The Psychology of Minimalism

I’ve been musing again, ‘tis dangerous sport.  A bit of Angry Charley (self-directed) came out in this post, but I try not to censor the thoughts that come.

Being pained about the amount of clutter in my home and not being able to let go like a good little Zen Buddhist would, I wonder why I have trouble parting with the myriad of clothing, books, CD’s and paper in my life?

It really is a psychological thing at this point.  Not the type of thing where, well if the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse come, what will I do without my Alice In Chains boxset of music, my luxurious collection of self-help books and manuals and my five charming suit jackets.  It’s different than a survival thing.  It’s a psychological thing in that I’ve attached feeling, powerful emotions, to a great number of possessions in my life.  There is the fear of lack, yes, and while it is valid, I would say that in modern society there are several more compelling reasons.

An Investment of Money…That Never Paid Off

I’ve been deep in debt.  It sucked.  I'm debt-free now.  I’ve sat there in frustration looking at bookcases and entertainment centers wondering what the frig I was thinking when I went out and bought such and such a thing to try to make me feel better.  It didn’t work.  It made me feel like shyt.  Having a mathematical mind, I can quickly total up the amount of money I spent on my CD collection and how it ain’t worth a nickel now.  Ditto for my clothes and books and whatever else. 

Getting rid of it is an admission of failure, even though I know full well that this ain’t the stock market and my heavily used Van Halen discs won’t suddenly become valuable…Cabo Wabo is a great tune though…maybe I should go crack out some Tequila and go listen to it.

Dumping my stuff is admitting that I had bad judgment, several hundred times over, and who wants to look like an arse in front of everyone?

It’s My Identity

I bought five suit coats because I thought wearing them to work would establish me as more authoritative, dress for success, right? 

Genres of music define ages for me of days gone past and I would have to admit that I am no longer the young rocker I used to be. 

If I donated all my books my friends and family wouldn’t be able to see how well-read I am, how I enjoy Buddhist texts, esoteric Russian New Age writers, Beatnik Dharma Bums, Ancient Sufi poets, and the sweet Brazilian poetic prose of Paulo Coelho.   I don’t want my kids to think I’m a knuckle-dragger, right?

If You Change…

Here’s a fact, the money that I’ve spent over the years on music and books could have sent me on several dozen one week trips to destinations around the world.  The only foreign countries I’ve ever been to are Canada, which is 6.7 miles from my home (yes, 6.7) and Jamaica for my honeymoon.  I find this pathetically sad, so much so that I’m not sure whether I should punch something or lie down right now under my desk in the fetal position and cry myself to sleep.

…Ok, now that my little crying session is over, my point is that I could have invested in some really awesome life experiences with that money and I didn’t.  I think that when I die and go to the Pearly gates, St. Peter won’t be as impressed with my record collection as he would with the people I’ve touched, the gifts I’ve shared, and the things I’ve learned. 

Putting a Kabash on buying stuff and getting rid of all the things I don’t truly enjoy opens me up to new experiences, allows the light in. 

So, I'm trying desparately to Kabash.  In fact, I'm more or less obsessed with it and often write about it.  I get better at saying goodbye, with time, as the objectivist wills out over the emotional wind bag, 

The kicker for me is, I don't want my kids to wonder why daddy never spent any time with them…because he was busy working so he could buy more gadgets to make himself and everyone around him happy. 

That's it for me, I'm off the consumerist train.  I'm slowly trying to re-purpose my stuff and become a Zen Fu master. 

I was going to write about the Sacred Boardroom productivity principle today, but instead I got a fire lit under me by the following three articles, about Minimalism.  Kinda lame to throw more articles out there again, but I backed it with an article this time.

The Minimalist Lifestyle - The Frugal Bachelor is trying to get his life down to a one liter bag.

My One Liter Life - No, seriously, a one liter bag!

Minimalist Fun – The 100 Thing Challenge - An oldie, but goodie from Leo at Zen Habits.  I wondered what books or music he had. 

Living the Minimalist Lifestyle – Is it Possible - And I thank J. Money over at Budgets are Sexy for diverting my attention from the regularly scheduled post.