A not so minimal update

photo by me / quote from the Tao Te Ching

My biggest struggle in my recent journey into a minimalist lifestyle has been my car. Although I have been complaining about and have been dealing with stress directly caused by owning it, I am still finding it very difficult to part with. It feels like I will have less control and freedom without it, so I am hesitant to let it go. When I think about it rationally, I have no trouble at all saying "get rid of it" but it is always circumstantial. I need to learn the bus routes, I need to buy a bike which I can't afford, ideally I would like to replace it with a small moped so I can still visit my favourite places. But even faced with another $400 payment to repair the fourteen year old Honda, I am still holding out, telling myself that once all of the snow is gone I will let it go. I hope I am being honest with myself in that, but I am thinking the best idea may be to put it up for sale as soon as possible, and pick myself up a bus schedule. I can put the would be gas money towards a new bike for spring.

Another of my big struggles has been to purge all of my electronics: game systems, dvds, old mp3 players, games etc. I wanted it done fast and dirty by taking it to a local electronic thrift store, but after they priced it very unfairly and even rejected some of the perfectly good systems, I have decided to take them back home and try to sell them on kijiji for a more fair price. I guess that will teach me to accumulate seven game systems with games and over a hundred DVDs that never get watched.

In theory, my minimalist life is a dream come true, but getting there has proven a difficult journey that will take much longer than I had anticipated. Hopefully my realization of this will help me stick to it, and reap the benefits in the end.

*An accomplishment*
Recently, I was faced with a decision between getting a new computer or a trip to Cuba as a present from my mom. I wavered back and forth for a bit as I had my eye on a laptop for some time, but in the end I rationalized with my new found view of life and decided that experiences are more important than objects, and there is nothing wrong with my current computer, so I opted for the trip and I am now looking forward to it very much.