Happiness is Making Progress

Humanity may endure the loss of everything; all its possessions may be turned away without infringing its true dignity – all but the possibility of improvement. ~ Johann Gottlieb Fichte

So about five years ago I set a goal for myself, I talked about the desire of simplifying my life.  My overall goal was to get rid of 75% of everything I own.  My desire was to get a greater focus in my life by starting with my possessions.   At the time I was living in a four bedroom house and although I didn’t have enough possessions to truly fill that house up, in fact it looked a bit bare, I still lamented the days when I could put everything I own into my Volkswagen whenever I moved.  A year later I had started the process and moved into a two bedroom condo.  When I left the desert for my latest walkabout my possessions very much filled every available inch of space in a 10 x 10 storage space plus a pretty full car.  This was in fact a decrease from where I had been, two years earlier when I left for that walkabout I had a pretty full 10 x 15 storage space and a really full bigger vehicle.  So the 10 x 10 was actually progress.

As I made the move to my current location I decided to move into a 600 square foot studio apartment.  I also needed two 5 x 10 storage spaces to contain everything I own.  I took the three weeks I had prior to starting work to work on my reduction goal.  I was really happy that within that time I did a lot of work and actually was able to eliminate one of the 5 x 10 storage spaces.

I had continued to work on the process over the last nine months and I’m excited to say that this weekend I released my last storage space.  That means that everything I own now fits into a 600 square foot studio.  And it’s not even horribly crowded, sure my sleeping area now has a box stacked fake headboard.  I’d be further along in this process if I wasn’t a sports card and book collector, but I’m getting there with that piece of the puzzle.  I’ve also done a pretty good job in trimming down my hiking and camping gear.  Not to mention getting rid of most of my Burning Man gear.

At this point I’ve probably gotten rid of 50 – 60% of everything I owned when I started this process.  I’ve replaced some things with more space efficient substitutes, I’ve also significantly reduced my wardrobe and have instituted a rule that if I add to my wardrobe, something has to go.  So now I need to just Marie Kondo the hell out of the rest of my stuff, sells some sports cards and some books and I’ll be good.  You can all participate, I have a good supply of my own books to sell, drop me a note, I’ll make you a deal.  While that may not get me back to the old, everything in the Volkswagen days, it’s a good place to be.  I’m hoping to get there in the next couple of months, hopefully by my birthday at the end of August I’ll accomplish this and several other goals I’ve been working on.

No real lesson tonight friends, just a chance to talk about some work I’ve been doing.  And hoping you’re accomplishing the same and having happy days.  ~ Rev Kane