A Simpleton Seeking Less - Sort of...

My office mate has been going home at lunchtime lately and watching Hoarders. Then she starts purging -  clearing out closets and corners and boxes that were never unpacked. It's become a bit of a hobby for her, and, while I have no desire to watch Hoarders, I understand the drive for less stuff.

It comes up once in a while around here – the idea (not the reality) of less stuff. I am owned by stuff more than I own stuff. And it’s a bit overwhelming. It may be because most of my stuff is partially broken, but I don’t completely believe that.

I grew up believing that a bigger house and a nicer car and more shiny stuff were natural pursuits. I’ve spent the last decade getting over that. But I grew up in a DIY family which means that shiny stuff is supposed to start out as non-shiny stuff and you are supposed to shine it up before you can enjoy it. And what I was slow to learn is that it's the shining the stuff up that makes it worthwhile - having shiny stuff is not nearly so satisfying. My biggest project regret is that I focused on the acquiring rather than the building. When you get down to it, a lot of this blog is about seeking new projects in times when I'm not working on projects.

So, in wealthier times I found myself bringing lots of projects home. LOTS of projects. And in the meantime, life has gotten busier. And I'm finding the stuff less and less important compared to the people and the responsibilities.

So, there has been a little progress in the purge:

a few scooters have left

the Mercedes wagon (intended to run on veggie oil)

the old Econoline (intended to be electric and solar powered)

the electric pickup project rolled away (on someone else's trailer)

the garden is much smaller this year

the worn out old Dodge left and was replaced with a used but nicer hybrid (I now drive in luxury!)

There're still things needing to leave:

my high school hotrod

the electric boxster

the Voloci electric cycle

a lot of bicycles

lots of stuff in boxes

Vespa parts

aquariums

And there are projects that I still hope to finish/upgrade

more power/speed for the electric Vespa (28mph is just rough in Lubbock traffic)
the electric pigeon

solar charger in the garage

the electric minibike (which never quite worked)

the electric klunker (which is so close!) 

the electric Motobecane (which is so close!)
a functional folding bike for travel
a less messy backyard for family relaxation
better rain capture/utilization

and there are more projects that I want to pursue
solar/battery building (darn you, Micah Toll!)
learning how to utilize a Raspberry Pi / Arduino
learn to sit quietly without yearning for a phone/tv/music/distraction

But mostly these days, I want to spend time with my wife, the family, the dogs, and the handful of friends that I'm blessed with. I want to spend more time in study, in worship, and in being thankful. And I want to find ways to encourage environmental stewardship. I'll let you know if I get any of it sorted out.

Maybe I need to find a show about project hoarders.

May you get it all figured out and have a wonderful day/year/life!

Walking, Coffee, Stuff, Minimalism Challenge, Saturday Mornings, etc.

As I get a bit older, I keep thinking differently about stuff and busy-ness.

Some of that fancy latté art

Let's talk about Saturday mornings. I love Saturday mornings. I sleep in a little on Saturdays, almost an hour longer than normal. I get up quietly, throw on some clothes, grab a few things, and walk over to the local coffeehouse. Besides clothes, I have my ever-present phone, wallet, and keys. I also carry a grocery bag, my journal, my bible, a pen, and some cheater glasses. The grocery bag I fill up with trash as I walk the neighborhood and drop it in a dumpster near the coffeehouse. I am usually one of the first to arrive at the coffeehouse. I order a single coffee drink and a whole-wheat cinnamon roll. I sit in the back corner reading, writing, sipping, munching, and sometimes planning blog posts. I am usually there about an hour. As I walk home, I pick recyclables up. When I get home, I usually climb back in bed with my lovely wife - she is not a morning person, and that is probably a good thing.

The thing about these particular Saturday mornings, I have everything I need. I usually spend around five dollars. In our world of stuff and hurry, this is a time of little stuff and little hurry. Weather does not affect it. I can walk in snow, rain, fog, heat, wind. The coffee can be hot, cold, good, terrible. The cinnamon roll can be the same. The temperature inside the building also matters little.

The only variable that ever messes things up for me is noise level. If the music is too loud and distracting or the patrons are too loud and distracting, then I get nervous and don't enjoy the morning so much. I go there seeking a reverential contentment, but noise can melt that away. (I should probably re-think the ever-present cell phone too.)

For me, contentment is the important word. I am not seeking joy or happiness. On Saturday mornings, I work at being content. When I find that - happiness, joy, patience, even a tiny bit of wisdom - things all seem to fall in place. The week is better, and I have more resilience to face it and to care for those who need me.

After having read this far - pat yourself on the back for attention-span endurance - here is a nifty little pair of links to help you if you are trying to slow down a bit to seek a bit of contentment:

Green Livivng Ideas article about the minimalism challenge

The 30-day Minimalism Challenge

I am a big fan of days 1, 4, 10, and 24. I dont think I will struggle much with days 9, 17, and 23.

May you find some contentment in your days. Thank you, as always, for reading this blog!

Stuff - Choosing to live with less

There's a guy who joins us for coffee most days. Hypothetically, we will call him Joe. (It's fun, because his name really is Joe.) He is a self-proclaimed minimalist and strives to make sure that his list of worldly possessions will all fit in a duffel bag. He is young and single. The minimalist lifestyle appears to suit him quite well. The rest of us swilling coffee around the table are anything but minimalists - we all have mountains of stuff that we work hard at maintaining, stuff that often owns us. For example, there's a Dodge pickup in our family that feels more like a part-time job than a transportation tool.

I have to admit that I find the idea of less stuff has a lot of appeal. And I see a lot of media these days that indicates that a lot of you are also interested in having and maintaining less stuff. Tiny house and bicycle-as-primary-transport articles consistently bring in more readers to this blog - especially from keyword searches. And Joe makes some compelling arguments.

Over the last few days I have run across a number of articles that deal with less, and two of them have really had me thinking.

The first is a Mother Earth News article from Kyle Chandler-Isacksen. And it is the more radical of the two for this middle-classer. It challenges the conventional American dream in showing a life choice quite foreign to what most of us consider normal.

Choosing Voluntary Poverty

The second is a Lloyd Alter article from Treehugger. Lloyd is a Canadian architect/writer who writes a lot of articles on tiny houses, green culture, and green tech. And I enjoy his writing because it tends to enlighten me more than sell me a product or trend.

This particular article is a combination overview and slideshow that covers a lot of ground on the value (and problems) that come with less.

Why small is the new green

May you never stop questioning what you know, and may your questions lead you to a better life.

Added bonus link from Lloyd Alter to keep you pondering:

Let's get real about cute little wind turbines