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Life through the lens of rationality. Medium: https://medium.com/@egorcentric Quora: theminimalist.quora.com/ Chat: https://t.me/dailyEmChat Feedback& advertising: @zmaznevegor
Life is a sinusoid. It is a repetitive continuous unit of existence that sometimes changes its phase variable or angular frequency. Think of the way you behave. We behave differently throughout the day: easier to work in the morning, more emotional in the evening. We behave differently during the week: fucked up Monday, lazy Sunday, etc. We behave differently throughout our life: starting as a liberal romantics and getting to the conservative pessimists. We experience fucked up situations that are flipped in a moment with the bright lumens of happiness. There are several dependencies and factors affecting our “life graph”, even though it feels like a completely independent formula. Such dependencies are the key trouble for the psychology that is trying to analyze the factors abusing certain factors of your life formula. That is why psychology may seem as a utopia consisting of quite many variables. Such external complexity may lead us to the fatalistic world perception or to the idea of “balance of nature”, something that will make sense for us. Yet we need to keep in mind that we are the part of other’s sinusoids. In this game, you are both – an influencer and a consequence, a killer and a victim. Such graph position brings us to the out-of-time state. We are becoming the part of the past, present, and future of different lines. The problem is we can’t leave the system, can’t play the game. As far as I am my life, I can’t leave the described system. Not acting here means just a passive play, moreover, disproving stoics – suicide will cause the reaction for in terms of this line theory. The issue of this concept is misbalance: one state might be lasting for longer than the other. Neither of the states (or graph values) lasts forever. Yet the routine, repetitive nature of our life may put us in an autopilot status, in which you are functioning but not living. However, understanding the concept of a sinusoid of life brings you the power of actions, help you to turn on your real consciousness. Moreover, seeing life as a simplified graph allows you to overthrow your emotions in the advantage of your brain.
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Responsibility.
Most of our choices are bringing a new pack of things we have to do. Buying a new car – keep care about your property and learn how to drive. Deciding to give a birth to a child – stop being ignorant shit and be ready to give all your free time and not expect to have it back. Buying a milk – check the expiration date…
At a certain point, I found out that people are fulfilling their responsibilities only because they are afraid of something. If you are not paying your taxes, you will have to go to jail. If you are drawing your nickname on someone’s property (with the lowest sense of taste usually), then you have to pay a fine. If you killed a person, you may go to hell (or jail – it is up to your gnoseological way of thinking).
But why do you need to be afraid of something in order to be a good person?
Since when it became so hard to do what you just have to do. Or since when you stopped realizing that you are choosing what responsibilities you have to fulfill. Your achievements and goals should motivate you to fulfill the responsibilities, not the punishment for not doing it.
Responsibilities are indicators and drivers of our development. Just remember - “with great power comes great responsibility”. Our times show that we forgot how to follow this life-demanding part of our lives. We started to want more power, better status and a shit load of achievement with no concern about responsibilities it comes with. You may say that I’m hyperbolizing but look who are the presidents of the biggest countries and where does it go.
Duty is an obligatory thing required from us in order to be decent citizens, family members or just persons. The worst thing here is that fulfilling one type of duties won’t make you free from other ones. Being a good citizen doesn’t stop you from being a nice person. Our achievements also do not take off our even basic duties. You may be a great businessman but a complete jerk for your family. It is extremely awesome if you can achieve great results in your career but that has nothing to do with you being a terrible son and not visiting or at least calling your mom from time to time.
Maybe the responsibility is the main reason why most of the people are not getting out of their comfort zones – they found the perfect way to do everything and this “way” is a warm spot. Doing something new means leaving this spot, finding a new way of organizing your time, priorities, life, etc., for all the “must-do” things. Of course, sometimes we do need some time to stay in this warm spot, where your butt feels so comfortable already. However, stopping your Netflix’n’chillin’ at the right moment and hustling towards something better is the only way to develop yourself.
You define your responsibilities and the way you accomplish your responsibilities defines who you are.
Today, my friend at @dailyEm created a group chat to discuss posts, philosophy and ideology (minimalists are welcome). I decided that it might be interesting for you to discuss some thoughts with others. I wrote about this channel before and as far as our themes are quite close (at least sometimes), I hope that you are going to like it.
Rules are quite easy:
- No spam
- No horny stuff
- No dumb shit (please)
- Be active and ambitious
- Suggest themes and criticize our posts!
We don't care about the strong language, by the way, therefore if you are less than 18, keep in mind that curse words are bad.
