More gear though....

This seems to be working well.  I've added an iPhone and and iPad to the technology mix so I'm no mobile as well.  I've also got a backpack of gear for stormchasing (Nikon with lenses, small HD videocam, tripod, i7 based laptop with editing (photo and video) software that sits under the desk until I head out on a stormchasing trip.

I have noticed that I've accumulated a HUGE amount of digital stuff.  I've got about 200,000 MP3's (songs), a huge array of links, games, email accounts, profiles on dozens of different services and social networks tons of books on the Kindle app on the iPad, and several blogs.  I wonder if I'm replacing my material stuff with digital stuff.

I'll have to explore that a little more with time.  Am I just replacing my atom based stuff with zero and one based stuff?  Interesting idea.

Another area to explore is personal relationships.  I've led a pretty monkish life the last few years and cut back on 'real' relationships (although the social network side of things seems to have exploded.. lots of digital friends... people I know online but no where else).  Another aspect of this de-materialization to explore.

And less still...

I continue to shrink the material footprint.  Most of my personal stuff now fits in a 10X12 foot room.  Still too many computer-ish things, but it's controllable.

I'm looking at two mac mini's.. one hooked to a 40" flatscreen mounted on the wall, and the other hooked to two 27" monitors.  An iphone, ipad, some NR headphones and a Mac Air laptop.  A small fridge full of yogurt, protein drinks and veggies.  A desk with a chair.  An air bed with a foam topper and linen.  Jeans, shirts, sport coats, socks, underwear, 2 pair of shoes and an overcoat all in one closet.  Oh.. an one car (a 2011 Kia Sportage EX) parked on the street.

An internet connection.  No cable or phone, just Internet.

That's about it.  Some boxes (mostly old records and old pictures) in storage at my parents in the crawlspace.

I.. think... I'm pretty much there.  I love it.

And it continues....

I'm finding the 'less stuff' life is a good one. I rent a small loft, about 750 SF, close to work (very close, like, 100 yards close) in an area rich in places to eat, things to do and things to see. When you only have 750 SF to fill, it doesn't take long, and it doesn't take much.

I've pared down the clothing to 3 pair of jeans, 2 pair of black pants, an assortment of black shirts and a couple of black sport coats. 1 brand of black socks (no more keeping matched socks in order!) and basic under garments from that iconic Fruit of the Loom bunch.

My one weakness is still technology and I have too many computers, but I'm slowly getting rid of them as well. Eventually, I'll get down to a desktop, 1 laptop and a tablet, but it's going to take a few months (it is, afterall, an addiction of sorts).

Overall, very happy with the simple life when it comes to material things.

Next up: food. How much, really do you need in the kitchen? I'm going to find out!

De-meterializing online

I've found that maintaining an 'adequate' online social presence is almost as demanding as owning alot of stuff.

Blogging requires weekly (and preferably daily) entries to keep your audience coming back (or subscribed to the RSS feed) for more.

Just BEING on facebook, myspace or any of the other sites out there requires 'a few hours' to a day or two, per month (for some per week) to keep up with the 'social interation' required to be an active user.

Twitter... don't get me started. And the social pressure it creates ('you should get on twitter more often'... got that again this Saturday from a dear friend).

I'm very tempted to shut down all the online social interaction stuff as well (including this blog). I've largely done it but it keeps poking at me, trying to pull me back.

Like owning stuff and feeling owned by it, owning a blog/twitter/facebook account also feels like I'm owned by it (it, literally, requires you feed it). If you don't feed them, they start to yell at you (usually through your friends).

Renting money

I love this quote (from http://patrick.net/housing/crash3.html):

"If you don't own a house but want to live in one, your choice is to rent a house or rent money to buy a house. To rent money is to take out a loan. A mortgage is a money-rental agreement. House renters take no risk at all, but money-renting owners take on the huge risk of falling house prices, as well as all the costs of repairs, insurance, property taxes, etc. Since you can rent a house for 2% of its price, but have to pay 6% to borrow the equivalent amount of money, it is much cheaper to rent the house than to rent the money."

It's true.. you can rent a place to live, or, you can rent money, at a higher cost and alot of risk, to get a place to live.

That's why I sold my pr0perty and now am a happy renter.

Black Friday

Today is Black Friday, that day after Thanksgiving when the American Christmas Shopping season kicks into gear. It is an orgy of consumer consumption. I wonder how much of this stuff that's bought today really matters very much. How much improves a life (how many different ways home food processors chop a carrot, afterall?).

