Today has been a good day. Why? Because I received my HP 2009m HD LCD Monitor by way of good ol’ FedEx. It bright and shiny and clear and giant and helpful and not minimalistic. I know, I preach minimalism constantly and that is what has been the biggest draw to LifeExcursion, but I also try to preach the importance of balance. I may sound like the biggest hypocrite since Fill in Your Choice of Political Representative Here, but I think without a balance, I would go insane.
I have thoroughly enjoyed sharing my minimalist lifestyle and thoughts in articles like Fight Against STUFF and the GLAM Series, but I too can be the hypocrite and live a life of consumption. In this case, it was an overdone monitor that I personally feel will benefit my online ventures. Despite whatever benefits I think it will have on my life, I am acting unminimalistic.
In my life, there are only a few things that I am unminimalistic with; Books, Running Gear, and Tech Stuff. I am improving upon each three by trying to reduce the items I deem useless. For example, the speakers are awesome on this new laptop so I will be ridding my separate set of speaker and sub woofer (total of 5 items including wires). I think that trade off is fairly good seeing as the monitor will be a more beneficial / less cluttered item.
There are times we must detour from what is seen as right and wrong. I try, in all other aspects of my life to be a minimalist and the three aspects of which I am not so much, I still am not a hoarder by any means. This balance is tough to find for many people. Here at LifeExcursion, I am trying to share my perspective on the benefits and the How To’s to being more of a minimalist. With that, I think sharing my flaws will help you readers see that despite what may appear as gloating at times about my lifestyle (which by the way, isn’t perfect), I too take life in stride with what will make me happy.
I would love to hear your thoughts on my approach to minimalism as well as yours. What is your toughest item(s) to give up in your life? What part of the minimalist approach do you think is right/wrong? Hope to hear from all of you….
David Damron
LifeExcursion
Minimalism is very open to individual interpretation, if the speakers intergrated in the laptop are far superior to the external 5 speakes, then you are in fact being quite minimal in your approach. The way I see it, and others may not aggree, its more about making choices that suit your particular circumstances and purging the useless, its not about going to the extreme and sacrificing yourself from things that may benifit your life.
Hope that makes sense? but like i said everyones interpretation can be different.
Cheers
Greg
Greg – Live It with less´s last blog ..The Month of Mo
The way I see it, and others may not aggree, its more about making choices that suit your particular circumstances and purging the useless, its not about going to the extreme and sacrificing yourself from things that may benifit your life.
Awesome part of your comment. I think “purging” the useless in YOUR life is exactly the idea minimalism should have.
Thanks for the awesome comment Greg. You and I are on the same Minimalist Path
David Damron
I’m finding that this is the beauty of minimalism… that it frees up the energy and money to devote more to the few areas that you love. Non-minimalism seems to be all about having too much of what you don’t need. But, that doesn’t mean not splurging on what really matters… by being minimalistic in other areas, you are free to make the areas that mean the most count. Like having an awesome, huge monitor. I’m jealous. Congrats.
Karen´s last blog ..Patience is a Virtue I Don’t Always Have
“that it frees up the energy and money to devote more to the few areas that you love. Non-minimalism seems to be all about having too much of what you don’t need.” -Karen
I think You, John, Greg and I are all on the same page when it comes to minimalism. Karen you make a great point about the ability to save money for the things you really need/want. Something I will have to discuss in a financial post one day.
Thanks…
David Damron
LE
In Japan, Buddhist monks have houses, families and cars. I met a Monk once in a bar who was wearing a Rolex watch and drove a BMW. True Story, although it sounds like the set up for a joke.
As Greg said, minimalism is definitely open to interpretation. Maybe we should all just strive for LESS, not NOTHING.
John Bardos – JetSetCitizen´s last blog ..Interview with Digital Nomad Carmen Bolanos
That’s hilarious about the Monks in Japan.
I never thought of it in the ‘Less, not Nothing’ term but that fits perfectly. I am going to have to steal that. HAHA!!!
Thanks for the great comment John!
David Damron
LifeExcursion
Life isn’t static, and neither are we. As our interests, abilities and situations change, so will our stuff. Things that were useful last year may not suit us anymore and something we’ve never needed before may come in really handy now. I think a really important aspect of minimalism is to take stock of where my life is right now, get rid of the stuff I no longer need and not be too worried about getting the things that I do need – because I will get rid of them when they no longer support my life.
Enjoy your new big screen, Dave. It sounds like you’ve really thought it through. It’s the mindless consumption that’s non-minimalist.
Barb McMahon´s last blog ..We’re All Just Pottering
Hey Barb—
Great ideas and comment here. Liked this line…
“I think a really important aspect of minimalism is to take stock of where my life is right now, get rid of the stuff I no longer need and not be too worried about getting the things that I do need – because I will get rid of them when they no longer support my life.”
I think focusing on minimalism in your life today is the key like you said. 4 years ago, my stuff would have been much different that it is today.
Thanks for the informative comment Barb!
David Damron
LifeExcursion
If you spend all day every day on a computer, a monitor would be the best investment you can make. Not only does it make your life better by making things easier to see it makes you more productive because you can see more at once. It also has the long term benefit(compared to the older monitor) of being easier on your eyes. Anything that benefits my health is essential, not something that can be cut out on the path to minimalism.
Ross´s last blog ..Foto Friday: Hangliders in Port Macquarie
I’m guilty of this as well. After ditching 85% of my things and going full on minimalistic I have fallen prey to a few things. Two to be exact. A fly fish rod and a set of skis. I used to be a huge fly fisher which I miss dearly and I’ve always wanted to learn to ski. Both I think are acceptable since they don’t take up hardly any room and I can get a ton of enjoyment out of them. They are also easy to sell when the time comes.
´s last blog ..My Quest to Learn a New Language
It’s funny, I did an productivity experiment over the last 3 months and cut down the time I spent on my most time consuming tasks by more than half…then proceeded to fill up this newly found space with even more, somehow without realizing it. I think this is pretty characteristic of my type of “minimalism.” That’s not a good thing in itself but I’ve learned a lot from both extreme idleness (which is different than minimalism) and from extreme business. The next three months are going to be devoted to a project on balance and I plan on following your posts here as well as updating my results on my own blog. Thanks for writing!
I think that the best definition of minimalism I can think of is that minimalism is about only keeping those things that help us to enjoy our lives, and getting rid of everything else. Now for some people that means getting rid of everything they can possibly live without, and for others it means something less extreme. And the beautiful part is that, as Greg said, it’s open to our interpretations.
I haven’t owned any TV in years. I watch DVD’s on my laptop and catch old shows on hulu.com
My favorite things to get “unminimalist” about is books/magazines and stuff for my digital camera.