Please, join @dailyEmChat, you are welcome there!
P.S. new post will be on Sunday (at least I am planning so).
Today, I announce update of the channel.
Pre-story
Year ago, I have decided to start a telegram channel in order to share my experience on becoming a minimalist. Back then I thought that i can write few times a week (and it even started with post per day), however, in a while I understood that the theme is rather narrowed and it limits me. I had a lot of ideas for posts and a lot of different topics to write about (and wrote pretty a lot), however, you haven't saw them due to the fact that it is out of theme of minimalism. More I was writing, tighter limits seemed to me. You might have mentioned that my last thoughts were less connected to minimalism, it fall more to being rational (or just thoughtful).
Now
Pretty a lot of readers and more passion to write. About what? About absurd reality, frightful future and weird past. Do not be afraid that im gonna write about daily news or gonna start posting inspirational quotes - THIS WON'T HAPPEN. It will be more about questioning our actions, way of living - in other words, more ideas and sense (with less phrases "that's why minimalism is awesome").
But i want to read about minimalism and that's why i joined at first place.
Here is the deal, i will still continue writing about minimalism from time to time, and as far as I'm still living minimalist lifestyle you can be sure that my thoughts, judging and view will keep the rational manner.
Is it gonna affect me in any other way?
If you are annoyed with posting once-twice per week, then it is better to turn channel to the silent mode. The name is changed (so newcomers wont expect material only about minimalism). Everything else is going to be the same/similar.
Thanks for following and understanding.
Feedback: @zmaznevegor
As you might have understood - video calls testing wasn't real. Hope you won't be mad for the joke we got yesterday. However, I hope we all agree - this is a point of April Fools.
I want to thank all my readers for being interested in Telegram improvements and for being loyal readers.
Have a nice Sunday!
http://telegra.ph/Video-Calls-English-Version-04-02
How I got rid of over 50 books and stopped regretting about it.
When I decided to de-clutter my flat for the first time, the main struggle was clear from the first sight - books. Unlike most of other things, they rose my feelings of regret with every little thought of throwing them away. I must mention — books are my passion — reading for me is one of the most favourite ways of spending time. So getting rid of books for me was like loosing a treasure case - stupid and pity.
Bookshelves de-cluttering was delayed to the very last moment - my flat was getting emptier and my "treasure" problem was getting bolder. On a mental level, it was clear that getting rid of books doesn't mean getting rid of knowledge. However, books gave me enormous feelings of adventures and open a world of different feelings and throwing away books meant some disrespect to the stories and authors.
Here I also have to mention the fact - I cannot read electronic books, mostly due to my eyes problem (monitor reading makes my eyes red), and I love the paper book reading - makes me focus faster. That is why I got comparably more books than others did.
In addition, all my childhood I was dreaming of making a family library at my apartment. Minimalism made me ask myself: “Why do I need this?” I am not type of person who loves re-reading same novels, so what is the point of keeping the books that I already read? This question made me put some actions towards my “stack of adventures”.
I realised that putting books to the trash bin is just impossible, so I had to think of something else. My books were of average edition and most of them were classic literature - selling them is impossible. Some of the books I gave to my relatives, friends, however, still a lot of left.
Here are three most efficient (for me) ways of dealing with books:
1. Public hiding/leaving
This is also what Emma Watson is known for (not photos). You are reading a book and hiding it in a public place: café, park bench, metro seat. You can even come to strangers and give them books directly. I understand that it sounds rather weird, however, in this way you know that your books will be used and someone else will also experience imaginary adventures like you did.
2. Books exchange
There are a lot of different services for the book exchanges – local and worldwide. It is a great and rather unusual way of decluttering your bookshelves. One of the biggest book exchanges that I know is http://bookmooch.com.
3. Local library
If your books are in a good conditions, you can go to your local library and donate them your books. If books are too old/damaged, sometimes they have use for them as well. If they just do not need your books (for different reasons), then ask if they have “give away’s” – most of the libraries are making book checks once-twice a year (even libraries are decluttering), after this procedure they are giving away certain book copies for free. During the “give away”, just come and leave your “treasure” – all the books that are not taken by others are recycled.
Today I want to talk with you about your real interests. Such interests, that makes your life brighter.
In addition, if you like philosophy and ideology – related themes, then I got good news for you. Found the channel @dailyEm, the author is talking about classical philosophy combined with modern ideas (NOT AN ADD, just first philosophy-related channel in telegram that I found).
http://telegra.ph/Perverted-Narcissism-or-Lack-of-interests-02-25
Books to read.