I'm not even leaving the house today. Those shoppers are like hungry packs looking for the best parking place, the best deal and the shortest line. Aggresive, hungry and intent on winning.

Safer to just watch the crappy after Thanksgiving TV, write some, read some, game a bit and relax.

less is more

Sometimes a simple presentation is all you need.

Less is more

view presentation (tags: meditation development sustainable more)

Life, explained.

I know this has been around a few times, but it's a useful little story to read every so often just to keep things in perspective.

A boat docked in a tiny Mexican village. An American tourist complimented the Mexican fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took him to catch them.

"Not very long," answered the Mexican.

"But then, why didn't you stay out longer and catch more?" asked the American.

The Mexican explained that his small catch was sufficient to meet his needs and those of his family.

The American asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?"

"I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, and take a siesta with my wife. In the evenings, I go into the village to see my friends, have a few drinks, play the guitar, and sing a few songs. I have a full life."

The American interrupted, "I have an MBA from Harvard and I can help you! You should start by fishing longer every day. You can then sell the extra fish you catch. With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat."

"And after that?" asked the Mexican.

"With the extra money the larger boat will bring, you can buy a second one and a third one and so on until you have an entire fleet of trawlers. Instead of selling your fish to a middle man, you can then negotiate directly with the processing plants and maybe even open your own plant. You can then leave this little village and move to Mexico City, Los Angeles, or even New York City! From there you can direct your huge new enterprise."

"How long would that take?" asked the Mexican.

"Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years," replied the American.

"And after that?"

"Afterwards? Well my friend, that's when it gets really interesting," answered the American, laughing. "When your business gets really big, you can start buying and selling stocks and make millions!"

"Millions? Really? And after that?" asked the Mexican.

"After that you'll be able to retire, live in a tiny village near the coast, sleep late, play with your children, catch a few fish, take a siesta with your wife and spend your evenings drinking and enjoying your friends."

And the moral of this story is: ......... Know where you're going in life... you may already be there.

The New Survivalists

OK, this is a bit weird, and I'm not in this camp at all, but I find it interesting that there's a movement of survivalists, a growing group, sort of spontaniously appearing, across the country.

I think it's related to de-materialism, but more extreme.

This article from the Associated Press, titled Energy fears looming, new survivalists prepare outlines it.

An excerpt:

BUSKIRK, N.Y. (AP) — A few years ago, Kathleen Breault was just another suburban grandma, driving countless hours every week, stopping for lunch at McDonald's, buying clothes at the mall, watching TV in the evenings.

That was before Breault heard an author talk about the bleak future of the world's oil supply. Now, she's preparing for the world as we know it to disappear.

Breault cut her driving time in half. She switched to a diet of locally grown foods near her upstate New York home and lost 70 pounds. She sliced up her credit cards, banished her television and swore off plane travel. She began relying on a wood-burning stove.

"I was panic-stricken," the 50-year-old recalled, her voice shaking. "Devastated. Depressed. Afraid. Vulnerable. Weak. Alone. Just terrible."

I get where she's coming from, but I don't have the same belief that society will crumble and fall that a survivalist has. I think we're heading toward a time of less available resources (due to higher costs, not availability; the rich will always be able to get what they want by virtue of being rich). It'll be a slow grind down for the middle class.

I think these folks are, as noted above, being driven more by a sense of fear and 'how do I protect myself' than anything. I get it, really. I'm just not sure that's the best way to focus things.

De-materializing, for me, is more about freedom than fear. It's also more about doing a tiny bit of good by being aware that one human doesn't really need to be consuming so much space, energy, housing, fuel and food as well as expelling so much waste (carbon, trash and wastewater, as a start).

I have read that we, as Americans, are about 3% of the worlds population, but consume 23% of the worlds resources and expell about 27% of it's carbon waste. (not 100% on those numbers... but I believe they are close).

Think about that. 3% of the worlds population chewing up One Fourth of everything, and spitting out an equivalent pile of waste.

I don't want to disappear, I just want to get more in balance with what a person needs to be happy and comfortable vs. what a person wants (or thinks they want) as taught to us by future generations of rich.

The rich I know from my silicon valley (and to a degree, here in Boulder) technology company days seem to believe in multiple cars, multiple homes, frequent air travel via commercial or even private jets, huge 3rd houses in the form of boats, used, at most, 4 weeks a year... you get the idea). The amount of wasteful use of resources that a tech geek with too much money can create is almost unimaginable.

