Minimalism - a lifestyle option

Moggy wrote:

Karl_ wrote:

jawafour wrote:

Karl_ wrote:...I don't have a TV or a radio or a landline phone...

. Karl, that is an unusual approach! Do you watch programmes via your computer, or do you choose not to watch stuff? It's quite intriguing!

A bit of both. I don't have anything against TV as a medium -- it started out that I didn't want to lug one up to student halls, and I just never felt the need to buy one after that. But it does mean I watch a fair bit less TV than most people, which is perhaps a good thing, and I think it's maybe healthy that the shows I do watch are those I made a conscious choice to go and find on a streaming service. (Mostly anime, which makes me laugh even if it's not very stimulating, and Star Trek at the moment.)

Don't get me wrong though, I'm not some clean mind guru, I just procrastinate and consume crap in other ways (funny cat videos, j-pop, reading hot takes on Twitter/Reddit...).

Are you one of those annoying people that spend huge amounts of time on Facebook boasting about not owning a TV?

No, because, ahem, I DON'T USE FACEBOOK

(Now I just need to become vegan and make it three for three)

Karl_ wrote:A bit of both...

That's interesting, Karl, and I imagine that many folk now use TV streaming rather than the more traditional style of watching TV. I don't watch that much TV; I tend to enjoy disc box sets and get engrossed in a particular programme for a while rather than watching "live" TV. My screen time is mainly focused on gaming (talking / watching / reading about it, rather than actually playing, of course ).

Karl_ wrote:

Moggy wrote:

Karl_ wrote:

jawafour wrote:

Karl_ wrote:...I don't have a TV or a radio or a landline phone...

. Karl, that is an unusual approach! Do you watch programmes via your computer, or do you choose not to watch stuff? It's quite intriguing!

A bit of both. I don't have anything against TV as a medium -- it started out that I didn't want to lug one up to student halls, and I just never felt the need to buy one after that. But it does mean I watch a fair bit less TV than most people, which is perhaps a good thing, and I think it's maybe healthy that the shows I do watch are those I made a conscious choice to go and find on a streaming service. (Mostly anime, which makes me laugh even if it's not very stimulating, and Star Trek at the moment.)

Don't get me wrong though, I'm not some clean mind guru, I just procrastinate and consume crap in other ways (funny cat videos, j-pop, reading hot takes on Twitter/Reddit...).

Are you one of those annoying people that spend huge amounts of time on Facebook boasting about not owning a TV?

No, because, ahem, I DON'T USE FACEBOOK

(Now I just need to become vegan and make it three for three)

strawberry float. You really are one of those people.

Moggy wrote:

Karl_ wrote:

Moggy wrote:

Karl_ wrote:

jawafour wrote:

Karl_ wrote:...I don't have a TV or a radio or a landline phone...

. Karl, that is an unusual approach! Do you watch programmes via your computer, or do you choose not to watch stuff? It's quite intriguing!

A bit of both. I don't have anything against TV as a medium -- it started out that I didn't want to lug one up to student halls, and I just never felt the need to buy one after that. But it does mean I watch a fair bit less TV than most people, which is perhaps a good thing, and I think it's maybe healthy that the shows I do watch are those I made a conscious choice to go and find on a streaming service. (Mostly anime, which makes me laugh even if it's not very stimulating, and Star Trek at the moment.)

Don't get me wrong though, I'm not some clean mind guru, I just procrastinate and consume crap in other ways (funny cat videos, j-pop, reading hot takes on Twitter/Reddit...).

Are you one of those annoying people that spend huge amounts of time on Facebook boasting about not owning a TV?

No, because, ahem, I DON'T USE FACEBOOK

(Now I just need to become vegan and make it three for three)

strawberry float. You really are one of those people.

Oh it's interesting you asked, I'm actually reducing my red meat consumption because I'm concerned about the environmental impact, UUUNNNNGGGGG MMMMMMMM *wanks self into oblivion*

Pedz wrote:I'll help you get rid of your "stuff" I'll pm you my address and you can send me all your physical games new and retro please...

... . Although I'm talking about getting rid of some stuff, I shan't be getting rid of everything .

I'll probs put all this thinking about minimalism away into a little box at the back of my mind and just go out and buy a load more games.

.

jawafour wrote:

Pedz wrote:I'll help you get rid of your "stuff" I'll pm you my address and you can send me all your physical games new and retro please...

... . Although I'm talking about getting rid of some stuff, I shan't be getting rid of everything .

I'll probs put all this thinking about minimalism away into a little box at the back of my mind and just go out and buy a load more games.

.

Maybe if you played the games then you would feel better about getting rid of them?

