Simplicity and Minimalism Today
As the title of my blog states, “Chuck’s Simple Life,” I am progressing in my goal to achieve greater simplicity in my life and working at eliminating the unnecessary in order to live a life of minimalism.
But this minimalism is to be a rational minimalism, and not meant to be a case of “I have fewer things that you, nah-nah-nah-nah-nah. While some try to get their personal (not shared) items down to 100 items, or 75 items, or even 50 items, they do so with a goal of living ‘location independent.’ The less they have, the easier to pack up and move when the mood or need strikes.
While I understand that philosophy, it is not my dream to be one of the location independents; while I do appreciate the desire to be able to move more or less at will, I expect that I’ll be moving only one or two more times as I develop my Very Small Business.
Don’t get me wrong; as money and time permit, I plan to take many mini-vacations. The wife and I desire to see some of the various islands in the Caribbean and to do some traveling as part of just going and seeing different places for the adventure and education of the trip. But I have in mind to make a more-or-less permanent home (or base of operations) in Southern Florida or the coastal area of Texas.
Simplifying my life, possessions, habits, wants and needs are part of the newly begun process; bearing in mind that my wife is not wholly onboard with this concept yet. She had many years of ‘scarcity’ living and it is much harder for her to come around to the ideas of having less actually being more. For that, I thank the many websites, blogs and articles posted on the web that continue to give me insights and suggestions that I then try to convey to her. It’s another process, but it is slowly working.
Again, while I have no particular number of personal items as a specific goal, I am working on what I call the Rule of 3s, 7s and 12s… example: cutting down my wardrobe to 3 pairs of pants (2 jeans and 1 khaki), 7 shirts (3 ‘aloha’ style, 3 tee-shirts, 1 l/s button-down), and 12 pairs of briefs. (Hey, i may wear the pants for two or three times before washing them, but the underwear get a daily change.)
I have two suits from the more formal side of my current job that I will be keeping for now, as well as a couple of white dress shirts, 3 ties, and the dress shoes - until such time as I am making sufficient income from my new VSB to no longer need my current job for its source of money. Eventually, my goal is to have a minimum wardrobe of shirts, shorts, sandals or flip-flops. But ‘til then…
So a rational minimalism, to be achieved over the summer, and simplicity developed as an on-going lifestyle change are the main focus of my sub-goals. Beginning a blog, website, and ‘multiple sources of income’ from a Very Small Business, bringing something of value to each enterprise, getting the body back into a functional condition of greater health and fitness - accomplished through a basic conditioning program of bodyweight exercises, yoga, bicycling, and hiking/walking, and following a diet that paleo/primal, focused on lean meats, fish, fowl, eggs, non-starchy vegetables, an occasional fresh fruit, some nuts and seeds and lots of filtered water.
The idea of a diet that is minimal in carbohydrates, high in fat and medium in proteins seems to work best for me… call it my ‘insulin control’ eating plan. I know many in the field of minimalism and simplicity thought are going or have gone vegetarian - but as a Type 2 diabetic, eliminating grains and sugars has been the best thing that has happened to my body in a long, long time. My guide has been Mark Sisson’s “Primal Blueprint” book and his website Mark’s Daily Apple. The info and articles have been extremely beneficial and I highly recommend them to every-one - top notch writing, research and information. (Grok on!)
[ oops - force of habit that needs to be broken - had diet Dr. Pepper at lunch - darn, got to start that count of soda-free days all over]
~ Faith, Chuck
