunately for me, I have faced a series of events that have proven conclusively that I have absolutely no idea what's going to happen around the next bend in my life path. I've been able to deal with that uncertainty by taking action, and that's a relatively new step from my perspective.  In the past, I gave far too much credit to the ability of intellect and thinking to keep things manageable. I've come full circle.  I now believe that action is what allows the intellect to function. With action, my mind has grown clearer and stronger.  It did not wither as I'd assumed in the past. The whole experience has been a period of growth that never would have happened had I not faced what I believed was the end of my rope, the end...doom. That's just a bit too dramatic, but I did get quite a wake-up call through my own ill conceived thinking.

I remain uncertain why I've been allowed to follow this path, but I believe there is a reason that may or may not be revealed.  Until then, I look forward to the challenges that the rising of the sun tomorrow may reveal.

Taking a Break and the Fallout

Yesterday, I settled in for my evening meditation session.  This morning, I woke up.  I'm not sure what happened in between, but I can tell you that I took a break from my daily practice. Clearly, I needed the rest, and I'm glad I got it because it set me up this morning to fully appreciate what ended up being a very satisfying day.

Clouds over the Washington Navy Yard

I managed to get a well rested early start on the day, and I made it down to the Anacostia before the sun had fully washed out the morning sky. There were enough clouds about to give the heavens an interesting texture. Since starting walking, I've really grown to appreciate just a little cloud color to give the sun a truly fascinating canvas to work with in it's race across the sky.

Water Is Life - Southeast Washington DC

The clouds this morning foreshadowed the arrival of rain in the afternoon, and by the time I was wrapping up a busy, but mostly productive, sojourn at my day job I found that this subtle reminder from the morning went a long way toward putting things in perspective. Rain is something else I've grown to appreciate more and dread less with my walking.

Punishment or Sport - Crew Practice on the Anacostia

It seems that whenever I'm near a river, there are folks out on it in one, four, or eight person shells practicing either the sport or punishment of rowing. I'm told by a practitioner of the activity, whose opinion I value, that rowing is truly both a sport and a punishment. Today I was grateful for the opportunity to observe it from shore.

Sunrise on the Anacosia

A little less than a mile into my ambulation, I hit the perfect vista to pause for a few moments and greet the day as the sun climbed over the horizon. It was a pleasure to breath. When was the last time you noticed how good it felt to gulp down two lung fulls of air?

Coming Dusk on the Anacostia

The sun was wrapping up it's daily journey, and I was wrapping up a damp (more than a little damp really) quickstep back to the parking garage when the storm broke for the evening. If water is life (and it is), I figure I added at least several weeks onto my allotted time on the planet with the closing exertions for the day.

The rest from yesterday did quite a bit of good, and I was able to truly appreciate the glory of life that unfolded around me today.  As is my practice, the promise of tomorrow beckons once again, and I'm excited to see what adventures await on the other side of the darkness.

Father's Day - 2016

I had a really good Father's Day this year.  I started off early getting together with friends where the memories and stories quickly centered around the general topic of father's. I'd be lying if I didn't say it felt pretty good to have a day dedicated to stories about the antics of dads.

My family and I ate some breakfast, and my daughter even chose to go to the bagel store with me. That's an unusual event, and I think we had a pretty good time. We all headed out to the garage (father space if there ever was one), and instead of getting some ties or sweaters or something else I don't really need, we spent the better part of the afternoon downsizing our material possessions. We didn't quite go far enough, but five bikes, two bookshelves, and a whole host of smaller items later, I'd say we made a good start.

Fifteen Pairs of N2N-TCP Training Shoes off for recycling

I got rid of fifteen pairs of worn out N2N-TCP training shoes that had used up their useful service lives. There are over 5,000 miles of walking represented by these shoes, and although we've come a long...long way together, the time was right to let the go.

Today was a great day, and I'm looking forward to seeing how the universe will help me along the way to my destiny tomorrow.