When we are talking about ideology or philosophy, there is usually some theoretical background, showed in non-fiction books. When we are talking about minimalism, I won't be able to name you a single theoretical non-fiction book for two main reasons:
- ideas are broad and simple, and therefore, rather personality-dependent
- movement is comparably "young" and un-shaped
Main principle behind minimalism is "to stop spending and start living". Theory is over, therefore, I came up with the list of fiction books, so they will present the idea of meaningful living not only from rational, but also from emotional perspective.
Please, remember, that it is just a recommendation.
1. Erich Maria Remarque
His novels are great, his approach is rough, his ideas are bright. When I'm talking about this author, it is hard to point out single novel. Idea of living goes throughout every novel. "The Night in Lisbon" - relationship and personality problems.
"Heaven has no favorites" - living with sense.
"Three comrades" - love, death and friendship.
2. Ernest Hemingway
"The Sun Also Rises" - enjoying the moments
3. Gabriel Garcia Marquez
"Strange Pilgrims: Twelve Stories" - time and changes.
http://telegra.ph/Ideology-and-relationships-01-19
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Merry Christmas! It may be late a bit for some of you, sorry folks. Wish you all the best!
Christmas and New Year are great holidays to start something new, and better to start with yourself.
Continuing with the theme of the previous article, here is my "Manifesto for Actions"
http://telegra.ph/Stop-caring-12-25
Donald Trump... I am not going to talk about him or news connected to his personality. The elections have passed over a week ago; however, lots of people are still talking about it. Haven't found any web site or news that doesn't mention him. I have already shared my opinion that more than 90% of the news we read is a complete waste of time and we should try to avoid wasting our time to read some useless crap. Filtering the information flow is one of the stages of becoming a minimalist, however, in a past week, I couldn't have avoided talking about politics and, especially, elections. And this is the thing, why I cannot understand some people: what is the point to discuss it so passionately or to spend your emotions and time about the elections. Cause if you analyse the situation, nothing has happened. But mass media is shouting that people are depressed, frightened and "what should we do?”... Nothing, just care about your own life (of course, if you are a politician, then, please, skip my advice).
Another thing that has shown up during this "post-election" week is persuasion. And I am not talking about just an ordinary discussion with opinion-sharing, but about "stupid persuasion", when people are not listening to you and they don't even try to do it. They share their opinion and their emotions on what happened, but they will not care about you and your thoughts and they will tell a same thought over and over again (usually without any arguments). Of course, this type of people existed all the time, but after (and during) such hyped process as US elections, the number of these people increased. But what is the point of these conversations, the ones without arguments and that is supported by anger or even aimed to make you angry. Do I look like an informational/emotional trash bin? Why do I need this useless information? Why should I feel bad if something went not as YOU expected?
This sort of "stupid persuasion" is relevant to any sources of information: mass media, people you are working/studying with, just random people. How you should deal with it? If it is article in a newspaper - stop reading it, if it is a random guy/girl - why the fuck are you talking about politics, if it is your friend/family member - politely switch the conversation theme. My point is avoid useless information, same as you avoid having useless things, and do not waste your time for that.
Just in case.
How much stuff do you own with the argument "just in case"? I need this trousers just in case I will have an official meeting... or I shouldn't throw away this sport outfit just in case I am gonna start training...I am not gonna throw away this old pan just in case I might need it. "Just in case" - this phrase can ruin all your de-cluttering process, but moreover, this phrase can prevent you being who you really are. Just in case stuff is limitation of your freedom and your personality. Stop being "just in case" guy, if you want to start cooking better, then go and do it now, but if you do not, then through away all your useless kitchenware. If you want to have better fit, then do it today, aim and get it. These stupid justifications are making you worse than you really are: it is like virus that taking over your personality. So, drop and throw away every "just in case" item you got. Things have only two types of description: useful or not.
One of the main things that minimalism taught me so far is making decisions now: not since tomorrow or when I have more free time - just now. So, take all your unnecessary shit and throw it away - not only from your closet, but also out of your life.
Lately, I have found "dis-orientation" among people about minimalism. One of the barriers for early-stage minimalist or just people who are interested in it is prejudice that can be formulated like that: minimalism is one of the forms of asceticism.
Apart from the fact that it is a complete lie, minimalism is almost opposite to asceticism. Why if minimalism means having less things to develop yourself? Well, it is just partially true: you getting rid of useless things, the ones that are like a millstone around your neck. Moreover, you leave only the best with you - best in terms of quality, type, appearance, etc. As a result, we have a person who is living among the best what he/she has, a person who is far from shitty things...and people.
