Monday, February 21, 2011

Confession

I have a problem.

I love stuff.

In every part of my life, I love stuff. I love decorations. I love clothes. I love food. I love shoes, kitchen supplies, electronics, coupons, memorabilia, etc.

I probably have too much stuff. I know I have too much stuff. I need to simplify.

[I also know I have started every sentence with "I."]

Today, I decided to simplify my life. The first step: stop my email subscriptions. [This coincides with a desire to start adhering to a better budget. By getting less "sale!sale!sale!" I will be less tempted to spend money. Or that's the idea. Also another topic.]

I am also narrowing down my blogroll. Every day in Google Reader I have over 125 unread blog posts. Talk about overwhelming. Who has time to read that many blogs, most of which I only subscribe to because they are "popular" and "hip" and "must-reads." That's not why I should read blogs. I should read them because I like to read them, enjoy them, and if they generally they improve my life.

Second step: deactivate Facebook. Yes, I know, by blogging about it I'm removing the whole "I'm just doing it for myself" business - but by blogging about it I also put it out there and therefore must adhere to it. [The whole pride thing, you know...] Already today, Day 1, I would sit on the Internet and think: "What should I do now? Facebook? Oh. Guess not." Then I was at a loss of what to do with my time.

Not the best default thing I want in my life. I want to read, think, pray, write, photograph - not spend my whole life on Facebook. We'll see where this experiment leads.

If you have any great tips about simplifying your life, please let me know. I need all the help I can get.

Meanwhile, this was a cake my coworker made for our coworkers [who all decided not to show up today] for their birthdays. It reminds me [and her] of a baby shower.

1 comment:

Taylor said...

and on the contrary, stuff stresses me out! let's see if i can share any of my habits. cleaning our your medicine closet/drawer feels really good. go through your clothes with a friend who knows what you wear and what you need to donate. move into a studio apartment and be forced to simplify :) i think stopping your retail subscriptions is a great idea. just avoid shopping all together.