Since my realization that I have too much stuff, I have begun going through everything and starting to sell things. It's quite a liberating process.
It's also horribly overwhelming most of the time.
Some days I have all the energy in the world until I walk up to a stack of boxes... then all my enthusiasm falls flat because I'm staring down a mountain of things and knowing I can't just magically make them disappear in that moment. Sure... I could trash them, but that would just add to the landfill problem. I could donate them, but my savings is uncomfortably close to nothing and much of what I have is worth a decent amount of money.
I'm left with needing to take the time to sell things... and believe me, it is work! I have to organize it, decide what should go on Ebay or Craigslist, or what will be yardsale fare and ultimately the leftovers will go to auction to sell as box lots. Then I have to toss things that aren't sellable in any of those manners, or donate some of it. I've also been working on scraping metal stuff that I have so that I'll get some money for it and the items will be recycled.
All in all, I feel I have a pretty solid plan for having 80% of my posessions gone in a year and (hopefully) several thousand dollars back in the bank. (that includes selling 2 cars). I'm trying to undo as much of the damage as possible, damage I myself caused with my reckless spending through my teens and 20's.
My favorite part of all this is... I've barely spent any money on stuff in the last few months. In fact, I can sit here and list every single item I bought, becuase there are so few that they all stick in my mind... a case that holds 375 cds/dvds so that I could reduce the amount of space that collection takes up, a pair of leggings to wear under skirts in the winter, a nice zippered daytimer that both has the calendar and pouches for me to keep important documents all in once place, packaging supplies for the stuff I'm shipping, three paint brushes and a tube of paint, and three pairs of earrings (that were buy 2 get 1 free).
Just about everything I bought had a very specific purpose and was filling an actual need. The main exception is the leggings and the earrings, I could have gotten by without either and in the case of the earrings I certainly didn't need them at all. For a single purchase that served no other purpose than being pretty in two months time...I'm pleased. You don't want to know what I was buying in two months time before June... I would hazard a guess at ten times as many items.
Overall I'm doing well with this rearrangement, but it takes time and it's hard for me to remain patient. One day at a time...
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Friday, October 29, 2010
Omniverous Bipeds
To me it is just as silly to say that you will eat meat and absolutely no plant products as it is to say you will eat plant products but absolutely no meat. (I am not referring to arguments of conscience or religion, that is a whole seperate topic.)
Whether you believe that we were sculpted from clay to be exactly as we are or that we evolved over millions of years, recognition must be made that however we got to be how we are, we were designed to eat both plant and meat products.
Every one of us has a natural reaction to most types of food. The smell of beef being grilled is almost universally appealing, as is the scent of citrus fruit. Most people enjoy the flavor of bacon and even if they don't eat the real deal do sometimes have bacon "flavored" foods. I realize I am making generalizations here, but my point is that if our minds and bodies instinctively respond to a food, then we were meant (or evolved) to eat it... in some quantity.
For example, our teeth are a good clue. Sharks eat nothing but meat, and they have nothing but razor sharp teeth for shredding muscle tissue. Deer do not eat meat, and their teeth are flat for grinding plant matter into pulp. Humans (and other omnivores like dogs and cats) have a blend of these types of teeth. We have sharper teeth to cut through and shred meat but also flatter teeth to help us grind away at plant foods.
Another example is our ancestors. They hunted -and- they gathered. They ate what was available and what their bodies told them was proper... based on the natural order of things.
My last example is about how certain foods are simply not appealing alone yet we eat cubic tons of them. Vegetable oil is in most processed foods if there is a fat content, it comprises a good bit of what margarine and mayonnaise are, and then there is deep frying. But if you take a bottle of the stuff (vegetable oil is usually corn oil) and smell it or taste it, it's pretty nasty. The one exception in my book is olive oil... preferably extra virgin (cold pressed is the kind which is easiest to extract and doesn't require heating). I can dip a piece of bread in olive oil and eat it and that is just about as pleasing as putting butter on bread. I can't say that about the types of oils that are normally used in mass production foods. Butter - an animal product - is what oils were trying to replace in our eating habits. Butter makes better cookies and breads, fries things to a lovely golden brown, and it tastes amazing simply spread on toast. But because it is an animal product it's considered taboo. Though butter is extremely rich, and I wouldn't eat a quantity of it alone, it's not because it is unappealing only because it is too much fat with nothing to balance it. If I get some on my fingers, I happily lick it off. If I get some oil on my fingers, I look for a paper towel to wipe it off with.
And as for a side note...
Neither humans nor animals were intended to eat so much grain. Not only do we consume tons of wheat and corn, but we also only eat meat which has been fed tons of wheat and corn. Corn as we know it does not occur naturally. Natural foods are ones which do not require any advanced farming to grow - no cross breeding or selective breeding to get what you want, but rather eating what you find. Most completely natural maize is inedible... it was bred to be what we eat today.
Whether you believe that we were sculpted from clay to be exactly as we are or that we evolved over millions of years, recognition must be made that however we got to be how we are, we were designed to eat both plant and meat products.
Every one of us has a natural reaction to most types of food. The smell of beef being grilled is almost universally appealing, as is the scent of citrus fruit. Most people enjoy the flavor of bacon and even if they don't eat the real deal do sometimes have bacon "flavored" foods. I realize I am making generalizations here, but my point is that if our minds and bodies instinctively respond to a food, then we were meant (or evolved) to eat it... in some quantity.