So, don't let you (or others) to fool yourself. As from my personal experience, I can call minimalism a tool for an easier self-development.
Identity.
What's that? Is it associated with the way you look? Or maybe, your documents is defining point of identity? Pretty stupid questions for such an easy term. We will easily answer this question if some wierdo ask it?
Identity is a personal internal emotional and cognitive image. But do we for real poses ourselves in this way? When you start thinking about it, instant answer is going to be "yes", forgetting and missing all your foolish everyday rituals. Ask the same question one more time, when you are choosing a new shirt or trying to make just perfect look of your haircut in the morning. Is your answer still remains the same? Let's imagine that you are dumb (of course, you are not, my dear reader, but i need to use this trick to show how stupid situation is in a broader meaning) and can't get what I am trying to say: the way you look has become most decisive aspect about your identity. Style, the way you look allows people to understand and poses you from a different perspective, but like a little child you are becoming obsessive with this idea. And now getting more clothes and stuff helps you modify and change your identity, moreover, whole personality. Our little child becoming a real peacock that is nothing but a trendy chicken.
Our simplification of the idea of identity, its "under-estimation" has made us lazy in terms of our self-development. Thought that "another item makes us better" has become dominative, leaving nothing but the society of fools and "peacocks". We do not need to be charismatic anymore, empathic-development has become a myth and I don't even need to mention any intellectual development. No, forget about it and stop even thinking about such a useless shit, better go and check something new in the stores.
My idea may sound rather hyperbolized, but the idea of material trends and dependence upon it has went even into "bigger" absolute. For sure, there are some advantages of material domination: now fools look trendy.
It may sound a bit surprising but I haven't died yet. Had a little break for the last summer days, so you can prepare for more frequent posting.
Lately found that many people are searching for the concrete "wardrobe lists". Many times I said that the minimalism is flexible thing and everyone see it in own unique way. However, I do understand that you need some sort of a starting point or cliché, just to "build up" your own view and to form it without huge difficulties.
Mostly, I will concentrate on the male wardrobe that comes out from my own experience. But I found a lot of minimalist guides for the female wardrobe and the thing that was out of all this mass of info is this post: http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/2591128. It shows the way author did her essential 10 and how she did it. People after de-cluttering usually use double step system in terms of your wardrobe formation: form the basis and add-on. And here is the risky point: additionals will make your closet grow, so be rather attentive here and get only useful stuff.
Basis is just a bunch of essentials. It includes:
- Underwear
I'm following the week rule here: all by 7, rather easy and convenient in practice. 7 pairs of socks and pants won't overload your wardrobe.
- Jeans
One pair of jeans is enough. Little hint here: black jeans are the best - you can use them with blazer and on usual basis.
- T-shirts
Comfortable, easy to choose and easy to change. 4 t-shirts is optimal amount: two for home and two for work/study.
- Shoes
Main advice here: buy sneakers or Chelsea shoes. Sneakers is the best choice if you don't need to suit up, I need one pair of sneakers per year and can wear them almost all the time.
- Sweater or hoodie
Comfy and handy. One is enough.
That's all, basis is usually left after de-cluttering, and can be renewed once in 1-2 years. This is your foundation and the first floor, now we need the building itself. But we are the minimalists - we don't need huge houses with useless shit in it. So, let's avoid the crap and grab something what you really need. Here, you need to form it flexible and smart: think of such parameters as your work, season-switch, hobbies, etc.
Main add-ons that I would like to point out:
- Winter season/
I’m living in Scandinavian country, so winter is dominating all year long. However, this “annex” to your closet is rather small, because all you need is warm parka or jacket and pair of warm shoes. Summer is even easier at this point- grab just pair of shorts.
- Office/ official workers
Suit or corporate clothing. You can’t avoid it in some working spheres, so suit and shirts. One suit is enough for year usually, so it doesn’t look like complete crap. White shirts are the best here – looks great with almost every clothing and can be used even in official evenings.
- Student/ outsource worker
You may not even need any complements, lucky bastards.
This post is based partially on your feedback and I am really glad for your opinion and questions. Don’t hesitate to leave feedback or just ask what is interesting for you: @Zmaznevegor
Today we are announcing our brand new website dailyemm.com!
Why?
We got pretty excited about all of you joining our channel, so we thought that we need to improve. As far as quite many of you asked for the telegraph posts and website will allow us to post more (and in different manners as well), we decided to set it up.