I just no longer get the value of that way of living. The overhead and cost to the person maintaining it is huge, the return of being owned by all that stuff is questionable and the impact on the planet of consuming the resources of a small village in China, all by yourself is, well, more than a little selfish.

I know this is just my own opinion on this, and I know a fair number of people that live this lifestyle, some I consider good friends. It doesn't make it OK though.

I just wish people would stop more often and think about what they need, really need, to live a happy life.

I doubt all the excess stuff they own really does much to answer that question.

Gadgets

This dematerializing has been going on for me for about 9 months now and going well.

What I'm finding is I really do need alot less than I thought I did. It wasn't just an experiment, it was, and is, a true simplification.

I have one primary weakness: Hardware. in particular, gadgets. I love gadgets and there's always a new one. that means if I'm playing with new stuff all the time, the old stuff accumulates. And I'm loath to get rid of the old stuff because there's a sense of history there (sort of like books), but in a shorter timescale.

So, I'm going to start getting rid of the gadgets as well once I don't use them anymore. I think I'd like to see how few things I can get it down to and still feel like I'm not limiting myself. I just gave my OPLC (the One Laptop Per Child linux PC for kids in poor countries) to an old friend for her kids. I'll be giving (and in some cases selling) things to folks that need them as they flow through my life. Most gadgets are good for 6 months (for me... I've learned all I can in about that time) so, like books, I can pass them on to someone else who can use them for their pure functionality (recording audio, video, media. Creating art. Whatever is is they do with it).

When I was about 20 or so a friend came over to my apartment and checked out my computer room which was full of Apple II's running BBS software and (at the time) advanced graphics software. He said: "What that hell do you need all this gear for?" (he was a gear freak himself, so this was both damning and great praise, at the teim).

I didn't have a good answer then, and I still don't. I really don't need all this gear. Some of it, yes, but not so much all of it.

One of each of the things I regularly use is plenty. For now, I'll still buy the new as it comes out, but I'll recycle the old to places it'll do good.

You have too much STUFF

The genius of George Carlin on 'your stuff'. He pretty much sums it all up here in a little under 4 minutes.

Why Bother?

There's a great article in the New York Times Magazine called "Why Bother?". It's longish (4 web pages) and you can read it here. (warning: login/free signup required).

I get alot of 'wow.. I wish I could do what you're doing' and a few 'seems I read about the downsizing 'trend' alot Scott.. you're ahead of the curve again' type comments. Most are well meant, but a few are a bit condescending.

The reality is, this is reality. It's real kids.

The article talks about all the usual things, but centers on the need to actually do something about climate change (and all the related ills that have created it.. the biggest being cheap energy), even if it's small and may seem like it doesn't matter because my 'evil twin' in China is more than happy to offset any good I do. It lays out why we (all of us) need to do this, if we ever want big change to happen.

I won't go into the article more than that, but I encourage you to take 10 minutes and read it.

Collapsing American Power due to.. too much stuff? hmmm...

Read this today:

The collapse of American power - Would you want to hold the debt of a country whose imports exceed its industrial production?

As of March 17, 2008, one Swiss franc is worth more than $1 dollar. In 1970, the exchange rate was 4.2 Swiss francs to the dollar. In 1970, $1 purchased 360 Japanese yen. Today $1 dollar purchases less than 100 yen.

If you were a creditor, would you want to hold debt in a currency that has such a poor record against the currency of a small island country that was nuked and defeated in WW II, or against a small landlocked European country that clings to its independence and is not a member of the EU?

Would you want to hold the debt of a country whose imports exceed its industrial production? According to the latest US statistics as reported in the February 28 issue of Manufacturing and Technology News, in 2007 imports were 14 percent of US GDP and US manufacturing comprised 12 percent of US GDP. A country whose imports exceed its industrial production cannot close its trade deficit by exporting more.

The dollar has even collapsed in value against the euro, the currency of a make-believe country that does not exist: the European Union. France, Germany, Italy, England and the other members of the EU still exist as sovereign nations. England even retains its own currency. Yet the euro hits new highs daily against the dollar.

Noam Chomsky recently wrote that America thinks that it owns the world. That is definitely the view of the neoconized Bush administration. But the fact of the matter is that the US owes the world. The US “superpower” cannot even finance its own domestic operations, much less its gratuitous wars except via the kindness of foreigners to lend it money that cannot be repaid.

The US will never repay the loans. The American economy has been devastated by offshoring, by foreign competition, and by the importation of foreigners on work visas, while it holds to a free trade ideology that benefits corporate fat cats and shareholders at the expense of American labor. The dollar is failing in its role as reserve currency and will soon be abandoned.

