Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Ponderings

Just some midnight (it's midnight somewhere, although it is 10pm here) ponderings. I've been reading minimalist blogs again. I don't know why I do that. One of the things Leo in Zen Habits (see sidebar on right) keeps saying is stop comparing yourself to others. I sill read minimalist blogs as well as financial blogs. Don't know that a lot has improved in my life from doing so, and I end up either feeling badly about my current life and past decisions, or at best confused.

Tonight I'm confused. I was reading another of the 'we sold off or got rid of all our stuff and now we are ecstatic with our wonderful new simple (minimalist, whatever word of the day) life. Pretty straightforward. So why am I confused? Well, I'm pretty simplified right now. If you call 4 laptops and a tablet, and 4 suitcases of clothes simplified. For me it is. Remember, I have 2 10'x20' storage units full of stuff a bit more than 2,000 miles away. So, by the currently accepted formula, I should feel free and light and pretty darn good. I don't. I'm still screwing things up, as evidenced in part with the painful cost of breaking my lease on the apartment to get the mobile home. I should have stayed in the Extended Stay, it would have been cheaper and was nicer than the apartment on a monthly basis and I wouldn't have had a penalty for deciding to leave. But, I digress.

I seem to spend most of my time reaching for things I don't currently have at hand. Like buying a couple of cans of a favorite brand of soup. It is a bit fru-fru in that it's organic and all, but mostly it's the weird types of soup I like such as lentil an split pea. So, today I finally was ready to heat a can for lunch. I have a sauce pan and a stove. What I don't have is a can opener. sigh. Time to hit the *Mart again.

Another thing I miss, and the primary reason I'm not posting pictures yet, is my desktop computer with the full size monitor. I'll get past that, whimpering as I upload the pictures from the laptop. Still, I miss the ease of a real computer with more horsepower under the hood.

So, I'm confused. I guess I need more of a paradigm shift to be able to get into the whole minimalist thing. Don't get me wrong, my problems are all 1st world problems. I'm doing fine, and I have a really nice place to live that I keep pinching myself wondering how I bought it so cheap. I have pretty much everything I need (except a can opener...), and I have a job that is ok so far. I just wish I could see how the minimalists do it on a day to day basis. I could probably learn a few things.

9 comments:

  1. While it is always helpful to see how someone makes life work you always need to frame the picture so it fits your life. What works for someone else may not be how it needs to work for you.... I certainly can identify though, I generally seem to do it wrong(at least once) before I can hit on something that feels right.... You are not alone!!

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  2. Like the blogger you mentioned said "do not compare yourself to someone else" we all have different needs.

    Do you have anyone who could drive a U-Haul from where your storage units are located with their content aboard?

    For a can opener try the dollar store.

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  3. I'm proud of what I collected in life. Heck, it took me 70 years to get all this stuff and I ain't giving it up without a fight!! (grin).

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  4. I use to think I needed all the
    'stuff' to make life better.What I have learned is to be happy with me and it only took 69 years. lol
    I have a nice home in FL but I want to move to a 55 plus com.but my hou
    se is paid for and I hesitate to let go of one to get the other.You are very brave to just pick up and go I envy you.
    enjoy your new life. Have been reading your blog from the beginning.

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  5. MsB: The issue right now is how much it costs to move my stuff. Also, I don't need or want all of it here. I want to spend at least a week to sort and purge some of it before loading it onto a U-Haul truck. Right now I'm look to middle of September as it will be cool enough in MO to work in the units.

    Sherry: welcome!

    DD: That is how I feel about a lot of the things in the storage units. That is my past, and some of it I want to bring into my present again!

    klb: I'm enjoying reading about your adventures after your purging. I think you did it right, although I'm amazed you can live in so small a space. More power to you!

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  6. I used to read finance blogs daily, until I realized I just don't have any finances. Now they depress me, so I ignore them. Sorry, Dave Ramsey!

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  7. I like to read Zen Habits.The comparing to others post was a reminder to enjoy what I have. Reading about purging & RVing makes me feel free(less tied down)

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  8. I hope that by September you will have reached the understanding/decision that what is in the two storage units is NOT needed. You need to sort and purge. You have lived for how many years without any of it? So you have been paying to store 'stuff' that you are going to throw away?

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  9. Ed: Some of what is in the units is not needed now. About a third of it is what was in Honduras with me, and I wish I had something from that group almost every day. I'm not going out and replacing it, or else just getting cheap temporary alternatives until I can get that stuff here. Some of the rest I do still want, the nice China and some tools, some books, some of my grandparent's furniture that was hand made by my great grandfather are just few of the things that have been in storage since I left Nashville almost 5 years ago that I do still want. I have told my Mom and my Uncle to get rid of a couple of dressers that I know I don't want anymore if anyone says they want them prior to me getting back there. The rest I will go through and purge before loading the truck to bring it here. I do need a lot less now than I used to. :)

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