So are you going to forget about telegram?
No, the telegram is one of our priorities. We have already set up telegraph instant view, so it will be more comfortable for you to follow and read us.
Wait, you said, "we"?
That is right. A while ago I found the @dailyEm channel, I got pretty excited with the posts that I found there. So we have decided to team up at a certain point and created a website. Also, there are going to podcast in his channel, where I will take part from time to time.
Where is my high-quality content then and why does it take you so long to write them?
I have a new article for you today, you can find it below. Usually, I have two posts per month. I tried making it more frequently but don't like making "cheap" posts.
/channel/iv?url=http://dailyemm.com/system-glitch-planned-goal/&rhash=fe8f4479f0f89f
Damn, guys, you are so awesome, maybe I can do something for you?
Thanks for the compliment, bud, we are glad you like it. Just keep following us, give us a feedback, and please, check out our dailyemm.com - it would be great!
We are living in the days where dystopia became a scary reality and 1984 is just a mainstream handbook. You may try to argue with this but do not hurry – think about what is going on in the political world around the globe. I know that you are waiting for me to compare absurd with a presidency of Trump, but do not stop here – Brexit, French elections, rising nationalism over the globe (Japan, Finland, Russia, Turkey, etc.), causing the growth of mercantilism, terror attacks showing the world’s unstable development… There are many other examples, we just try to skip them and focus on the ones that are going to drive us crazy faster.
The present is bringing us such “geniuses” of culture as Beyonce and Drake, which are showing a real progress – from “Kind of Blue” to “Single Ladies”. In a technological world, we also haven’t gone that far if we assume that the main “jump” of everyday life technologies is the iPhone (and that Kickstarter just in a couple of years went from being the place for ambitious start-ups to wallet e-shop). In a political sense, countries that were united and inspired with the idea of common prosperity are falling apart (yeah, EU, I’m talking about you). In an economic manner, time-breaking theories of Krugman, for example, are fading away passing to the retarded ideas of neo-mercantilism (was not aimed to insult disabled people). Of course, there are some exemptions; however, they are so minor that counting them will make this post even more depressive.
In 1926, “The Castle” by Franz Kafka was published. Book, written in style of absurdism, showed a satirical image of the bureaucracy and society. If you are going to read this book now, this will not look like a satire, but normal habits. The atmosphere of being a single thinking person surrounded by the bunch of “living meat” will not seem unfamiliar.
Does “our present” suck then?
Debatable, however, it seems to me to be a pot with a water that is slowly heating, and right now, we are in the condition of boiling. This nonsense got to the maximum, forcing neo-nihilism and futurism to rise and make it cooler, so living now is like coming to the theater – something is about to start and you can be sure that it is going to be tremendous.
Such shift brings us enormous possibilities – in science, economics, society. However, it should start with something, so right now we are at the moment, where the world is running around crazy to start such shift.
I hope that my point is clear – we are living in a giant anti-utopia (or just a shithole), that is about to burst out like a bubble. How are you going to deal with it? This is your choice, but we can generalize it a bit – one way is to continue living absurd life and read inspirational talks instead of following science or at least classic literature; another is to create something new. If the world (social, economic, political) needs a reason to start something new, and therefore, waiting for something, that does not mean that you should follow the same manner. You can divide people in different manners; I will do it in a bit primitive way now: some people are ready to make responsible moves, ready to risk and do; others are followers, trying to avoid facing the reality as an enemy and crying about its complexity, but more important waiting for something. So what are you going to do in this boiling pot? Stand against imaginary faith and take action or wait for such people to come? The choice is yours.
Culture - reason to be unified and separated at the same time. Like a native code that is leading our minds throughout our lives, it is developing us and then prevents any interference into our personalities. It has become a central (or causing) factor of many discussions related to politics, society, economics, etc. But do we really need this barrier of the past in our integrated society in a hopeful future?
Like most of the people that I know, every time analyzing the reality makes me feel sad and scared at some point. Not only the things that are happening in a political arena are making everyone rather disappointed but also ideological and philosophical terms show that our aims and preferences had switched and final destination is not as bright as it should be.
So much weird stuff happened in past few years. Trump vs Clinton choice (that is not normal even on the stage of choice), Brexit, threat of French exit (even though it is just a threat, it still shows the level of decreasing adequacy), Syrian conflict that is a bunch of several national problems, Chinese market development decrease (even thought the problem of political limit is bold), Islamophobia, terror attacks, Putin dictatorship (and for everyone it has become normal), etc. And perspectives are even more frightening.
