Simplify, Simplify, Simplify

I own a lot of things.

I also like to shop, and therefore seem to be consistently adding new things to my current stock of things, at the rate of 1-2 per week. (Unless it’s the holiday season and/or spring break, in which case all bets are off.)

I’ve also reached that point in life where I realize that moves are going to be imminent: all my things from Oregon back to California in the early summer, and then from California to whatever graduate school I end up going to, and at some point, from graduate school into a permanent dwelling of my own, probably with a down payment and mortgage and everything.

So: I really want/need to start getting rid of things and simplifying my belongings.

First things first would be my apartment in Oregon. I’ve already started going through my clothes, making a pile of things to get rid of – by which I completely mean donate, because as long as I can donate things like clothes to Goodwill or books to the library or a used bookstore, I prefer to do that.

I also consider purchasing Delicious Library 2 another step in the process: putting together a catalogue of the movies, video and board games, and especially books that I own.

I think there is quite a large amount of clothes I could get rid of. Probably a fair amount of small personal items of varying levels of emotional attachment. I have a feeling there are quite a few office supplies, pens, and leftover cables from long-abandoned electronics that can be let go. Some cardboard covers from assorted DVDs that can be tossed, because really, do the plastic cases need to be encased in a further layer of cardboard?

My purse and wallet can probably be thinned out some. My medicine cabinet and the cupboard space under the sink – both sinks, the bathroom and kitchen. The bookshelf by the front door, particularly the trio of white, plastic containers that seem to accumulate all manner of loose odds and ends. Another run-through of my closet and dresser. My kitchen cupboards, including some of the dried goods I’m pretty sure have been hiding in there since I moved in.

All of that just covers my Eugene apartment, before I move out and back to California. Theoretically, getting rid of the things I don’t want up here should make it easier to move back to California . I’ve also been slowly moving items back to the Bay Area already, packing excess and leaving it after Christmas break, sending things home with my parents when they came to visit, and I plan to bring home at least some heavy winter coats and a box or two of books when I go back for Spring Break.

When I get back to California, there are boxes of emotional trinkets, stuffed animals, even more clothes, and other various things to sort through and purge.

A helpful excerpt from one article I pulled up after the obsessive Googling I always do when I undertake a new project:

Reduce the amount of stuff you have by examining each item you own and asking yourself if you really need it. Look at an item you and and ask yourself three questions:

1. When did it last use this item?
2. Does this item help me in my life’s goals?
3. Do I need to own this item?

Depending on the answers, you decide whether to keep or get rid of the item.

The first question is one of relativity.

You may not have worn your winter gloves in six months, but that could be normal for October. However, if you haven’t worn the gloves in two years, they can probably go. Each item has its own usage pattern. If you aren’t sure when an item was last used, put it in a box, label and date and put the box away. See how long before you need to use that item again. If the box sits unused long enough, don’t open it, just get rid of it.

The second question is one of priorities.

Does owning a collection of every gaming system made further your life’s priorities? Perhaps it shelves full of your university text books. Imagine yourself having achieved a major life goal. Do these items play a role in that goal? Do you see yourself using these items on the journey to your goal? Obviously, there are day-today items which don’t further your goals, per se, but are an essential part of life. Your vacuum cleaner isn’t going to further your goal of owning your own software company, but can be necessary to an organized life.

The third question is one of hoarding.

Are you hanging on to things just because you think you might need it some day? A carpet steam cleaner might be nice, but you can rent one a couple of times a year. Get rid of those things you can borrow, rent, or buy used if you need. Don’t rid of anything you genuinely want—it will cost time and energy to replace it. You may have sentimental attachment to an item that you can’t part with, like photographs of you children growing up. Don’t get rid of these items; they serve a purpose in your life.

While I do intend to heavily cut back on my possessions (optimistically, by 40-50% but more realistically probably closer to 15-25%), I’ve already come up with some personal rules.

