Cleaning House
There are a million ways to spread yourself too thin.
Financially. Socially. Professionally.
In an effort to keep up with the Joneses, or technology or just to keep away from our own feelings of inadequacy, it is easy to become a collector of "things." A doer of "things." A quintessential Jack(ie) of all trades; Master of None.
When I look at my web activity alone, I can find all sorts of things I've logged into once, created some ridiculous profile, only to disappear and wonder months later why I ever joined that thing in the first place. Just something else to distract me from...well...me.
That's not to say all "things" are evil. God no. I still can't find the words to express what richness and color my Vox hood has brought into my life. But I don't need to have a "spot" on every site. I don't need to use every tool. I don't need to buy every upgrade or pine for the ones I'm passing up. My needs are quite simple.
So why not have my choices reflect that? Why wade through a sea of magazines when I know I really only read two of them? Why sign up for all these newsletters, when I know I won't read most of them? Why upgrade to the flashy new software/phone/tool designed to somehow make my life easier by giving me three more things to do? Because every one else is? Nah...I'm gonna have to come up with a better (while remaining honest) reason than just to say, "Me too!"
It makes me nervous when I get too immersed in the sea of "stuff." It makes me even more nervous when I feel myself letting "things" potentially define who I am. I like music. Does this mean I have to somehow be connected to every music service/vehicle/site on the web? Nope. I love writing. Do I thereby have to subscribe to every writing newsletter, website, channel created? Nope. I have three phone lines, two blogs, four IM accounts, three email accounts and a host of other things I belong to...or that "belong" to me. Can I exist without the excess some of those things bring into my life? Absolutely. Do I have to have the "latest" of whatever, to feel whole? No.
Two things I learned from my most favorite Texan of all time:
- Stuff comes and goes. Let it.
- 98% of what you define as a need is actually a want and most times the want is based on something ridiculous.
Life just got a whole lot easier. However, please be advised...by no means do I think this makes me a grand person. I assure you, my fuckup status will likely remain intact. It's a process. *grins*
Comments
Hey, isn't that the techy Christmas carol sung to the tune of "On the First Day of Christmas (my true love gave to me)"?
What I'm learning is that even though I have my blogs, if I have something to say or if I have to time to post, I do...if I don't have time to post or if I do not have anything to say, I don't. I love Vox as well but I find myself more and more posting on my other blogs because for me I put pressure on myself to post when I had nothing to say so when I am on my other blogs I feel more relaxed.
Very good post RPM ^_^
'stuff comes and goes. let it'
pure genius. i'd paraphrase it as: 'let go, let goodwill' but this bumperstick bastard doesn't begin to capture the sublime, hypnotic qualities of the former.
true inspiration for my day. let it go.
@Waterbaby: Funny that I started humming that after I wrote it. Hehehe!
@Techmusic: thank you very much. I have to start visiting your other blogs off vox. I am bad about that.
@Sassyone, Minnow & Beatrice: thanks a bunch!
@Incoherent Toxicity: Wish I could claim it, that Texan drops little pearls like that all the time.
just to keep away from our own feelings of inadequacy
I think you're on target here. I often wonder whether some of my activities are intended to avoid the real work that needs to be done.
Can I exist without the excess some of those things bring into my life?
Have you put into place a plan for eliminating some of this excess?
In terns of clean up...I think parts of it are done in clumps...looking at a bunch of things I have my self "linked" to virtually, and really deciding whether or not it's honestly serving me, or more importantly, what my true reasons for engaging in it are. There are layers of truth it seems...just things I am willing to admit now that I may not have been willing to admit say a year ago. I know...a year from now, even deeper layers of truth will occur, and I'll weed accordingly.
The hardest element of cleaning house, has been personal relationships. The ones I was in a panic about losing, I've never really lost. Some of the ones I assumed were "small" or "harmless" have actually been debilitating. That's coming up in a future post.
Question to you...do you have any process of "housecleaning" you go through? It seems a lot of that has been in the air lately. People feeling restless about clutter - be it virtual, financial, spacial or what have you. I wonder if some of that isn't another symptom of retrograde?
How do you talk on 3 phone lines at once?! LOL Right about now I have only a cell phone and I exercise my right to shut that bitch off! LOL I did go through withdrawal once though. It was when I was in Boston and then came back home. I had to shut my phone off, and for a hot second I felt naked, but then releived. No one but me and god need to know where I am 24/7. And sometimes I just don't feel like talking to people.
You are fortunate though, you know how many email accounts you have. I've changed and maintained my email so many times that Ionely remember the ones that were important. And now. . . . I usually check one of the two I currently claim and I'm hardly on any instant messenger. Point blank I'm the nosiest person I know. I like knowing things simply for the sake of knowing them and IM just let's me know who's online. Many of the people on my "buddy list" I haven't spoken to in years. Damn . . . . I just realized how sad that is.
To your question . . . . .
Generally I clean when I'm the only one in the house and it becames a day project. If I have a lot on my mind, which seems to be the case lately, it's a weekend thing. Currently, I've been ridding myself of the things I don't use, haven't used, and don't need. I guess I've been doing what you've been talking about as far as stripping back the layers to get to the truth of the matter. I find myself trying desperately trying to get back to being as organized as I once was and find something to keep me from being negative. So far I've not been successful . . . . any suggestions would be most helpful.