Think of the trends that happened 20 years ago. And I do not mean CD-players, wide jeans or long cuts - think of the global trends. World integration, internalization, and unification were the main trends of the diplomatic world, MNE and internet market were central themes of the economic world, EU and Russian problem took over the political sides. For youngsters, these ages may seem like a disaster, for millennials - grass was greener, mountains were higher and Trump was not a president of the US - so almost perfect. The culture was seen as invisible part of borders between two countries and we were aimed to change it.
But why do we need it?
Traditions and values? - You may have some holidays during the year without praising your own culture. Why cannot you value common human things like love, family, friendship without the ideas of loving the motherland? During the Era of globalization, we stepped on the path where motherland is just a piece of land where you were born and nothing more. You family, friends is not the same as the motherland. They are just people that you love and if you are going to move to a different country, you will continue loving these people.
National identity? If you are american, then you just the part of country where slavery was so normal for a while that people decided to have a civil war to keep it, country that treated women unequally during its whole history (and still though), country of constant racism and intolerance, country that picks douche as national leader.
And culture is not just about it. Culture is developing our fears, stereotypes, mentality, way of thinking. So, when we are talking about cultural upbringing, we should think about the thinks we fear and cannot understand. Name me one culture that values philosophy or science over emotions and religion. Name me one nation (out of first-world countries) that makes us stop fearing death. Name me one culture where racism is taken out of society completely and people value global prosperity over current bargains.
It is sad to admit but culture, the one that made you feel unique a while ago, has now become just a parasite of our behavior. This parasite got stuck so deeply in our minds that it is hard to analyze certain situations objectively.
So, break the system, focus on science and start a revolution... or just do not let culture manipulate you, be rational and stick to philosophy rather than uniqueness defined by the land, where you were born.
Island of simplicity in the ocean of overconsumption.
Since our childhood we were taught to own more things, reasons behind it vary, however, the results are going to be the same. In the past months, I have started to mention how I was raised to consume (and preferably with no limit). Ideas of getting more were everywhere – cartoons, movies, stories, novels – every part of culture was drowning in the ocean of materialism. Moreover, things have become sign and support of morality and values. I see your scepticism here, but think about – what do most of the Christians wear on their neck? –Cross. And for religious people throwing cross to the trash bin will be unacceptable – that is next level merchandise (holy level).
However, it is not only for religious people – materialism became a cornerstone of our culture. In movies, successful guys are multibillionaires with fully packed up closets. Women are depicted as naturally born shopaholics, who cannot wait to be grabbed by the credit cards. Smart guys have flat full of trash and books, fancy ones – full of suits and accessories.
And what about these amulets and accessories trash that people started believing more than themselves. Any sort of shit on your hand or neck can bring you like. For real, it can be anything – rabbit’s foot, stone from the random cave, fake Egyptian amulets, dead jesus – anything will be better “luck magnet” than you are.
Then, all the culture makes us dream the same. If I tell you, describe a happy life, most of you will start telling me about living separately from the parents with a beautiful wife, kids in a nice cottage/house and maybe have dog/cat, car and stable work. In other words, you will start describing me classic American dream (where “having” is something seen as a final aim). That is normal – in standardised culture dreams became standardised as well.
Right now, this culture of happy things and sad people is like an ocean. It surrounds us, it is trying to wave us down, and minimalism is like a boat that tries to keep values of “rationality and thinking” safe, hoping to fight back one day.
Today I won't talk about minimalism or anything connected to it. However, I want to give you a nice offer.
@videocalls is conducting beta testing of video calls in Telegram and only fastest out of you can test it.
So, subscribe for @videocalls asap and hope that you are going to be lucky enough.
I feel like I lied to you, cause it is connected to minimalism - you can now delete all the other messengers (and I am talking about Wha...any app).
Good luck!
What is truly a waste of your personal time?
Using your phone (in following):
1. Bed
Seriously, bed is just for sleeping or sex, stop taking time from yourself.
2. While you are in a company
It is annoying or even rude for others, there is no need in doing this
3. While you are eating
Common, just enjoy delicious food, f*ck the likes in Instagram/Facebook/[insert social network here]
YouTube
I guess many of us have faced the problem, when you went to watch some blog, that entertains you and ended up watching hydraulic press smashing metal ball. YouTube is great sometimes (f.e. I like watching stand-up shows and can’t call it a waste of time), but keep control over “autoplay”.
