Howdy, folks! You are in for a two-fer! First, I thought I would give an update on the minimalism game I have been playing in April. Second, I had a bit of a personal revelation today about the things I have been eating lately and how I came to like them.
So, the minimalism game. As a reminder, the rule of the "game" is to get rid of a number of items everyday corresponding to the calendar day. 1 item on the first, 2 on the second, and so on until you have purged 463 things. As of today, I have gotten rid of 78 things! It started getting a little difficult today. I mentioned in the last blog that Henry was on board, but it seems that was only true in theory. The other day he said, "This game makes me nervous. I feel like you are getting rid of things just to get rid of things." I responded with, "I feel like you are keeping things just to keep things." Which I think deserves a touché. I think he likes the end result of minimalism: owning and buying fewer things means that we can spend more time and money having fun and doing the things we want to do. I think his biggest hurdle is "what if we need it". That is obviously valid, but I don't want to keep a bunch of things that haven't been useful in the last 4 years but might be in the next 6. We keep 95% of our things in one bedroom and we just don't have the space to think like that. I want to enjoy what I have, not live in an apocalypse preparedness bunker. I'm hoping we can strike up a compromise, but part of me wants to be the kind of minimalist that can fit everything she wants and needs in one suitcase.
But then there is my camera collection.
And my 4 foot tall Winnie the Pooh from childhood.
And my 1000lb toy chest.
And the books. So many books.
Can minimalists have collections?
Clearly there is some internal conflict.
Moving on to the beer:
I am a super-taster (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supertaster) which boils down to me tasting bitterness way more than normal. I was always a picky eater as a kid... and a teen... and a adult. My step-mother-in-law once asked me to list 10 foods I liked. I started listing all the ways you can cook a potato but she said that only counted as one food. I didn't make it to 10. I think I got to 7 or 8. But then I became a vegetarian (sort of on accident... more on that in a future post maybe) and I had to expand my pallet. I started with zucchini (at this point you are thinking, "I thought she said this was about beer!?!?". I'm getting there, promise) which was the gateway vegetable for broccoli. Broccoli is sort of bitter, but I really took a liking to it and that opened up all kinds of doors. During this time of vegetable-discovery, I started hanging out with people who were really into beer ("Ah ha!", you say, "she got to the beer!"). Not in an alcoholic sort of way but in a hobby sort of way. Think the beer equivalent of a sommelier, which I have just learned may be called a cicerone. I wanted to be a part of that but bitterness is so overpowering and hops are like little tiny bitter powerhouses. Then I discovered wheat beers and sour beers. I love these beers. Low on the hops taste and high in other flavors, but still pretty bitter. Sours are my favorite. Now that I have been drinking these, I have noticed that my reactions to tasting other bitter things aren't as extreme as they used to be. For example, I ate a coffee flavored candy the other day and didn't even scrunch my face up OR ball up my fists! I actually kind of liked it. And yogurt! I eat yogurt now! "What!?!?! You thought yogurt was bitter???" Well, I more thought yogurt was acidic, but yeah. And I had a brussels sprout! I think learning to like beer is making these other bitter foods tolerable. Alternatively, I could just be growing out of being a super-taster. I don't know if that is a thing that can happen, though. Flavor perception does decline with age, but not starting at 25. I really think it is the beer. I better keep drinking it.
Clearly, one of us knows more about psychology than the other (being that I once had that class about 8 years ago and read a lot of wiki articles...)
ReplyDeleteBut at some point around the end of college I decided I was going to stop being picky about food for good. If I found something I didn't like eating, I force fed myself that thing for a couple weeks until it was bearable. It started with the mushrooms, and then I went from there. A few years ago this happened with coffee. Now, just in the past year, maybe more... I finally got around to the beer. Honestly it was the worst to acclimate to. I took a long time before I actually had one that I honestly enjoyed.
If you were able to enjoy beer, I'm pretty sure you can acclimate to anything. As an "acclimator" - a word I just made up for my hobby I've talked about - the beer was the worst! Yes, you can do it!
All that being said, I still sometimes ask myself why, and I'm not sure I have very good answers.
On the minimalism: I like it. I've actually not mentioned it, but since I'm already talking, I often see your posts on minimalism and think a lot of the ideas are really great! I've incorporated some of them.... I took one bowl, one plate, a spoon, a butter-knife and a fork to work, and use them at my desk while others are worrying with paper plates and plastic. It's nice.
But I've strayed from what I initially wanted to say. I have an aunt that is a hoarder, and I also purge things on occasion from fear of this happening to me. I had to come to grips at some point with the fact that it is ok to keep some things. Please do not get rid of that bear just because of a need to purge, born of an ideal. It's ok to keep some things around for sentiment. Don't keep things just to keep them, or get rid of them just to get rid of them, or only allow yourself two ways of looking at anything. You'll end up like congress!
That's kind of the happy medium I've come out with... It may not work for you, but I thought, I've waxed philosophical for once, I should share. If my thoughts are invalid, throw them out!
Oh, final thought. About that suitcase you mentioned, with the stuff you want and need in it. I love it. I love the idea of having, within reach, the ability to say, "Henry. The time has come. We run for the border."
I'll leave you with this link. If you're going to live out of a suitcase, on the run from the law, you'll need to be able to make one really light tool do almost everything, and these people have it down to an art. It's the minimalist approach to hiking, and, I think, the only way to hike. Their ideas will inspire any minimalist... In fact, you probably already know them, and I'm wasting time:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultralight_backpacking
Sarah, reading your articles on minimalism made me think of my mother. She never threw away anything. When we cleaned out her house there were decades of old toasters, coffee pots and mixers that no longer worked but were stored in the attic.
ReplyDeleteIf you had a 4 bedroom house, and attic and a garage it would be easy to throw away 463 things every 5 years. But when you live in basically one room it is probably time to compromise and settle for a smaller number. Never fear! Once you acquire furniture, appliances, yard tools and equiptment, kids clothes, toys, playpens, high chairs and decorations for every holiday, family treasures handed down from grandmothers, it will be easier to pare down. You have not yet begun to acquire unless you count nail polish. Just a few thoughts from an old lady who has bought, sold, garage saled (both buying and selling), and given away more than a thousand items. I once had a theory that if i haven't used it in a year and it cost less than $20.00 get rid of it. It served me well.
Did not mean anything bad about the nail polish. I also collect nail polish and have even bought 4 bottles of 1 I loved. I know you have had more computers and cell phones than I ever will. It was only meant to be a "lighten" things up comment. Sorry if it came across as anything else.
ReplyDeleteHaha, I am not offended by the nail polish bit. I did get rid of a fair chunk of my collection (mostly dried out, goopy, and unusable). I'm really enjoying the challenge. I'm at a weird time in my life where I don't have a lot of control over my environment, but this minimalism thing is something that makes me feel intentional. It isn't something I started lightly, either. I have been moving in this direction ever slowly since State. I think I'll make it to the 463 item goal if for no other reason than the fact that I have at least 300 pens that are dried up and goopy to purge. Ha. I can already tell that our little bedroom is getting a facelift. I don't feel like things are going to crash down on me at every turn, which is nice :)
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