![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
It's late and I've been thinking...
Apr. 9th, 2012 12:49 amI've been thinking about things a lot lately. A dangerous pastime yes I know. I've been thinking about myself, who I am, what I believe in, where I'm going. When I can't sleep I often watch TED lectures. I came across this one tonight:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8YJtvHGeUU&feature=youtube_gdata_player
When I think about who I am, none of those thoughts ever have to do with "stuff" that I have. And yet here I am, sitting in my room, looking around at all this stuff. Stuff that, 90% of the time just sits there, untouched. Unneeded.
I know why I hold on to all this stuff: nostalgia. All these things are filled with so many memories and seem so important and I need it all because it's comforting. So many aspects of my life have changed and are still changing but I'll always have this stuff to hold onto my past and that feels so safe. But it ties me down, too. In many ways I think it prevents me from truly moving forward. I have too many attachments. Its all clutter and it clutters up my mind as well. I look at all these things that hold so many memories and so I stay stuck in the past. How did I acquire so many things with so much apparent meaning in only 19 years of life?
Maybe it's the insomnia talking, but I think I'm ready to get rid of it. I think it will be incredibly difficult, but I'm going to try to be brutal. Books will be the hardest to get rid of. I've held on to so many books that I know I'll never read again, but there's just something so comforting and lovely about books on a bookshelf. I know once the stuff is gone it won't matter. Just thinking about it makes me feel lighter and more free. Freedom from stuff! I'm not sure I'm ready for extreme minimalism, but I am ready to live a lot more simply. Time to get started!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8YJtvHGeUU&feature=youtube_gdata_player
When I think about who I am, none of those thoughts ever have to do with "stuff" that I have. And yet here I am, sitting in my room, looking around at all this stuff. Stuff that, 90% of the time just sits there, untouched. Unneeded.
I know why I hold on to all this stuff: nostalgia. All these things are filled with so many memories and seem so important and I need it all because it's comforting. So many aspects of my life have changed and are still changing but I'll always have this stuff to hold onto my past and that feels so safe. But it ties me down, too. In many ways I think it prevents me from truly moving forward. I have too many attachments. Its all clutter and it clutters up my mind as well. I look at all these things that hold so many memories and so I stay stuck in the past. How did I acquire so many things with so much apparent meaning in only 19 years of life?
Maybe it's the insomnia talking, but I think I'm ready to get rid of it. I think it will be incredibly difficult, but I'm going to try to be brutal. Books will be the hardest to get rid of. I've held on to so many books that I know I'll never read again, but there's just something so comforting and lovely about books on a bookshelf. I know once the stuff is gone it won't matter. Just thinking about it makes me feel lighter and more free. Freedom from stuff! I'm not sure I'm ready for extreme minimalism, but I am ready to live a lot more simply. Time to get started!