So long, Facebook

How am I going to have time to read and journal everyday? Well, I probably won't have time everyday; it's a rumination and an aspiration, not a resolution! :-) But step 1 is deleting my Facebook account. I read a great, pithy letter to Facebook in Taproot Magazine the other day that echoed my sentiments exactly.

I am not a crazy Facebook person. I haven't changed my profile picture since February. I very rarely ever post anything besides links to this blog. I do not have a SmartPhone/iPhone. But I do check FB multiple times per day, and look and read through it. For no real reason, honestly. I am an introverted person who prefers a small circle of close friends, whom I stay in contact with via personal visits, phone calls, and emails. I do not actuallly connect with people on FB. And to be honest, I highly doubt that many people truly do connect on FB in an empathatic exhange of real time sentiment and thought that takes in the entire scope of human communication.

So although I am only a daily FB user, rather than an hourly or quarter-hourly, I am still deleting my account. I have better things to occupy my thoughts and time with. Things that actually energize me, educate me, and make me a better person--like sleep! Or journaling. :-) Things that don't make me uneasy about my own privacy and security.

Will it be inconvenient? I imagine that it will be, in some ways. But I am hoping that what I get back from it will more than compensate for some mild inconvenience.

ps yes I will miss seeing pictures of your sweet babies, but I have my own sweet toddler to stare at
ps 2 this is not meant as a judgement; just doing what works for me and my family :-)

New Year's Ruminations

Last year, my New Year's resolution was to buy nothing new OR used for myself or the house.

That, needless to say, has been an absolutely epic failure.  I have a few theories as to why this is, and a few ways that I am going to work on it.

For one, minimalism is a state of mind, not a state of your wallet or your closet space.  I was trying to fix the symptom, not the cause.  And I also discovered, to my utter horror and shame, that I like buying clothes.  I do not know when this happened.  In college, I seriously wore the same 4 pairs of pants, the same 6 long sleeved t shirts, the same Romeo shoes, and the same black fleece to class.  Oh, and of course, the same black rain jacket (welcome to Corvallis).  And I didn't care.  And no one else did, either.  If the sun shone, which it rarely did, and it was warm enough, I wore sandals and a skirt.

ok, not exactly feminine, but oh so warm and comfortable!

So this year, I am not saying that I can't buy any new clothes.  I am, however, going to talk with Steve about each and every clothing purchase beyond underwear and socks.  Steve doesn't really care, but he has agreed to be my "accountability partner" to help me beat this clothing monster that I am struggling with.  I am also going to decrease my "allowance" so that more thought is required about what I want to spend money on.  My allowance covers clothes, books, haircuts, shoes, entertainment, magazines, chocolate, and other miscellaneous items for myself, as well as activities for me and Rachel, and Rachel's clothes. 

More important than these outward changes, though, will (hopefully) by the inward changes I am looking to cultivate in myself.  I just ordered the book Simple Abundance by Sara Ban Breathnach.  My goal is to read an essay a day, and journal about it.  I read a few quotations from God is in the Small Stuff by Bruce and Stan that prompted me to begin this true journey to contentment:
"Be as satisfied with what you don't have as with what you [do] have."
"Your wealth is measured by the fewness of your wants."
"Being deprived of something you desire is better than having something you despise."
"Satisfaction begins when comparison stops."
"What you are bears little resemblance to what you have."
"Appreciate simplicity."

Step 1?  Delete Facebook account. 

Thoughts on Technology, part 2

photo by Randall Persing, via AmishAmerica.com
 

I've been reading a lot more about the Amish.  And I'm not going to romanticize them...they are human just like us; and there are a host of reasons, other than the lack of air conditioning, that make me very thankful that I am not Amish!

But they do have some good points, and things to think about, especially as it comes to technology.

The Amish prove to us that it is not necessary for life fulfillment and happiness to have a Facebook "timeline", a laptop/netbook/iPad/Kindle, a cell phone, or any phone at all!, an MP3 player, Netflix, or elliptical trainers.  The Amish eschew items that we no longer even think about not owning, like vacuum cleaners, dish washers, cars, microwaves, and electric tea kettles.

I recently read that 90% of Amish youth decide to stay Amish and choose to be baptized into the Amish faith, and abide by all its rules.  This is even after they have their chance to wear "English" clothes and makeup and go to malls and movie theaters and experience the wonder that is the Internet.  They try this way of life out, and then they decide that these amazing technological things are not going to make them happier than community, family, tradition, hard labor, horses and buggies, and severely limited choices.

I find this very interesting.  Our culture keeps telling us that we need bigger (for houses and cars) smaller (for cell phones and computers) better faster cheaper NOW if we want to be happy.  And it seems that there is always some new technological advance being touted as the latest and greatest invention, and that finally THIS item will deliver on what the advertisers promise: an easier life, and a happier life.

But it rarely, if ever, does.  Community.  Family.  Tradition.  Time to think and create and play and do work you enjoy and find meaningful.  A true place to belong, and people to belong there with.  Connection--not Internet connectivity, but true and deep connection--these are the things that bring joy and peace to our lives. 

The Amish remind us that our use of technology is our decision.  And it is up to us to make wise decisions with it!

What is necessary?

Columbines, Eastern Oregon, 2009

"If something is unnecessary to the composition, it weakens the composition." Jay Shafer

When I found that quotation within Little House on a Small Planet, I literally stopped reading.  I found it absolutely profound. 

It is so true, isn't it?  In big things, and in little things.  If all you want is a simple hamburger, then all the frilly things it could come with, like argula or carmelized onions or applewood bacon, take away from what you are truly after: a chunk of ground beef. 

If you all need is a place and space to live and relax with your family, then having 3 bathrooms and 2 guest bedrooms and a living room, family room, and den all take away from your experience of both relaxation, and of family togetherness.

Me and Lamby, 2009

Of course, everyone defines necessary differently.  I am not parting with my 3 mixing bowls, or my stuffed lamb.  My husband wouldn't consider giving away his table saw.  And our new tent is here to stay!

Still, there are many things that I never thought I could bear to part with that have been packed out the door, either to Craigslist, EBay, or Goodwill.  We just sold my clarinet on EBay.  I sold two of my pairs of jeans to a local consignment shop.  We have donated hundreds, and I do mean hundreds, of books to the local library.  My backpacking backpack's days are numbered. 

These things, because we had to store them, care for them, sort through them, and clean them, were detracting from our composition--the composition of our life.  The quality of our life, and how we want to spend our time. 

I'm not advocating a Spartan existence just so that you don't have to clean anything.  Though that does have serious appeal some days!  Just...think about the things you own that would honestly amke you less happy if you didn't own.  I hope the number is small.  I hope that we can all derive our satisfaction and our joy from our friends, our family, our Source, and our own selves, rather than our possessions.

Anthony Lakes, Oregon, 2009