For example, our teeth are a good clue. Sharks eat nothing but meat, and they have nothing but razor sharp teeth for shredding muscle tissue. Deer do not eat meat, and their teeth are flat for grinding plant matter into pulp. Humans (and other omnivores like dogs and cats) have a blend of these types of teeth. We have sharper teeth to cut through and shred meat but also flatter teeth to help us grind away at plant foods.
Another example is our ancestors. They hunted -and- they gathered. They ate what was available and what their bodies told them was proper... based on the natural order of things.
My last example is about how certain foods are simply not appealing alone yet we eat cubic tons of them. Vegetable oil is in most processed foods if there is a fat content, it comprises a good bit of what margarine and mayonnaise are, and then there is deep frying. But if you take a bottle of the stuff (vegetable oil is usually corn oil) and smell it or taste it, it's pretty nasty. The one exception in my book is olive oil... preferably extra virgin (cold pressed is the kind which is easiest to extract and doesn't require heating). I can dip a piece of bread in olive oil and eat it and that is just about as pleasing as putting butter on bread. I can't say that about the types of oils that are normally used in mass production foods. Butter - an animal product - is what oils were trying to replace in our eating habits. Butter makes better cookies and breads, fries things to a lovely golden brown, and it tastes amazing simply spread on toast. But because it is an animal product it's considered taboo. Though butter is extremely rich, and I wouldn't eat a quantity of it alone, it's not because it is unappealing only because it is too much fat with nothing to balance it. If I get some on my fingers, I happily lick it off. If I get some oil on my fingers, I look for a paper towel to wipe it off with.
And as for a side note...
Neither humans nor animals were intended to eat so much grain. Not only do we consume tons of wheat and corn, but we also only eat meat which has been fed tons of wheat and corn. Corn as we know it does not occur naturally. Natural foods are ones which do not require any advanced farming to grow - no cross breeding or selective breeding to get what you want, but rather eating what you find. Most completely natural maize is inedible... it was bred to be what we eat today.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Heaven, Hell and Time
Science has recently proven that an observer at sea level will view an event happening higher in the atmosphere as moving faster, and an event below sea level as moving slower. In other words, people who live in the mountains age faster than those who live lower on the surface.
Throughout history, man has developed the idea that heaven is above us - imagined as being in the clouds or even in space. At the same time hell has been pictured as being below us. We knew that below us was a fiery pit (the core of the earth) before we could actually see it.
The idea is that in the fiery pit below us we would suffer eternally with events seeming to repeat themselves and agonizing with a single thought "forever". Above us, in heaven, time is imagined to move so swiftly that in heaven (or for God) everything happens in an instant or simultaneously. These ideas are consistent with this recent scientific discovery.
Just as we knew the double helix-spiral was an incredibly important image and only later discovered it to be the structure of DNA, we know that above us time appears to move faster and below us it appears to move slower...
What other pieces of legend, lore and mythology will we ultimately come to know as fact... just in different context?
Throughout history, man has developed the idea that heaven is above us - imagined as being in the clouds or even in space. At the same time hell has been pictured as being below us. We knew that below us was a fiery pit (the core of the earth) before we could actually see it.
The idea is that in the fiery pit below us we would suffer eternally with events seeming to repeat themselves and agonizing with a single thought "forever". Above us, in heaven, time is imagined to move so swiftly that in heaven (or for God) everything happens in an instant or simultaneously. These ideas are consistent with this recent scientific discovery.
Just as we knew the double helix-spiral was an incredibly important image and only later discovered it to be the structure of DNA, we know that above us time appears to move faster and below us it appears to move slower...
What other pieces of legend, lore and mythology will we ultimately come to know as fact... just in different context?
Sunday, October 24, 2010
A Year of Self Discovery
Just a few weeks ago was the one year anniversary of the date I moved into my first solo apartment. Prior to then, I had never lived alone. What was initially scary ended up being one of the most blissfull, educational, and liberating times of my life.
I had so much time to myself, to literally do anything I pleased. A lot of my time was spent writing and journaling, but also playing video games, cooking for myself, and going out to spend time with friends and family. I also started to take naps, something I've never really done. I didn't have cable, so while I could watch movies I had no other use for my TV and sitting in front of it happened rarely. One of my favorite things to do was lay across my bed on a sunny afternoon, with my kitty curled up next to me as I wrote or read.
It was during this time that I began this blog, began journalling on paper, and took up shooting pool again. More importantly, I reexamined my life, where I came from and where I thought I was going. The biggest and best revelation was that nothing in the past mattered anymore, and I had no idea where the future was going to take me. My only option, every day of this past year, was to live for that day, and that day alone. I have ideas about the future and the past still enters my thoughts from time to time, but I feel like I'm finally beginning to live without limits.
Once I go through this change to minimalism, most of the few remaining limits will vanish. I'll no longer have the job requirements, living space requirements, and I won't have any excuses left to keep me from going anywhere I want.
More and more, every day, the future is wide open and I love it.
I had so much time to myself, to literally do anything I pleased. A lot of my time was spent writing and journaling, but also playing video games, cooking for myself, and going out to spend time with friends and family. I also started to take naps, something I've never really done. I didn't have cable, so while I could watch movies I had no other use for my TV and sitting in front of it happened rarely. One of my favorite things to do was lay across my bed on a sunny afternoon, with my kitty curled up next to me as I wrote or read.
It was during this time that I began this blog, began journalling on paper, and took up shooting pool again. More importantly, I reexamined my life, where I came from and where I thought I was going. The biggest and best revelation was that nothing in the past mattered anymore, and I had no idea where the future was going to take me. My only option, every day of this past year, was to live for that day, and that day alone. I have ideas about the future and the past still enters my thoughts from time to time, but I feel like I'm finally beginning to live without limits.