1. While I do want to be a little bit ruthless when it comes to my wardrobe, my books are off limit. I am not going to go through and get rid of any of those, despite the fact that I own approximately 1.4 million of them and they are going to be the most difficult (and heavy) things I own to pack and move anywhere. My personal library is inviolable.
2. I’m going to give myself a little bit of leeway when it comes to personal trinkets and emotional odds and ends that I’ve kept. I would like to get rid of a few things here and there, but a lot of it does have various emotional significance.
3. I’m going to try to whittle my stuffed animals down to under 10. But those that do get cut from the lineup will get double-bagged and tossed in the attic for a minimum of a year, in case I miss any of them.

So! Goals. Hopefully, if everything goes properly, a lot of my things will be ruthlessly purged and (when applicable) donated to people or institutions that can make proper use of them. When I go to grad school, it should be with fewer suitcases of clothes and hopefully only one box of books (the others to be carefully stored in my parents’ house until I have the shelving and space to rescue them all).

All in all: simplification!

Fun Links: A Time magazine article on How to Live with Just 100 Things. And the blog of a guy who originally lived with 100 things, and then simplified further to only 50. Crazy! I’m not planning on going that far.

Three Poems Worth Memorizing

One of the tasks on my 101/1001 list is to memorize a poem (or two, or three, or something) by heart. While I believe in a big difference between learning and knowledge and rote memorization, I still think that there’s something to be said about the benefits of memorization. It’s supposed to help improve cognitive skills, language skills, vocabulary, and a bunch of other things. There was an essay entitled “Got Poetry?” in the New York Times about why memorizing poems is a good thing, and it’s pretty interesting.

I’ve selected three I’d like to learn by heart, and I feel like they’re a good variety of material. I’ve included them below. If you feel inclined to leave a comment: what would you suggest are poems worth memorizing?

Fire and Ice (Robert Frost)

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.

The Jabberwocky (Lewis Carroll)

’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

“Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!”

He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought—
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.

And as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! and through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

“And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!”
He chortled in his joy.

’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

Insomnia (Elizabeth Bishop)

The moon in the bureau mirror
looks out a million miles
(and perhaps with pride, at herself,
but she never, never smiles)
far and away beyond sleep, or
perhaps she’s a daytime sleeper.

By the Universe deserted,
she’d tell it to go to hell,
and she’d find a body of water,
or a mirror, on which to dwell.
So wrap up care in a cobweb
and drop it down the well

into that world inverted
where left is always right,
where the shadows are really the body,
where we stay awake all night,
where the heavens are shallow as the sea
is now deep, and you love me.

Boots and Books

I settled on boots, finally. As much as I loved the ones I posted about back on the 8th, the Børn Crown ‘Yolanda’ Mid Calf Boot, I found something I liked better. The original choice:

And the new, final, settled-upon-and-already-ordered choice:

They are the Enzo Angiolini Zelden boot in brown. I confess, I like the color of the first choice better, but that’s about it. Also, I feel like the flat, no-heel design on the ones I settled on are going to be more comfortable for walking around in overall. And probably safer for someone as klutzy as me. I ordered them but they won’t ship until something like December 16. It’s very sad, but I can wait. (Even with sales tax and 2-day shipping, they’re still cheaper than a new pair of Uggs – and real leather. Pretty awesome, huh?)

I’ve also come to the firm realization that I am seriously addicted to Moleskines. Whenever I come up with a new project idea, I buy a new one. I counted: I’m currently using 4 for all different sorts of things. They’re just so damn lovely: shiny covers, sewn-in bookmarks, a handy little pocket for storing stickers and loose paper, a convenient elastic strap for holding it closed, even with loose papers tucked between the sheets…

Oooh, I have such an addiction to stationery supplies.

I know I mentioned that addiction a few days before, but seriously, the first thing I did when I realized I wanted to do the 101 Things in 1001 Days project was to go out and buy a new, blank Moleskine. I’ve started working on it already: I’m filling in the table of contents, writing in the tasks, and leaving spaces for business cards and the approximately credit-card sized prints from my Fujifilm Instax Mini camera.

It’s going to be my constant companion in my 101/1001 project, I think. There’s something so tangible about instant prints. The quality isn’t always the best, but it’s still real film, you know? Digital cameras are handy, but the prints you get from digital pictures never look quite as nice as the ones you get from a real camera, even a cheap one-time-use disposable.