Email
Spam, random subscriptions, HOT DISCOUNTS UP TO 70%, etc. - Just a waste of time. Install some “un-subscription” tools and spam blockers, it will save a lot of time.
Also, your working email has the same timetable as your work. As soon as you are leaving your working chair - your email is also having a break. UNLESS, you are not a CEO or SME worker.
TV
21st century, guys, you can download, watch online, find on Netflix. Enjoying a nice movie or series is great, but you do not need to spend your time on commercials or adapt to TV schedule.
Social Networks
Facebook, Twitter - straight in a bin. LinkedIn - just for updates and job search.
Exclusion is blogging, then Quora, Telegram, Wordpress, etc. are almost unavoidble and rather beneficial.
People
Spending time with people, who bores/annoys/ makes angry/ doesn’t make you feel good is just a total waste of time. Hope you will not consider me rude, but people like your assets - there are useful/less.
Shopping
Buying things that you need is ok, but buying stuff just for a f*ck of it is a waste of time and money.
News
In a past few months I feel like I heard the name “D. Trump” more than my own. Sometimes you need to know the freshest news, for example, for your job. However, do not spend too much time for this. Minimalism and Mass Media - here you can find ideas on how useless it is to follow the MM. Reading top headlines once a week is usually enough to keep a track on global changes. Or maybe stop reading/watching news at all.
Also…
If you do not get any enjoyment or use of the process, then, usually, it is a waste of time.
In the western culture, "having less" looks more like an exclusion out of common trend. However, in the East, its gaining popularity: some of people are inspired with wasting less money/time, some - with the attractive concept of simplicity. Minimalism fits into the common culture and philosophy of the eastern world.
Simplicity (and beauty of its concept) was one of the main things I got inspired with at first place. Article, which is attached below, is a great inspiration tool for the early adopters and a great reminder for the minimalism mastodons. Enjoy!
https://goo.gl/jV5vMF
Let's imagine that you have a second chance to live your life.
Will you buy the same things?
Will you go for the same job? Will you continue spending time with the same people?
If the answer for at least one of those questions is "no", then it's time to get rid of it. Change it now, you won't live forever.
Happy New Year!
2016 was rather productive and interesting for me. Even though it was tough in terms of politics and social events, but honestly, it was happy and exciting as a part of my life. During the passed year, I have created channel and started writing my writing my thoughts and ideas. Thank you very much for reading it, that is extremely supportive!
The year is almost over and I wish you all the best in the upcoming year. Don't wait for others or for something to fullfil your goals. Dream and achieve!
Main wish to all of you: be happy!
Minimalism requires personal changes. Therefore, I've come up with the theory showing the main reason of development failures.
http://telegra.ph/Theory-of-Fake-Changes-11-27
If you want to check that you have only the necessary things, I have found really nice "Apartment checklist". However, this list shows minimalist's maximum in terms of household (at least I feel like that). Hope it's can help you with getting rid of "just in case" stuff.
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Wardrobe capsule - something that I have been rather curious about for a while. This definition is originally borrowed from fashion industry and can be rather familiar to you. Originally, capsules are known as wardrobe lists for a special season, so you can combine your looks (and increase their number) with the minimal number of items. In terms of minimalism, as you could have already understood, this means just wardrobe list essential for your living.
What's the point of this capsules? You got everything planned. EVERYTHING in terms of your clothes and household tools: capsule plans your budget, your preferences in terms of brands, materials, details, etc. Main conclusion is that capsules are cool if you like to have a control over your stuff. The problem is how to make it right.
One way is to buy subscription from the specialised sites: you fill in the form about your preferences and receive the list of the items you should buy. If you are ready to "outsource" wardrobe plan, then it is the fast and easy choice. The main problem is that you should pay some money and it won't be ideal (as far as you know yourself better than anyone else). If you are interested in it, follow the link: cladwell.com
If you are interested and want to do it yourself (that will for sure suit you better), then here are my own tips and instructions.
1. You shouldn't have more than 25 items per season. At first, that doesn't mean that you will have 100 items overall. Capsule consists of basis and season-switch. Basis is usually 15-20 items, season-switch consists of 5-10. Basis: jeans, sweaters, t-shirts and shirts; season dependant: shoes, coats, accessories (scarves, gloves, etc).
2. Make it flexible. So you can combine all the parts.
3. Quality switch.
Choose high-quality clothes, so it will last longer. Less quantity, more quality. By the way, I found that affects the type of clothes I buy (in a good way). For example, I switched from sweatshirts to sweaters, t-shirts to shirts, etc.