Once I go through this change to minimalism, most of the few remaining limits will vanish. I'll no longer have the job requirements, living space requirements, and I won't have any excuses left to keep me from going anywhere I want.
More and more, every day, the future is wide open and I love it.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Why Minimalism...
I've been talking an awful lot about my personal foray into minimalism. It may seem out of place on a blog that is primarily intended to deal with spirituality, but it really isn't.
Some of the greatest figures in our collective spiritual history followed a path of minimalism. Jesus. Buddha. Ghandi. and so many more...
When you give everything up, you enable yourself to truly trust in the world around you, to trust in God and Karma. You no longer have anything left that can be stolen from you or that you will fear being destroyed in a fire, or fear leaving behind. You learn that there is no posession that is worth strife or war. You learn that the true joys in life cannot be manufactured or bought.
It's about giving up the false security that having stuff gives us... having your home and posessions gives one the feeling that you are prepared for things that may come... whether it's a nice set of china you may use for a big family dinner or the instance that your coffee maker could break and you have that extra one tucked away, we take comfort in the things that we own.
Simultaneously, these things can give us pain that we don't even recognize. Knowing that those things are there can hold you back from moving... becuase you'd have to move them all. It may keep you tied to a job you don't like because you need the money to upkeep the home and maintain the stuff. It might even harm you in emotional ways - you have an item that was given by a family member, but you didn't want it and you can't part with it because of the guilt, and every time you see it you feel that guilt all over again because you don't want it and don't know what to do with it. It becomes a burden, and it is depressing.
That depression plagues many people who have no idea that it is the true source of their depression. It may not be the whole of it, but it is a contributing factor for a lot of people. The burden of owning things is tremendous, and it is a burden we lash to our own backs out of greed, fear and guilt.
Giving up that security blanket is an effort, but it is also a gesture of true faith. Trust that if you are in desperate need of something, the universe will provide it. Trust that you can survive on a lot less than you may think. Trust that God (or whatever you believe in) has your back.
That, my friends, is true faith. Letting go of all you hold on to, letting go of the physical things that you think you need to have in order to be safe. Letting go of your fear and your guilt, and allowing them to be replaced with joy and a lighter load to carry.
Some of the greatest figures in our collective spiritual history followed a path of minimalism. Jesus. Buddha. Ghandi. and so many more...
When you give everything up, you enable yourself to truly trust in the world around you, to trust in God and Karma. You no longer have anything left that can be stolen from you or that you will fear being destroyed in a fire, or fear leaving behind. You learn that there is no posession that is worth strife or war. You learn that the true joys in life cannot be manufactured or bought.
It's about giving up the false security that having stuff gives us... having your home and posessions gives one the feeling that you are prepared for things that may come... whether it's a nice set of china you may use for a big family dinner or the instance that your coffee maker could break and you have that extra one tucked away, we take comfort in the things that we own.
Simultaneously, these things can give us pain that we don't even recognize. Knowing that those things are there can hold you back from moving... becuase you'd have to move them all. It may keep you tied to a job you don't like because you need the money to upkeep the home and maintain the stuff. It might even harm you in emotional ways - you have an item that was given by a family member, but you didn't want it and you can't part with it because of the guilt, and every time you see it you feel that guilt all over again because you don't want it and don't know what to do with it. It becomes a burden, and it is depressing.
That depression plagues many people who have no idea that it is the true source of their depression. It may not be the whole of it, but it is a contributing factor for a lot of people. The burden of owning things is tremendous, and it is a burden we lash to our own backs out of greed, fear and guilt.
Giving up that security blanket is an effort, but it is also a gesture of true faith. Trust that if you are in desperate need of something, the universe will provide it. Trust that you can survive on a lot less than you may think. Trust that God (or whatever you believe in) has your back.
That, my friends, is true faith. Letting go of all you hold on to, letting go of the physical things that you think you need to have in order to be safe. Letting go of your fear and your guilt, and allowing them to be replaced with joy and a lighter load to carry.
The Minimalist I've Always Been
The most recent step on the Journey for me is discovering that deep down I have always been a minimalist... I just didn't know it.
Growing up I had a ton of stuff. I had a huge collection of cat figures, toys and dolls, art supplies, clothes, etc. My family was very big on Christmas and birthdays, so at both of these times I would get a ton of toys and new things. These things were most often quantity over quality, and naturally as a child my room was packed to the point of spilling over. This lead to my room always being a consumate MESS. I had so much stuff and my big struggle was that I didn't know where to put anything. Having many things makes it harder to find a place for each thing to call home, though my mom frequently spouted the adage "a place for each thing and a thing for each place" at me. As I progressed towards teenagedom, the situation did not improve. I still had most of the stuff I had when I was younger, but I still was getting more stuff all the time. Then I get a job and - you guessed it - more stuff. By adulthood I already had enough stuff to fill a small storage unit that I was lugging around with me. At present, I have enough to fill a large storage unit (or three small ones).
Learning and reading about minimalism and how others feel about it, I've come to realize that having all that stuff my entire life lead to several major "problems" in my life...
1. It has caused me to seem messy, when I just get overwhelmed by everything that is there.
2. It has caused me depression.
3. It takes me away from my art and the things I love, because I have a constant to-do list in my head that never gets done.
4. It causes me to live outside my means (need a bigger apartment to house it all)and thusly to be afraid of losing/leaving a job that I don't love.