When the dollar ceases to be the reserve currency, the US will no longer be able to pay its bills by borrowing more from foreigners.

I have to ask.. do we really NEED all these imports? Is more stuff really the answer?

More on renting vs. buying

I just found a GREAT website (Patrick.net) that outlines better than anything I've seen in a long time why owning a house is, at best, a questionable idea. It's here. Or...click on the link there at the top right of this page. It's worth spending a hour or two reading as much of it as you can.

Some humor around owning a house:

Lowering interest rates will help the housing and stock market for about as long as peeing your pants will help when you have to go. It will give a warm feeling for a minute.

Everybody hates house-agents because they have everybody at a disadvantage. All other callings have a certain amount of give and take; the house agent simply takes. -- H. G. Wells

Nick Naylor, in Thank You For Smoking: "99% of everything done in the world, good or bad, is done to pay a mortgage. Perhaps the world would be a better place if everyone rented."

Renting vs. buying

Yea.. I bought the whole own vs. rent thing, but this post "rent vs. buy myths" makes some very good updated points about the current housing market. I particularly like this one:

The reality is that housing is not an investment. It's shelter. That is all housing has ever been. Self-serving organizations like the National Association of Realtors like to tell people that buying a home is a good way to build long-term wealth, but this statement couldn't be further from the truth.

Although home prices can go up (and down), the rate of appreciation on housing does not surpass inflation levels over the long-term. Between 1890 and 2004, the real return on housing was a pathetic 0.4 percent per year over the last 100 years, according to Robert Shiller, a housing expert and Yale economist.

Real estate investments aren't that much better over the short-term. The gain in new home prices over the last 20 years has been a mere fraction of the Dow's gain. The average person investing in stocks between 1987 and 2007 would have made more money than the average person who bought a new home in 1987.

Downsizing is good. I've been living a far less material life the last 6 months and loving it. I'm currently renting as well (a 600+ SF place 2 blocks off the Pearl Street Mall here in Boulder). I could buy something like this, starting at around half a million dollars. Rent? $500 a month. No HOA fee's. No taxes. No upkeep.

I'm thinking renting is the way to go; at least for now.

Consumed

Great interview with Benjamin Barber, author of the book "Consumed- How Markets Corrupt Children, Infantilize Adults, and Swallow Citizens Whole".

Here's one quote from Barber:

You know, everyone loves Wal-Mart as a consumer. So do I. Lots of goods, cheap prices. But it has social consequences that, as a consumers, we don't think about. We know it means low wages, it means low wages without pensions. It means wage earners who don't have proper healthcare. But, worse than that, it means the destruction of mom and pop stores. The destruction of retail. The destruction of those very little shops you were talking about that are at the heart of America's villages and towns.

Bill Moyers interviews Barber on his Journal show. Watch it here, you might get a different view of how you consume in the future.

At first, I thought you were weird...

I've heard that from several people lately. They then finish the comment with 'now I think you're onto something'.

I was talking with my Mom tonight and the whole de-materialization thing came up and she took it a step farther. She said "I thought you were nuts". She figured I'd already paid for all that stuff so why get rid of it now? I told her that I had to have a multi-thousands of square foot house to HOLD it all and that made her stop and say "I didn't think of that".

If you have stuff, you have to have a place for all that stuff too. That's a large part of the 'it's owns you' problem. Owning property as an investment is one thing, but owning a home (or homes) that are just stupidly big because you have all this 'stuff' means you have to worry about all the upkeep, the mortgage, the insurance, security, the HOA fees and the difficulty in just moving away if your neighbor is a dickhead (harder if you have to sell it instead of just handing it back to a landlord).

I've also had a few people say there were 'proud' of me. DeAnna, and old friend, told me this over lunch on Friday and my own Dad told me the same thing. When I ask 'are you going to do it?" they back off though. I understand it. It took me a couple of years of thinking about it and about 6 months to actually do (de-materializing is hard work. Seriously).

Now though, it's pretty much done. I have what I need at my fingertips and no more. If I buy something new, I get rid of sometime that it replaces. (bought some new shoes this week, took them home, took a pair of shoes I wear the least and dropped them off in the shoebox the new shoes came in at the Salvation Army).

Some habit's die hard though. My mom asked me if I wanted one of the comforters that she'd 'saved' for me when they took a bunch of my stuff away.

Mom's, it seems, will always want to make sure you're safe and warm.