I’m also including handy lists, maps, pictures, and checklists for various tasks. For instance: I’d like to watch a complete film list of some sort. I’m bouncing back and forth between IMDb’s Top 250, AFI’s 100 Years 100 Movies, or the list of all the Oscar winners for Best Picture. Whichever one I pick, I’ll write in the list (probably color-coded based on category, cause I’m like that) with handy boxes for checking them off as I go.

I also think I’m going to put driving the 49-Mile Drive in San Francisco on my list. If I do, I’ll tape in a map of the route and a list of all the sights along it. Things like that.

I also came to the realization that I need to take the time to transfer all of the notes, quotes, snippets, ideas, and other odds-and-ends or bits-and-bobs or whatever you want to call them from the yellow wall of faux Post-It notes that are spread across my Mac dashboard. I often come across a quote that catches my eye, or get a creative idea for a future project, or something else that should go into my commonplace book/catch-all Moleskine. Very often, however, that notebook is across the room and not conveniently at my side. As a result, they get copy-pasted onto a note on my dashboard (which is one of my favorite things about using a Mac). I counted yesterday: I have a calculator, clock, calendar, two weather forecasts (one for back home, one for up here in Oregon), and the dictionary/thesaurus widget on my dashboard – and 17 of the sticky notes. It’s kind of a wall of pale yellow and – ew – something like comic sans text.

(Is there any way to change that?)

In any case, it took me a good twenty or thirty minutes yesterday to transfer all those words to my notebook. I really need to do it more often than once every six months, hah.

Friday 15 – 101 Things in 1001 Days

I fail at New Year’s resolutions every year. I’m not exactly sure why, but by the end of January, I’ve always given up on at least 50% of my goals.

A little while ago I became aware of an online project: to complete 101 things in 1001 days. The idea behind the project, from the website:

The Challenge:
Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria:
Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on your part).

Why 1001 Days?
Many people have created lists in the past – frequently simple challenges such as New Year’s resolutions or a ‘Bucket List’. The key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 Days (about 2.75 years) is a better period of time than a year, because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organising and timing some tasks such as overseas trips, study semesters, or outdoor activities.

It sounds like fun! It’s structured enough that a list-making control freak like myself doesn’t feel unnerved by the open-endedness, which is probably at least part of the reason why I always fail at New Year’s resolutions. It’s also open enough that I shouldn’t feel stressed as if I’m on a super strict schedule, not managing a task in a couple days and getting depressed enough to quit overall.

So! Yesterday was Thursday and I completely spaced on it. Maybe because I only went to one class yesterday, whoops. So, have a belated Friday 15 – here’s 15 things that are going to go on my 101 list.

1. Be vegetarian for a week.
2. Tour a vineyard and go wine tasting.
3. Brew beer.
4. Cook and eat a lobster.
5. Learn how to shoot a gun.
6. Try snowshoeing.
7. Make a snow angel.
8. Take a flight in a hot-air balloon.
9. Go whale watching.
10. Get flexible enough to touch my toes.
11. Finally learn the US state capitals.
12. Finish a 500+ piece jigsaw puzzle.
13. Donate 1,000,000 grains of rice through this website.
14. Donate hair to Locks of Love.
15. Obtain an original piece of art (not a print).

It sounds like a really fun and challenging project. And me being me, I can’t wait to pick up a plain (no lines, no squares) Moleskine and get to making a project journal/diary/scrapbook out of it. I have a feeling it’s going to involve a lot of Fujifilm Instax Mini prints, my childish sketches and drawings, stickers, and other goodies.

…Also, this would mark my fifth Moleskine. I have the cahier I’m using for my Nov/Dec 2010 journal, the bright red daily planner I bought for 2011, the (Picadilly knock-off) book I use for my personal notebook/commonplace book/catch-all notebook, and the book I bought… 2-3 years ago as a “less-lame scrapbook” full of movie tickets and other flat, tape-able inserts. I have a feeling that last one is going to get shelved in favor of my Project Book for the 101/1001 project and the daily journal which will replace it, but still…

I might have a little addiction.