5. Having stuff seemingly fuels buying more stuff... and it's sucking away all the hard earned & saved money I have.
I understand now that all along, deep down, I've needed to have less stuff. I acted the way I was raised to act:
To think that you collect the things that you love and you keep them on a shelf.
You gather as much as possible because once you have it then if you ever need it, it will be there.
Buying a bigger home enables you to have more space and then you can get more stuff.
Shopping is therapy and makes you feel better.
Getting the highest possible paying job (even if you hate it) is important so you can upkeep your lifestyle of having stuff.
But I was acting against my true nature - to have little, to only have the things I truly love, to live in a small comfortable space with no need for extra storage, and to focus on art. I feel better just thinking about it, and every night when I slowly work on going through stuff and sorting it into "sell" "trash" "donate" (almost nothing is going in "keep"), I feel awesome. I dream about having a tiny apartment with nothing but what we use every single day in it. A few special items that mean a lot to us, and nothing else.
I'm also excited to start sleeping on a futon to sleep on someday soon, as I've always hated beds.
I grew up being told that I couldn't function and was not a valuable person, as if there was something wrong with me. At 31, I've learned that there isn't a problem with me, I just wasn't given the tools I needed to keep my life in order.
Self Esteem: +5
.
Growing up I had a ton of stuff. I had a huge collection of cat figures, toys and dolls, art supplies, clothes, etc. My family was very big on Christmas and birthdays, so at both of these times I would get a ton of toys and new things. These things were most often quantity over quality, and naturally as a child my room was packed to the point of spilling over. This lead to my room always being a consumate MESS. I had so much stuff and my big struggle was that I didn't know where to put anything. Having many things makes it harder to find a place for each thing to call home, though my mom frequently spouted the adage "a place for each thing and a thing for each place" at me. As I progressed towards teenagedom, the situation did not improve. I still had most of the stuff I had when I was younger, but I still was getting more stuff all the time. Then I get a job and - you guessed it - more stuff. By adulthood I already had enough stuff to fill a small storage unit that I was lugging around with me. At present, I have enough to fill a large storage unit (or three small ones).
Learning and reading about minimalism and how others feel about it, I've come to realize that having all that stuff my entire life lead to several major "problems" in my life...
1. It has caused me to seem messy, when I just get overwhelmed by everything that is there.
2. It has caused me depression.
3. It takes me away from my art and the things I love, because I have a constant to-do list in my head that never gets done.
4. It causes me to live outside my means (need a bigger apartment to house it all)and thusly to be afraid of losing/leaving a job that I don't love.
5. Having stuff seemingly fuels buying more stuff... and it's sucking away all the hard earned & saved money I have.
I understand now that all along, deep down, I've needed to have less stuff. I acted the way I was raised to act:
To think that you collect the things that you love and you keep them on a shelf.
You gather as much as possible because once you have it then if you ever need it, it will be there.
Buying a bigger home enables you to have more space and then you can get more stuff.
Shopping is therapy and makes you feel better.
Getting the highest possible paying job (even if you hate it) is important so you can upkeep your lifestyle of having stuff.
But I was acting against my true nature - to have little, to only have the things I truly love, to live in a small comfortable space with no need for extra storage, and to focus on art. I feel better just thinking about it, and every night when I slowly work on going through stuff and sorting it into "sell" "trash" "donate" (almost nothing is going in "keep"), I feel awesome. I dream about having a tiny apartment with nothing but what we use every single day in it. A few special items that mean a lot to us, and nothing else.
I'm also excited to start sleeping on a futon to sleep on someday soon, as I've always hated beds.
I grew up being told that I couldn't function and was not a valuable person, as if there was something wrong with me. At 31, I've learned that there isn't a problem with me, I just wasn't given the tools I needed to keep my life in order.
Self Esteem: +5
.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Breaking It Down
I recently reached some what of a crisis level in my life. I was already considering that I could not save any money with the price of my apartment when my gall bladder had a fit. After lots of tests it was decided it needed to be removed, and that brought with it a flood of medical bills (even with insurance). These swiftly depleted my savings and forced me to move.
That move is what leads me to my point today - I have too much stuff.
As do most people. And why do we have it? Most of our things do not get handled or used, or even appreciated most of the time. And the few things that do are the only things we really need. I've come to the conclusion that hanging on to things is pointless for me, and the only things I really need are either information based (computer, books), entertainment based (movies, music, games), relate to daily life (clothes, dishes, cleaning supplies), or are used to create (art and jewelry supplies). Beyond these things, what else to I REALLY need? Do I need to have a comic book collection, or any of my other collections? I don't. But I have them because I feel like I need them...
I don't.
Life is about having experiences, not having posessions.
Even my art supplies are out of control. I have a ton of stuff that I think I might use someday... but I'm not using them today so why do I have them? I may never use them, so why do I have them? A good example is beads. I may only need 2, 4, or 6 of them, but they are sold in strands of 10-100 and so that is how many of them I have. Instead I should use what I need and then resell the rest... which is what I am going to begin doing. I'd like to reduce my jewelry supplies to no more than can fit in a small rolling suitcase. Anything beyond that is wastefull. I'd like to be able to fit all of my jewelry & art supplies under my desk... the ultimate in unwasted space.
The apartment I just left was a two bedroom...which should have been too big for a single person but I had used one bedroom as a "studio". It rarely got used because it was too full of stuff to actually use it. My two desks were constantly covered with new supplies I had purchased or projects that were in-between and I knew would probably never get finished. I hold on to supplies because I never know when I'll need them...