4. Make season de-cluttering.
By the end of the season check that you don't have anything useless.
From my own experience, I find capsules rather useful. Right now, I have 60 items in terms of clothes (including underwear) and it is just convenient: saves time, money and space. What else does minimalist need from his/her clothes?
Let me switch to some common, everyday life themes for a while after previous ideological posts. I have found rather interesting post today concerning minimalist wardrobe. The post is about 3 must have pairs of shoes for men, you can find it here:
http://www.artofmanliness.com/2016/09/21/minimal-wardrobe-3-pairs-shoes-man-needs/
Almost everything is written well, but I cannot agree with every point author makes.
Article shows that you need canvas sneakers, leather boots and Oxford shoes, and it would be just great to keep your wardrobe minimalistic this way.
To my mind, this is pretty subjective view and rather shitty at practical point.
- Canvas shoes
Complete bullshit. You may like it and all-star shoes is rather trendy and so on, but it is pretty bad idea to buy them if you wear sneakers on everyday basis. Canvas shoes looks rather cheap, easily breaks, bad for your feet and not so comphy (comparing to classic sneakers). My suggestion is to buy some dark semi-sneaker types, that looks great with jeans, smth like Nike (personal choice), New balance (if you like this sort of style) or adidas. Why those? Most of the sneakers provides better heel zone (like Nike air or new balance), more flexible in terms of clothes combination and better break-resistance.
- Leather brown boots
Totally agree.
- Oxford dress shoes
Pretty edgy, if you don't have any office dress-code or business meetings then you probably don't even need them. And something like loafers would be just better choice.
Keep only useful and good quality stuff in your truly minimalist wardrobe.
Minimalism is some sort of common philosophy. That is why today I want to give it a look from the aesthetical point of view. Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy that is dealing with such terms as beauty, art, etc. There are different minimalistic styles in music, arts, design (and so on) that are aesthetically represents narrowed "field" of modernism and aesthetically beautiful. However, I want to concentrate your attention on term of "simple beauty". Asian cultures have presented this idea long time ago, and now we can see how it has reflected Japanese culture: most of Japanese designers do concentrate on having less, both in terms of space and quantity; literature concentrate on details of abstract "nothing" and music is fluent and coherent due to its "minimalistic" harmony.
The thing that I am trying to say is that minimalistic logic of aesthetics (or it would be better to state "feeling") has already prioritized in our minds, our generation has already passed through the idea "more - better". Having less doesn't mean that you should forget about the aesthetical beauty of things, absolutely opposite - you do value it even more. By having less you do concentrate on details, that increases your aesthetical taste.
Power of routines.
In a past few days I have mentioned how powerful and useful morning and evening routines are. After a long working week, you are deciding to make a "lazy Sunday": you do nothing, just lying in your bed and even lazy to go to the kitchen to make breakfast at 5 p.m. Sometimes these days are useful; you need to have a certain break after stressful period. However, sometimes it leads no to a single but to several days of doing nothing. Further it goes - harder you are getting out of these "lazy breaks". Therefore, sometimes I need just something that is setting me into the working pace. Here comes the morning routines: chain of small activities that are setting up your mood. Apart from setting you into productive way, routines reduces your decision fatigue and allows you to feel control over your actions even if things go crazy during the day.
Setting up your morning and evening routines is personal thing. However, after reading and trying bunch of articles on this theme, two main types are coming out: brief and long. First one is more flexible, second one is steadier. Morning and evening routines are dependent upon your personality. So, how to set it up:
- It should be firm and steady
Any routine loses its power as soon as it is getting out of the pace. Wake up at the same time, have a shower and eat a breakfast - this is the basic routine, but it already helps you to get concentrated. Do it at the same time for a long period.
-It should support your life-goals
Want to read more? Start reading before you go to bed. Want to write a novel? Write notes everyday. Keep fit? Go for workout in the morning. Ok, the last one sounds impossible for me, but everything depends upon your own goals.
-Adapt your routine
Your life is changing, so should your routines. You can't keep everything the same all the time and you don't need to. Adapting your routine and making it a bit different from time to time is one of the key points that keeps you out from "dusting" and makes you routines more vital. It sounds contrary, but try to keep it steady and adaptive: parts of your routines should be constant but that shouldn't hurt its changing nature: If you want to start running in the morning that doesn't mean that you should stop reading books before going to sleep.
At the end, I want to give a little starting tip: start your day and finish it with the brushing your teeth, so you will be healthy and others won't stop talking to you.