Some random thoughts

I was having lunch with a friend a couple of weeks ago and we got onto the subject of living life. First we talked about how Boulder seems to have alot of 'studied nonchalance' meaning people that work at looking average and normal. This is mostly due to most of the people he saw hanging around the Boulderado hotel being multi-millionares in Boulder. The LAST thing you want to look like if you're in Boulder is a multimillionare so... you have to spend some serious money on cloths that make you look like you're not a multimillionaire.

So true.

We then got to talking about what would make him happy. He's a very successful guy. Ex-venture capitalist and an investor as well as very active in the non profit world. I told him about my de-materialization quest and he surprised me with what he really wanted: "I'd love to get a small two bedroom house and just live simply". This from a guy who most certainly doesn't have 'just a small two bedroom house' currently and lives a very busy life of consulting, board meetings and family obligations.

The more I owned, the more it owned me. I've owned multiple houses and had too many cars and god knows how much stuff to fill everything up. Since I got divorced I've gotten down to a single house and a couple of cars, but now, even that seems like too much. What does 1 guy need several thousand feet of house for? WHY do I need more than one car? (in Boulder, except on really cold days, you don't really need any car.. seems like there's more bike paths in this town than roads).

They say living in an apartment uses 20% of the resources that living in a house does (the infamous carbon footprint). Why would I not sell the 12 MPG (hwy) Landcruiser and replace it with a 43 MPG Yaris and a good bike?

I get that our possessions tend to define us. We are, after all, the most consumerist society in history, but is this good? Should you really define who you are by the watch you wear, the car you drive or the street you live on?

I'm voting no on that one and I'm about to find out just how that really feels. By the end of the year I should be pretty close to demateralized with very few 'home stuff' things left if I'm successful. I'll let you know how I feel then.

Big change for sure. When I was in my 20's my lawyer once said to me after I showed him my just installed 'car phone' (this was the mid 80's and a mobile phone made up of a big box in your trunk and a full sized handset mounted on your dash with a cost to use of $1.75 a minute was really cutting edge) Scott.... you're Boulder County's leading consumer...

No more.

I'll still have the cellphone, but just the one, and no other phones, anywhere.

The living room and CraigsList

Man, I love CraigsList.

I put up a living room set of furniture on Sunday and by Monday I have 15 inquiries.

The house is gone as of the 9/30.

No clue where I'm going to live. Heh... this is weird but I have to admit I really like it.

Great story

A great story on living life in a way that's fulfilling.

One of the better blog postings I've read this year. And not very far off of how I think life should be lived (the second story, not the first so much).

and next.. the house

Got a reasonable offer on my house today that I'm taking. Soo.. the real process of simplifying and dematerializing begins. I think how I'll start is by inviting family and friends over to go through the place and see what they want and just give it away. Some of the things will require some thought though (what do you do with 4000 books?).

I'm already feeling an odd sense of mild excitement. A sort of 'starting fresh' feeling. I've been here for 10 years (almost exactly) and that's the longest I've lived in one place my entire adult life.

Another great post on why all the "Stuff" you have just doesn't matter

Entire post is here.

Teaser:

What if you currently live a very comfortable lifestyle and you have a lot of assets? How can you justify running off to do what truly makes you happy if it might put all your current assets at risk?

Here’s my take on this….

To abandon a comfortable lifestyle that isn’t deeply fulfilling is to abandon nothing. There’s nothing of real substance there to protect. An income, a car, a house, or a lifestyle are not worth protecting if the cost of such protection is your own fulfillment and happiness. People who achieve some of the external trappings of success without internal fulfillment are only living an illusion when they tell themselves they have something of value to protect. In most cases the feeling that there’s something to protect is just an excuse used to avoid facing the real fear — that maybe all this stuff isn’t really worth anything compared to what’s being lost… that maybe I should be living more boldly and not be so concerned about what happens to all my stuff.

Entire post here.

Goes a little deeper than just stuff, but get's at the reasons WHY getting rid of all the stuff is goodness.

Steve Pavlina's the author and you can get to it at www.stevepavlina.com