And don't even get me started on the number of shoes and handbags I own... or my jewelry and clothes. My goal is to have 7 pairs of shoes (and when they are worn I will discard and replace them), same with handbags. This is still a sizeable amount in the realm of minimalism, but it is an amount that makes sense for me. If I can fit all of my shoes, handbags, scarves, jewelry and other accessories into a single large plastic bin then I will be satisfied with that. As it is, I had eight pairs of shoes in their original boxes plus two trash bags full of shoes. I had a box full of handbags and a second box that has handbags, scarves, gloves, etc. Four plastic containers of jewelry (and then some), a makeup box and travel bag full of more, a box full of hair care products and a plastic bin full of hair accessories I rarely use.
A big part of this is because I buy things that look cool or I think I'll like, and they end up not working the way I wanted them to or being uncomfortable. Occasionally I even buy something and later decide that it's too flashy or just doesn't fit my style.
New proposition: no new things unless I'm replacing something old, damaged, or broken. It won't be easy as retail therapy has been quite a thing for me... I do that a lot and it needs to stop.
I'm going to purge as much as possible and then I am going to stop bringing new things in as well. I want to be able to live in a cheap one bedroom apartment if that is what my financial situation dictates, and never need to put my posessions in a storage shed again. Enough is enough.
If you want to take this challenge yourself, and reduce down to a minimalistic lifestyle and declutter your world, here are a few links that you may find helpful:
Zen Habits
mnmlist
Remember: You are who you are, not what you have.
That move is what leads me to my point today - I have too much stuff.
As do most people. And why do we have it? Most of our things do not get handled or used, or even appreciated most of the time. And the few things that do are the only things we really need. I've come to the conclusion that hanging on to things is pointless for me, and the only things I really need are either information based (computer, books), entertainment based (movies, music, games), relate to daily life (clothes, dishes, cleaning supplies), or are used to create (art and jewelry supplies). Beyond these things, what else to I REALLY need? Do I need to have a comic book collection, or any of my other collections? I don't. But I have them because I feel like I need them...
I don't.
Life is about having experiences, not having posessions.
Even my art supplies are out of control. I have a ton of stuff that I think I might use someday... but I'm not using them today so why do I have them? I may never use them, so why do I have them? A good example is beads. I may only need 2, 4, or 6 of them, but they are sold in strands of 10-100 and so that is how many of them I have. Instead I should use what I need and then resell the rest... which is what I am going to begin doing. I'd like to reduce my jewelry supplies to no more than can fit in a small rolling suitcase. Anything beyond that is wastefull. I'd like to be able to fit all of my jewelry & art supplies under my desk... the ultimate in unwasted space.
The apartment I just left was a two bedroom...which should have been too big for a single person but I had used one bedroom as a "studio". It rarely got used because it was too full of stuff to actually use it. My two desks were constantly covered with new supplies I had purchased or projects that were in-between and I knew would probably never get finished. I hold on to supplies because I never know when I'll need them...
And don't even get me started on the number of shoes and handbags I own... or my jewelry and clothes. My goal is to have 7 pairs of shoes (and when they are worn I will discard and replace them), same with handbags. This is still a sizeable amount in the realm of minimalism, but it is an amount that makes sense for me. If I can fit all of my shoes, handbags, scarves, jewelry and other accessories into a single large plastic bin then I will be satisfied with that. As it is, I had eight pairs of shoes in their original boxes plus two trash bags full of shoes. I had a box full of handbags and a second box that has handbags, scarves, gloves, etc. Four plastic containers of jewelry (and then some), a makeup box and travel bag full of more, a box full of hair care products and a plastic bin full of hair accessories I rarely use.
A big part of this is because I buy things that look cool or I think I'll like, and they end up not working the way I wanted them to or being uncomfortable. Occasionally I even buy something and later decide that it's too flashy or just doesn't fit my style.
New proposition: no new things unless I'm replacing something old, damaged, or broken. It won't be easy as retail therapy has been quite a thing for me... I do that a lot and it needs to stop.
I'm going to purge as much as possible and then I am going to stop bringing new things in as well. I want to be able to live in a cheap one bedroom apartment if that is what my financial situation dictates, and never need to put my posessions in a storage shed again. Enough is enough.
If you want to take this challenge yourself, and reduce down to a minimalistic lifestyle and declutter your world, here are a few links that you may find helpful:
Zen Habits
mnmlist
Remember: You are who you are, not what you have.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
I tried to say something...
And found I had nothing to say.
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.
- Albert Einstein
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.
- Albert Einstein
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Seperation is an Illusion
We walk around through our daily lives, meeting other people and moving from place to place. We watch the clock and imagine that we are passing through time at a steady pace. Our opinions, thoughts, desires, and actions all are consistant with the idea that we are all seperate beings in seperate spaces doing different things and feeling different ways.
This, every bit of it, is Maya. It is an illusion.
Reality as we know it is a pattern of light and vibration, woven together to create the network that is the physical world. This network gives us a form and method of action that we would not otherwise have. It gives us a space to move around in, a reality to interact with on a whole new level. The key to this reality is that we believe it is real, beyond a shadow of a doubt. We believe it so firmly that some of us believe it is the ONLY thing that is real. It's a very skillfully crafted and effective illusion.
