Mnmlsm – Musing on the Essential
This post started as a comment on an article by Leo over at Zen Habits. It stuck far enough in my craw (what the hell's a "craw"?) that I just kept going with it.
Mnmlsm
Ah, minimalism…it’s like a fantasy of an exotic beach when I’m in the middle of a Buffalo Blizzard. Sitting here, taking a break, surrounded by parts from multiple pack n plays, baby swings, baby video monitors, several dozen sets of baby clothes, over a hundred rolled diapers, two dozen or so baby bottles, etc.
I don’t know how parents do it.
I get in these modes where I just want to toss everything of mine, and start over, especially with baby stuff encroachment. It drives my wife, crazy, I know. I don't mean to, honestly, well at least not with this topic. It's hard to make someone understand that clutter drives you nuts when you're not really sure why it does yourself.
So I pine to relieve me of:
The Tyranny of Stuff
But then I start to go through it and I justify that I need my Power Wheel to work my (fl)abs.
I need my yoga mat, blocks and belts to workout (the carpet works just fine).
I need all my books for ideas to write blog articles (Note to self: have to actually read the books first).
I need my CD collection because you won’t be able to buy this stuff soon and I am sure there is this really great fragment of a song that will so inspire me that I will pen the newest, bestest concept album that will make everyone forget about Pink Floyd (who?).
I need 36 shades of dress shirts to impress people at work who probably wouldn't blink if I wore white everyday.
I need every tool imaginable though I know how to fix nothing….
It’s the same Jeckyll and Hyde every weekend. My sheer determination gets me a bit closer to my goal, but I so badly wish that I could get down to that ancient, revered:
Buddhist Law of 8 Possessions
- 3 Sets of Robes – never have to worry about what to wear.
- Begging Bowl – big enough to hold my library…wait, that's cheating.
- Razor – umm, you don't want to see me after a week of not shaving.
- Needle – to fix my robes I assume…gotta learn how to sew.
- Thread – ah, yes for the needle…doesn't seem too hard
- Mala – a religious type of rosary….I don't do religious token jokes, sorry
- Shoulder Bag – to carry all my freakin' stuff
- Walking Staff – I am getting old.
All kidding aside, I very much revere the Buddhist Monk lifestyle. It is an ideal by which I can hold a candle to my life.
Where's the flow to lead me toward my goal? That's what I want to know. In all honestly, I don't think I could or would want to live with 8 things, but a hundred is viable, especially in the digital age, and who really needs more than one pair of underwear? In fact, when I first met my wife, I was on a no underwear kick (note to self: scratch that last before Mom reads this).
I've spent many times journaling the "Ultimate 100 Items List" in the past. In fact, I went through it again a few weeks ago (yes, I know, I need some friends). I'll make a point to publish that list in the next week or so. I'll just write it on this sticky and put it next to all the papers and books on my desk.
But what if I could get to this ideal?
Honestly.
Then I could concentrate on the essential, like giving my children the attention and love that is their birth-rite, writing beautiful inspiring poetry just to express the ecstacy of the universe, writing beautiful music on the work of art that is my Alvarez guitar, writing terrific blog articles that come from within my soul as opposed to relying on inspiration from another person’s words.
I see that I am going to be wrestling with this again through another sleepless night. The baby swings can wait another day. More on the babies tomorrow, by the way. Someone's on the radar to come home soon…
As a post-script Leo Babauta has a new site dedicated to minimalism, which is over at mnmlist.com. I also got my Buddhist list from a learned (pronounce as two syllables) commenter over at the blog for A Guy Named Dave, who was profiled in Time Magazine last year for his challenge to live with 100 Items or less.
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Comments on Mnmlsm – Musing on the Essential
9:45 pm
NO UNDERWEAR?? NO UNDERWEAR!! I DIDN'T DO A VERY GOOD JOB OF RAISING U. NO UNDERWEAR…SHEESH!
9:50 pm
U know, there is something to be said for the Japanese way of life….minimalist, simplistic, & beautiful. Just look at their homes and gardens…all peace & beauty. How did we ever become so materialistic?
10:31 pm
I really do like Leos mnmlist.com site, but I am not sure for myself whether that is really the route for me.
Giving away all things is one way to solve the problem, but we must also realize that the stuff in itself is not the problem but our association of guilt that is combined with it. We bought them to get relieve from pressure in the first place, but then not using them creates even more pressure.
What if we could just drop this feeling of guilt (we created it ourself in the first place, not the things). We then are free to keep things or drop them. Forcing yourself to mnmlsm is working on the exterior, while releasing your guilt association is working on the interior. Both are viable options.
2:13 pm
Charley, Interesting to see the internal conflict in your post. When you've had triplets is a really, really hard time to cut back on stuff. For one thing, you and your wife need a lot of stuff. In some cases, you need three of something rather than just one. (High-chairs are probably a good example of this.)
For another thing, all the stuff comes from friends and family who love you and want to help. Maybe it would help to think of the stuff as things that you're using for a while and that you will pass on to others when your babies are older. For me, getting baby stuff was letting people help me and then helping someone else.