Reduction
Eliminate the excess
Walking through house after house, business after business, I see years and years of “if only” or “I’ll keep that for the future” when that future was sealed as soon as the box of lightbulbs got placed on the second from the highest shelf. The American dream is to hold tightly on to all of their possessions, and it doesn’t seem to matter which generation people belong to. Boomers are the most “egregious” but I’d say it was more their excess wealth poured into consumerist items. Multiple dishware sets, furniture, tons of old spices that they never use. Millennials collect all sorts of items, mostly for decor while laughing at previous generations having dishware rails. Americans collect.
I had a long period of collecting as well, but I’ve now moved more times than I thought I would in a 3ish year period. Each move, I eliminate more and more of my belongings. I’m writing this still in the middle of the present move after closing my camera store. I am proud of how much I’ve reduced and how I can disconnect from the items that I’ve owned, knowing that I can purchase them again or rent them. I own or plan to own almost nothing for a kitchen, eliminating all but the essentials on clothing and I don’t own a single piece of furniture anymore. I’m learning to give it all up. When I was closing, my staff kept asking if I was keeping certain items, or if they could take it. Sometimes it was hard to let some of the items go, but I realized I don’t use most of it.
I haven’t gotten quite to it, but I’m thinking I could probably pare down to 100 items or less. I am reading a lot on minimalism, but it isn’t my intention to be minimal for the purposes of minimalism, but that I’d like to be light and nimble. Do I need multiple toothbrushes if I can go to the store and buy a new one when its time? When I traveled to Europe this last summer, I intentionally didn’t pack a toothbrush or toothpaste. It was slightly annoying on the flight over, but then once I got there, going to the store to buy a toothbrush gained me a lot of experience navigating the different currencies and how the stores are laid out.
So I’d like to propose my first 10 items, and the rules that define items as some items are only useful with another item. A wallet comes apart into many cards and the physical container, but why would I carry a piece of leather with no cards in it? Instead, I can reduce how many cards and keep the smallest piece of leather. Phones are another example, as usually having a case is valuable but the case alone isn’t useful. So phone and case are counted as one item.
I’m also trying to make it functional - if I had to start again, what would I need to build a business again.
Here is my first go at 10 items:
Phone (along with 1 charger, which can dual use for MacBook)
Wallet (along with State ID + Passport, and a small amount of credit/debit cards)
Glasses
Toothbrush
Deodorant
MacBook
Set of clothes: shoes, socks, pants, underwear, shirt
Camera (14mm Lens, Nikon Z5, and Manfrotto Monopod)
Drone (Including batteries, controller, and battery charger)
…
And that’s the start.