While we are here, information is fed to us via our senses. In the physical realm we have five of them, and any other type of "sense" is attributed to being a sixth. These senses interperet the vibrations of the physical realm and feed us information about where we are and what we are experiencing. Interestingly enough, these senses feel so REAL to us that any other sense is given a backseat, is untrained and thusly is very falliable. Even in those who are more attuned to them, these senses are still a ghost whisper in our minds that may or may not be accurately interpereted. The reason for this is that we have developed a focus on the physical (as was intended) and in doing so we never developed our ability to focus on the ethereal senses that we all have. We all tap into them on some level, though it varies from person to person. Anyone who follows a hunch, knows what others are thinking or feeling, or has intuition is tapping into this. If you have dreams that seem to come true, you are tapping into it. But, I am digressing into another subject. I have quite the penchant for tangents!
So, the physical world provides us with a starting point. It would be impossible to know pain or love without the experience provided to us here. This place takes energy beings and teaches them things about each other and themselves that they could not otherwise have learned. Because we are so entrenched here, it makes this the most difficult type of learning. It is to such a point that sometimes our experience is so overwhelming that we self terminate out of the program.
Beyond the veil, beyond the physical, we are not seperate. We are all part of a single living entity glowing in the darkness that is the void. That entity is probably most accurately called God. When we think of what God is/ should be, we think of a being who is all knowing, all seeing, and is everywhere at once. A being which is the very foundation of existance is the only possible true God. The supreme being is what we all combine to become, along with all of the light, energy, and matter in the universe. In otherwords, the collectiveness of all of us is a singularity.
You know, like the one the big bang sprang forth from? That one. The big bang is all part of the illusion. We are all still in that singularity, imagining we are seperate and taking up tons and tons of space. That the universe is vast and wide spread. We think, therefore we are what we THINK we are.
So there we are in this tiny singularity. Scientists looking at black holes (also singularities) can't tell what is inside. They can "sort of" trace what has moved into it, based on an impression left on the event horizon, but they cannot actually see what is all in there. The reason for this is that black holes have such tremendous gravity that not even light can escape from them. Inside each black hole could be another entire universe, and we'd never be able to tell!
Within our seemingly large but actually pretty small space, (potentially even as small as a single point of light) we exist. We exist without time or space, however we imagine the illusion of both. This is another seperation that is part of the illusion - that any moment other than THIS is real. We think that there is a yesterday and a tomorrow, when in fact there is no such thing. We think that we move through time, when in fact time moves through us - in our minds.
Some may question how it is possible for an entire universe to experience time together, to interact together, to collectively think this is all more real than actual reality. It makes sense if we are a collective being. We are all one, so we all act as one even though the illusion is that we are seperate. This is the collective unconcious - the part of us that knows we are all one but is essentially "not allowed" to be awake or active within our minds. We tap into it and that is where the "sixth sense" (which is the only true sense) comes from.
When mankind finally begins to accept the reality - that seperation is an illusion and what we are in now is essentially a playground for our collective mind, we will cease to have crime and harm against other humans, we will feel connected to all life and know that even that which is not alive by scientific standards is in fact alive. We will know we are as much a part of that piece of paper as it is a part of us. We will know there is no use in keeping anything for ourselves, because our brother is just as much us as we are. At that time, man may finally be able to evolve. We can be beings that combine the physical and the ethereal. Much of the universe is already this way, but we cannot see it that way because we are so mired in the physical. Scientists discover things that make absolutely no sense, and they try to explain it with rigid, small descriptions that are completely inadequate, call them working theories and then base other theories off of them.
"if what Dr. Johnson says is true is in fact true, then I say that it impacts object B in such a manner that my theory A is true."
Pull the string and it all unravels. (seriously. Much of modern science is based on Einsteins theories, some of which he himself stated were "probably incorrect")
Scientists are recently discovering that our DNA itself appears to be as much a waveform of light energy as it is an actual physical "thing". It can be changed and altered by light, radiation, magnetism and the like.
The more science advances, the more they confirm the true nature of our universe. The more science discovers, the more I find their "amazing new discoveries" are things the ancients wrote thousands upon thousands of years ago. We dismiss the ancient stories as myth and carve our own path, ultimately circling back to the same thing. Granted, what was written in ancient times was spelled out in a manner that lends itself to this being myth. There is much personification and reuse/misuse of terminology, and people thought in different ways back then than we do now. Were we to meet them face to face, they may-as-well be aliens for what little we have in common.
Then again, we are no more seperate from them than I am from you.
Everything we know is an illusion, and the only place to find the real truth is within us. Deep down every one of us knows, but we are blinded to that truth unless we start chipping away at those things we have always accepted as fact.
This, every bit of it, is Maya. It is an illusion.
Reality as we know it is a pattern of light and vibration, woven together to create the network that is the physical world. This network gives us a form and method of action that we would not otherwise have. It gives us a space to move around in, a reality to interact with on a whole new level. The key to this reality is that we believe it is real, beyond a shadow of a doubt. We believe it so firmly that some of us believe it is the ONLY thing that is real. It's a very skillfully crafted and effective illusion.
While we are here, information is fed to us via our senses. In the physical realm we have five of them, and any other type of "sense" is attributed to being a sixth. These senses interperet the vibrations of the physical realm and feed us information about where we are and what we are experiencing. Interestingly enough, these senses feel so REAL to us that any other sense is given a backseat, is untrained and thusly is very falliable. Even in those who are more attuned to them, these senses are still a ghost whisper in our minds that may or may not be accurately interpereted. The reason for this is that we have developed a focus on the physical (as was intended) and in doing so we never developed our ability to focus on the ethereal senses that we all have. We all tap into them on some level, though it varies from person to person. Anyone who follows a hunch, knows what others are thinking or feeling, or has intuition is tapping into this. If you have dreams that seem to come true, you are tapping into it. But, I am digressing into another subject. I have quite the penchant for tangents!
