If at first you don't succeed,

Just needed to write out this minimalism bit

Mon, 07 Apr 2014 06:57:08 GMT

Going on a bit of journey. I guess I already started it anyway. No friends, it's nothing major. Well, maybe it is? Just something that I started reading about and my mind had a wonderful eureka moment. Have you heard about minimalism?

Not the design style, though I suppose that's a branch off. The lifestyle rather. Two sayings caught my attention sharply. The first: There are two ways of being rich. One is to have all you want, the other is to be satisfied with what you have. The second: I don't buy things with money... I buy them with hours of my life.

Both of these really hit me. I love my stuff. I own the larger portion of stuff in two shared storage units (10x10 and a 10x15). I still have several boxes in my mom's house plus four aquariums (only two of which should be running within a few weeks so I can give her some of her house back, sheesh). I planned on buying a HUGE house for all my stuff and MORE STUFF. There are so many collections I've wanted to build up, so many things to 'save up for'. A luxury car. A 300 gallon tank (or bigger!). Comics! Toys! Games!

With those kinds of wants, I don't think I could ever hit the first half of the former quote. But what if I was happy with all my things? What if I actually used them and appreciated them, and could have them with me instead of in storage? What if I could buy a preowned normal vehicle for cash and not have a car payment? I could certainly learn to enjoy the latter part.

I know it's likely very true for me when I consider this: It is easier for me to remember road trips and off-roading/star gazing/just driving adventures with BFF than it is for me to remember just what I have stashed in storage. Both the gas and the purchase prices are still following me, several years later, via a > $15,000 debt on credit cards. But I can appreciate the 'better' use, so to speak.

Then the second quote got me. I have been working a fourth night every week since about October. I started to feel burnt out. Though that fourth was paid time and a half as overtime, I still lived paycheck to paycheck. I've taken at least 3 boxes to storage since then because stuff doesn't fit in the apartment. I realized that I was working too damn hard to not have anything WORTHWHILE to show for it. I have proof in receipts, but not in true value. So I had started direct depositing a portion of my check into a savings account. I never missed the money, so I think I might add a little more. And look, now I have the beginnings of the promise of a house in exchange for my literal life. Having a home for a goal gives me peace when I go to work, other than not having anything (which is what all the STUFF really amounted to).

Granted, I doubt I could live without books and DVDs galore, without games and collectibles. But how much more time would I have to read, watch, play, and enjoy all these things if I 1) could have them in my apartment/home? And 2) if I could stop wasting time dusting, cleaning, replacing, and organizing those things which aren't appreciated except for the time before they were mine and I forked over hard-earned money (or useless credit) for them? It would certainly be an improvement.

So I started small. Here's what I have gotten done:

3/27 Gave away three lotions from Julep I’ve had for maybe a year despite not using them.

3/31 Got rid of a lipstick that may have looked nice, but tasted like fakey fakeness. Yuck. Had that for at least a year too.

4/2 Went through a large box of paperwork, managed to trash almost half of it. Woo!

Yes, I was keeping a mini list. I have taken a week off work (starting Sunday), and I hope to make the most of it. I doubt I can get to the point where I can bring over boxes from storage to go through to divide into Keep, Donate/Sell, Trash, and Store sections in just that few days, but wouldn't it be awesome to try? I know I'm looking forward just to be able to walk in that one corner where I have a bunch of half-unpacked boxes and the like just taking up space.

So wish me luck on my attempts of change that many have said brought them a truer kind of happiness than base consumerism (I like to buy stuff, really! I just want to buy stuff I truly want or love, and not all the 'meh' crap this time around).

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In the mood to see Disney movies again, hmm

Wed, 27 Jun 2012 18:22:16 GMT

Hey there. So yeah, it's not that I forgot about this place,... again. But rather, I just got pretty busy these past few weeks. Nothing super major, just trying to balance a bunch of stuff. The most important is studying for that dang urology certification I want to do. It won't increase my pay or anything like that, but it's a way that I can feel more confident about taking care of my urology patients, plus it's a way my unit wants to show off for the urology doctors. Like being all "see, our nurses know how to really take great care of your patients!" kind of thing. It's interesting, but I have been really lax in studying. I should be almost done with the second textbook by now, but I'm kinda still in the first few chapters of the first :/ But if I keep chugging along, I'm sure I can manage to pass the test :]

Otherwise, work work work. Doing an extra night once in a while, but not as much as I'd hoped to get some more money to save for a house. Back to that routine at least, so my savings is getting bigger every paycheck, even if it's only a little bump. I'm putting more money into paying off at least one of my credit cards actually. I hate being in debt, ugh.

As for my weight loss junk, I think I finally reached a point in my life where I'm ready to put in the effort and actually do something about it. Whilst I've only lost about 4 pounds in the past 6-8 weeks, it's not like crazy dieting that I'll give up. Just adding more fruits and water, and a little bit of exercise (though that's the hardest part for me, as I didn't do anything for like 3 weeks until yesterday). Can't wait to be able to buy some new jeans that are a smaller size :) Have my fitness tumblr: http://enoughprocrastinating.tumblr.com/ It's about 99% inspirational photos and recipes, not that much personal stuff. But it's fun to keep and have stuff to look forward to.

Gonna go study a bit this AM, since I was gonna go to a computer class at work but it was cancelled, argh. Then in the afternoon wanna go to the movies since they're doing a classic thing, so today will be showing John Wayne's "The Searchers". Last week saw "Cool Hand Luke" and really enjoyed it :3 Oh yeah, like for my movie food, I still get stuff, but have not added the fake butter in a month, and I started to do half diet/half cherry coke instead of the whole thing cherry coke. It's not the best choices, but it's something that I can stick with, which I've learned really is important :]

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And here I thought I'd never come back

Wed, 06 Jun 2012 08:41:02 GMT

Or go away? Well, it seems like there's not too much going on around livejournal, so I've come over here to this dreamwidth service. Not 100% sure yet what all the functions are, but I'll try it out anyway. I wonder if I should post whatever I post here, back there? A large part of me is tempted, but then I wonder, should I have moved at all? I hold on to old things, comfy things, even if I don't use them. I have a lot of bags and backpacks, not because I need them to match shoes, or anything like that. But because when I find a new useful bag, I get it, but never get rid of my older ones.

Although, it kind of felt like no one was reading my posts back on LJ, or at least didn't follow along much because I had gotten so sporadic about posting. So that's kind of confusing too... should I start making more friends on here, or try to go back there and just rekindle their associations with me? I guess I'll think about it a little more, but until then, leave this little spot open for myself.

If I understand it correctly though, I could post there and import here, right? I wonder if that's something else to consider, hmm...

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EDIT: Just found the crosspost options! Ambiguity - solved!

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