When Is Enough Enough? (Odd Socks #11)
Pondering the balancing of stuff, update on long(er) hiatus than planned, plus the usual Reads, Laughs, and Insights ...
Welcome to Odd Socks Issue #11
I write here about stuff that interests me, puts a smile on my face, or could use some clarity amidst the noise. Each issue includes two original articles plus four bonus sections. Enjoy!
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When Is Enough Enough?
I’ve been on a long journey to simplify my life, embracing my inner Henry David Thoreau. As years rolled by, stuff piled up, almost rabbit-like in its seemingly natural ability to multiply. Sure, periodic garage sales and donations offset some amassing, but it was only an illusion.
About 10 years ago I became more serious about reducing, seeing what was coming down the road and realizing stuff that goes unused for years seems silly to keep. Moving always helped foster an incentive to thin, then pack. But soon after moving, the silent sounds of new stuff coming into the house just continued.
Going through two parents’ passing years apart, gave some stark reality to this stuff syndrome. At some point, it all becomes unwanted, unsellable debris of a life lived long. When the sons and daughters don’t want it, and in closets and attics and basements for years unloved and unused, what was the point of keeping it?
Part of my hoarding-like impulses fell under the oh-so-innocent category of “collecting.” Not saying there’s anything wrong with collecting anything, but for me it slowly became satisfying only in the pursuit of a collectible. Once acquired, on the shelf or into the box, it was time to move on to the next I-don’t-have-it-but-want-it adreline rush. The high of collecting was in the pursuit, not the ownership.
Several years ago I finally broke from collecting and became a consumer. To say it was cathartic is an understatement. Having less stuff around, for me, was absolutely freeing. As I approach that nirvanic balance between what I need and use, the lifting of stuff responsibility, is a good feeling.
Now I’m about to do yet another move, perceived as possibly my last, Once again I began to eye stuff with a mind of what can I donate or sell because I’m not using or needing it. And to my delight, there’s not much that falls into that category.
Hiatus Extended
Well, I *intended* to take a month off in December, but inadvertently published the January return newsletter early. Then, the special project I’ve been working on since late November kept stealing more and more of my time. Thus, the one-month hiatus stretched to two and a bit more.
Back at it now, and resuming the alternate weekly newsletter postings (although this one’s a day late!). The unexpected delay reminds me of one of my favorite quotes:
I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by. – Douglas Adams
I’m Back…
Now I can reveal the special project soaking up all my time for the past many months: I relaunched my niche-market online stationery shop! Took WAY longer than expected to set up, but results are bigger and better than the last shop I had, and that’s exciting.
This news may not surprise those subscribers who know that part of my recent history. Why not relaunch? I have the time and take great pleasure from finding cool stationery goodies (pens, pencils, notebooks, journals, accessories, etc.) to share with other like-minds.
If you love stationery goodies, then check out the new shop.
Roland Allen’s The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper is one of my top three books read in the last year. Granted, as a stationery lover and nerd, the topic is, as they say, in my wheelhouse. And Allen does not disappoint.
While it’s a very dense read because of his deep research and excellent historical storytelling, it is worth the effort. I thought I knew most there was to know about notebook/journal history and usage through the last 1,000 years or so. Or at least enough to pass a basic quiz about the subject.
I won’t spoil what’s here, but it is a delightful time-travel back through the evolving centuries of human writing, note taking, sketching, accounting, and so much more. I’ve enjoyed reading it chapter by chapter (re: the dense comment above makes consuming it in chapter-size bites most practical) and suspect if you’re a lover or user of paper notebooks or journals, I’ll wager you’ll enjoy it too.
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