So, the physical world provides us with a starting point. It would be impossible to know pain or love without the experience provided to us here. This place takes energy beings and teaches them things about each other and themselves that they could not otherwise have learned. Because we are so entrenched here, it makes this the most difficult type of learning. It is to such a point that sometimes our experience is so overwhelming that we self terminate out of the program.
Beyond the veil, beyond the physical, we are not seperate. We are all part of a single living entity glowing in the darkness that is the void. That entity is probably most accurately called God. When we think of what God is/ should be, we think of a being who is all knowing, all seeing, and is everywhere at once. A being which is the very foundation of existance is the only possible true God. The supreme being is what we all combine to become, along with all of the light, energy, and matter in the universe. In otherwords, the collectiveness of all of us is a singularity.
You know, like the one the big bang sprang forth from? That one. The big bang is all part of the illusion. We are all still in that singularity, imagining we are seperate and taking up tons and tons of space. That the universe is vast and wide spread. We think, therefore we are what we THINK we are.
So there we are in this tiny singularity. Scientists looking at black holes (also singularities) can't tell what is inside. They can "sort of" trace what has moved into it, based on an impression left on the event horizon, but they cannot actually see what is all in there. The reason for this is that black holes have such tremendous gravity that not even light can escape from them. Inside each black hole could be another entire universe, and we'd never be able to tell!
Within our seemingly large but actually pretty small space, (potentially even as small as a single point of light) we exist. We exist without time or space, however we imagine the illusion of both. This is another seperation that is part of the illusion - that any moment other than THIS is real. We think that there is a yesterday and a tomorrow, when in fact there is no such thing. We think that we move through time, when in fact time moves through us - in our minds.
Some may question how it is possible for an entire universe to experience time together, to interact together, to collectively think this is all more real than actual reality. It makes sense if we are a collective being. We are all one, so we all act as one even though the illusion is that we are seperate. This is the collective unconcious - the part of us that knows we are all one but is essentially "not allowed" to be awake or active within our minds. We tap into it and that is where the "sixth sense" (which is the only true sense) comes from.
When mankind finally begins to accept the reality - that seperation is an illusion and what we are in now is essentially a playground for our collective mind, we will cease to have crime and harm against other humans, we will feel connected to all life and know that even that which is not alive by scientific standards is in fact alive. We will know we are as much a part of that piece of paper as it is a part of us. We will know there is no use in keeping anything for ourselves, because our brother is just as much us as we are. At that time, man may finally be able to evolve. We can be beings that combine the physical and the ethereal. Much of the universe is already this way, but we cannot see it that way because we are so mired in the physical. Scientists discover things that make absolutely no sense, and they try to explain it with rigid, small descriptions that are completely inadequate, call them working theories and then base other theories off of them.
"if what Dr. Johnson says is true is in fact true, then I say that it impacts object B in such a manner that my theory A is true."
Pull the string and it all unravels. (seriously. Much of modern science is based on Einsteins theories, some of which he himself stated were "probably incorrect")
Scientists are recently discovering that our DNA itself appears to be as much a waveform of light energy as it is an actual physical "thing". It can be changed and altered by light, radiation, magnetism and the like.
The more science advances, the more they confirm the true nature of our universe. The more science discovers, the more I find their "amazing new discoveries" are things the ancients wrote thousands upon thousands of years ago. We dismiss the ancient stories as myth and carve our own path, ultimately circling back to the same thing. Granted, what was written in ancient times was spelled out in a manner that lends itself to this being myth. There is much personification and reuse/misuse of terminology, and people thought in different ways back then than we do now. Were we to meet them face to face, they may-as-well be aliens for what little we have in common.
Then again, we are no more seperate from them than I am from you.
Everything we know is an illusion, and the only place to find the real truth is within us. Deep down every one of us knows, but we are blinded to that truth unless we start chipping away at those things we have always accepted as fact.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Battle of Wits
Anti-religion video
So many misconceptions, so little time. Truth be told, this video does bring up some valid questionable statements made by religions. As I myself am against religion, I can concur with and understand what they are saying. However, the ridiculousness of religion is not necessarily a good reason to doubt the existance of God alltogether.
It never ceases to amaze me that groups that are against one religion or another will resort to propaganda which resembles that of the religion in order to try and convert people. Consider that both Pagans and Atheists are somewhat against Christianity and much of the reasoning behind that is because of the propaganda and conversion, and yet they have employed the same tactics. I realize this is not across the board, but I've known many atheists and pagans who will do anything they can to make people doubt what they believe.
How is it any different?
This video is quite well put together. It took some time and possibly even some money. Why would atheists, who are "free" from religion, care that other people believe something?
Shouldn't they be satisfied that they know the "truth" and let the rest of them sort it out for themselves? After all, if atheists believe that there is no God and there is nothing waiting for us, then what could be gained by converting others? One of the few possibilities is self-assurance that they are right and they don't have to worry about themselves in the afterlife.
Any group/religion that feels the need to go out and mock or throw down another's religious beliefs has, to some degree, a need to justify their own. That means that atheists who create videos like this aren't 100% sure of themselves. But the more atheists there are, the more likely they are right.... right?