Less stuff seems to equal more time

I wonder how much time we spend actually buying things.

Most people I know think about what they want. They spend time researching it, comparing it to other competitive products, going to look at it (often multiple times if it's something like a car or furniture or technology) and then spending more time trying to get the best price possible.

I would bet each non basic purchase (food, to a degree clothing) takes at least an hour. Maybe a few hours and in the case of big purchases (like a car or house) it can add up to days or more.

And if you're just 'shopping', not 100% sure what you want, hell, that can be 1/2 a day at a mall on a Saturday.

I think this because I find I now have more time on my hands. Most of what I buy now is the basic and those don't really change much for me. Food is pretty routine. Cloths (does it fit? do I have room for it in the closet? is it black?.. I'll take it) are similar. I don't really have the room for more than what's there already so I just walk past all the other stuff.

I used to spend 2 hours whenever I went to Costco for milk and that damn milk always ended up costing me at least several hundred dollars of 'discovered.. gotta have... been looking for that' stuff. After my last 3 visits to Costco where I looked around for an hour decided I didn't need or have a place for that, say, telescope I've been hankering for and will use maybe twice in a year, and still walked out with just milk (OMG!) I realized I didn't even need that Costco card.

Now I just get 1/2 gallon at the Ideal Market down the street when I'm running low. In and out. Done.

I'm guessing I gain about 6-8 (conservatively) hours a week because of this.

And it's a little odd. I actually find myself, some evenings or weekends, wondering what to do. I think I'll learn how to cartoon, or speak Manderin. :)

A few weeks in...

There's something pure about this process.

At a personal level, I've effectively taken it down to close to almost no material possessions from where I was 60 days ago. I think I can make the list from memory here:

One car
A twin bed
1 sitting chair and 3 stacking chairs.
1 desk and 1 deskchair.
1 desktop computer
1 laptop computer.
3 plants
A Senseo coffee machine
A tea kettle
A blender
Silverware/plates/glasses/cups
Food
Cloths (shoes, shirts, pants, socks, etc.- all fit me, all useful)
Towels/razor/electric toothbruth

I think that's about it. There's other stuff here. (Fridge, W/D) but they're part of the place I'm renting, not mine.

Sparse would be the operative word. Nothing on the walls. Large open swaths of floorspace.

This is very different than how I've tended to live. I'm neat but cluttered by nature. I tended to pile things around me, stick things up on the wall, stuff items in drawers. Stack layers of things on bookshelves and fill rooms with 'stuff' because, hey, I have the room.

No drawers, bookshelves or extra rooms anymore. And the walls: clean, empty and white.

You'd think this would drive me slightly nuts being so different but it's interestingly calming. Peaceful.

I'll start to add things back in as I need them. Little things at first. A few days ago I had to add 'salt and pepper' to the list. I didn't bring any along from the old place. It's an incredibly useful exercise in defining and identifying what's really needed in your day to day life.

I no longer just buy something if I like it (or want it). I really can't. I have no place for it without consciously thinking through what I'll use if for, where it will go when I'm not using it and why, really, I want it.

I'm keeping a list of things I need on the kitchen counter. The first few days it filled up fast (oh yea... dishsoap), but that only lasted a few days. It's been pretty close to empty the last week.

I think I have all the basics nailed down.

Yea. I do.

Now, to slowly, carefully and consciously start to bring back into my life the things I only need to live comfortably and happily, and no more.

I'm smiling as I write all this.

and it's done... sort of

Sold the house. Closed on Friday.

Officially living in my 'shabby sheik' place on the same day. My friend Lizzie dropped by today and said 'wow.. you really are doing the monk thing'.

True indeed.

I've got a bed, 4 chairs, a desk with my mondo home computer system on it, some silverware, plates, a Senseo coffee machine, cloths, shoes and 3 plants. Took me 6 weeks to empty out that house of stuff (and about 20 people I know are quite happy right now, especially the person who snarfed the 40 boxes of books for his personal library).. THAT was hard. Much harder than simply moving.

You have to let it go and that sounds easy, right? Try it sometime. Even the people taking your stuff ask you 'are you sure?' about 10 times, then try to talk you into keeping it (whatever it is) before, finally, carting it off.

We really are geared as a species to acquire.

Walls are white and clean. It's very serene right now.

I'm sure I'll add things as time passes, but for now, I love the simple emptiness of it. When I do add things, it'll be after asking myself 'do I really need that?'.

I suspect, most of the time, the answer will be no.