Anyway, points about the video:
1. Reference to the Bible makes note that it is written in a language we do not understand. Considering as how it was written nearly 2,000 years ago, this is not surprising. The simple fact of it being in another language does not negate it. How many different languages are actively spoken on the planet today? Do you know how to read/speak them all?
2. "You will teach your child, and they will teach their child, etc" Does anyone remember how some atheists were filing motions to have prayer removed from schools because they couldn't bear for their children to be exposed to the concept of God? Sounds like passing down your beliefs to your child, doesn't it?
3. Hell/Heaven - I concur with the video. The accepted concepts of heaven and hell have nothing to do with the reality, and were created over time by various authors and came to be considered fact despite their fictional origins. Science is closer to the truth than popular belief in this case - alternate dimensions/universes would seem to agree with both the idea of several layers of heaven/hell and with the Buddhist concept of the wheel of Karma. Sorry Dante.
4. Spreading the word around the world - treats religion as nearly an infection. Again, I agree. Religion is a trap and a prison that prevents people from seeing the truth because it has hard and fast rules that lock the mind into a routine and causes it to irrationally fear that which is different. Atheists is not as different as they would like to believe - this video could be seen as attempting to "spread the word".
5. I was raised Christian and was not told I had to appologize to God for the crucifixion of Jesus - only that it happened to wash away my sins and that I should be grateful. (I can't speak for other branches of religions that believe in Jesus to one degree or another)
6. Mention of tithing - It is commonly accepted that the tithe should be given to the church, (especially in Catholicism) but that is not necessarily true. Many give the money to charity. According to the Bible, Jesus could come to you as any person at any time. By giving to charity, perhaps you are giving your offering directly to God?
7. "continue to say the words out loud" God is not a guy with a white beard sitting on a throne in the clouds. I don't know atheism inside and out, but every time I hear someone talk about it, this seems to be the idea they ridicule. What if the real "supreme being" is the energy that makes up the universe, makes up all of us, and makes our lives possible and our souls exist? A sentient energy that binds us all together and makes us what we are, but does not necessarily play an active role in our lives. (except for things like the law of Karma) Is THAT so hard to believe? Maybe, only because we've all been told something different our whole lives.
So many misconceptions, so little time. Truth be told, this video does bring up some valid questionable statements made by religions. As I myself am against religion, I can concur with and understand what they are saying. However, the ridiculousness of religion is not necessarily a good reason to doubt the existance of God alltogether.
It never ceases to amaze me that groups that are against one religion or another will resort to propaganda which resembles that of the religion in order to try and convert people. Consider that both Pagans and Atheists are somewhat against Christianity and much of the reasoning behind that is because of the propaganda and conversion, and yet they have employed the same tactics. I realize this is not across the board, but I've known many atheists and pagans who will do anything they can to make people doubt what they believe.
How is it any different?
This video is quite well put together. It took some time and possibly even some money. Why would atheists, who are "free" from religion, care that other people believe something?
Shouldn't they be satisfied that they know the "truth" and let the rest of them sort it out for themselves? After all, if atheists believe that there is no God and there is nothing waiting for us, then what could be gained by converting others? One of the few possibilities is self-assurance that they are right and they don't have to worry about themselves in the afterlife.
Any group/religion that feels the need to go out and mock or throw down another's religious beliefs has, to some degree, a need to justify their own. That means that atheists who create videos like this aren't 100% sure of themselves. But the more atheists there are, the more likely they are right.... right?
Anyway, points about the video:
1. Reference to the Bible makes note that it is written in a language we do not understand. Considering as how it was written nearly 2,000 years ago, this is not surprising. The simple fact of it being in another language does not negate it. How many different languages are actively spoken on the planet today? Do you know how to read/speak them all?
2. "You will teach your child, and they will teach their child, etc" Does anyone remember how some atheists were filing motions to have prayer removed from schools because they couldn't bear for their children to be exposed to the concept of God? Sounds like passing down your beliefs to your child, doesn't it?
3. Hell/Heaven - I concur with the video. The accepted concepts of heaven and hell have nothing to do with the reality, and were created over time by various authors and came to be considered fact despite their fictional origins. Science is closer to the truth than popular belief in this case - alternate dimensions/universes would seem to agree with both the idea of several layers of heaven/hell and with the Buddhist concept of the wheel of Karma. Sorry Dante.
4. Spreading the word around the world - treats religion as nearly an infection. Again, I agree. Religion is a trap and a prison that prevents people from seeing the truth because it has hard and fast rules that lock the mind into a routine and causes it to irrationally fear that which is different. Atheists is not as different as they would like to believe - this video could be seen as attempting to "spread the word".
5. I was raised Christian and was not told I had to appologize to God for the crucifixion of Jesus - only that it happened to wash away my sins and that I should be grateful. (I can't speak for other branches of religions that believe in Jesus to one degree or another)
6. Mention of tithing - It is commonly accepted that the tithe should be given to the church, (especially in Catholicism) but that is not necessarily true. Many give the money to charity. According to the Bible, Jesus could come to you as any person at any time. By giving to charity, perhaps you are giving your offering directly to God?
7. "continue to say the words out loud" God is not a guy with a white beard sitting on a throne in the clouds. I don't know atheism inside and out, but every time I hear someone talk about it, this seems to be the idea they ridicule. What if the real "supreme being" is the energy that makes up the universe, makes up all of us, and makes our lives possible and our souls exist? A sentient energy that binds us all together and makes us what we are, but does not necessarily play an active role in our lives. (except for things like the law of Karma) Is THAT so hard to believe? Maybe, only because we've all been told something different our whole lives.
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