Moggy wrote:Maybe if you played the games then you would feel better about getting rid of them?

Possibly, Moggy, although I supect that if I played them then I wouldn't want to get rid of them. I suspect that, over these past years, I have slipped a bit too far into the "collecting" aspect rather than "buying something for enjoyment". Guess I need to work on this a bit.

Moggy wrote:

Pedz wrote:

Moggy wrote:I certainly wouldn’t do it as a lifestyle option, but I tend to like things to be uncluttered and I am not bothered by physically owning things like games, CDs, books or magazines.

I have a wife and a 2 year old though so my home is a strawberry floating mess most of the time.

Your wife is that messy?

Not really but she does sometimes read the forum and I like to leave little messages of abuse about her as payback for her spying on me.

Please say that is true as that is hilarious

Karl_ wrote:Mostly anime, which makes me laugh even if it's not very stimulating

Is this why you're so keen on subverse, so you can have both?

OrangeRKN wrote:

Karl_ wrote:Mostly anime, which makes me laugh even if it's not very stimulating

Is this why you're so keen on subverse, so you can have both?

Nutting uncontrollably all over my empty TV-less living room

Gemini73 wrote:

Moggy wrote:

Pedz wrote:

Moggy wrote:I certainly wouldn’t do it as a lifestyle option, but I tend to like things to be uncluttered and I am not bothered by physically owning things like games, CDs, books or magazines.

I have a wife and a 2 year old though so my home is a strawberry floating mess most of the time.

Your wife is that messy?

Not really but she does sometimes read the forum and I like to leave little messages of abuse about her as payback for her spying on me.

Please say that is true as that is hilarious

I never know what threads she reads so it’s hit and miss if she’ll ever see comments about her, but I do do it sometimes to see if she’s checking up on me.

I do have tendencies toward hoarding in relation to certain things, technology and gaming stuff being the main one unsurprisingly, but I am starting to appreciate and see the value in letting go of things more readily.

As we moved house at the start of the year it was a great opportunity to clear out some of the clutter and ask "do I really need this?" There was so much stuff that had just been accumulated over the years and I had just been keeping hold of because it was easier than getting rid of it!

I wouldn't want to go to the extremes of minimalism and live in an empty white cube with no possessions but as I've grown older I've learned that keeping clutter to a minimum does help make me feel better generally. Although being too tidy is a pipe dream with three kids around the house! One of the main reasons we finally moved house was that we had really outgrown where we were, everything was too cramped and cluttered up and it was adding to everyone's stress levels, we don't exactly live in a mansion now but the new house is bigger and between that and clearing out a bunch of crap during the move I can certainly feel the difference in mood within the family!

Moggy wrote:

Gemini73 wrote:

Moggy wrote:

Pedz wrote:

Moggy wrote:I certainly wouldn’t do it as a lifestyle option, but I tend to like things to be uncluttered and I am not bothered by physically owning things like games, CDs, books or magazines.

I have a wife and a 2 year old though so my home is a strawberry floating mess most of the time.

Your wife is that messy?

Not really but she does sometimes read the forum and I like to leave little messages of abuse about her as payback for her spying on me.

Please say that is true as that is hilarious

I never know what threads she reads so it’s hit and miss if she’ll ever see comments about her, but I do do it sometimes to see if she’s checking up on me.

Brilliant

Who's making a 'Moggy's Missus' thread where everyone posts silly things Moggy posts?

Pedz wrote:Who's making a 'Moggy's Missus' thread where everyone posts silly things Moggy posts?

Pfft she knows I’m a strawberry floating idiot so I don’t mind.

I'm having a funny kind of afternoon; I don't know whether I'm going deeper into a mid-life crisis or if I'm finally seeing things.

Anyhow, following on from the minimalism vids I've watched this:



Man, I can see ideas in that which really resonate with me. It feels like I gotta make changes; not just because I've watched a few vids but because they've consolidated a feeling that I think has been inside me for some time now.

Karl_ wrote:

Moggy wrote:

Karl_ wrote:

Moggy wrote:

Karl_ wrote:

jawafour wrote:

Karl_ wrote:...I don't have a TV or a radio or a landline phone...

. Karl, that is an unusual approach! Do you watch programmes via your computer, or do you choose not to watch stuff? It's quite intriguing!

A bit of both. I don't have anything against TV as a medium -- it started out that I didn't want to lug one up to student halls, and I just never felt the need to buy one after that. But it does mean I watch a fair bit less TV than most people, which is perhaps a good thing, and I think it's maybe healthy that the shows I do watch are those I made a conscious choice to go and find on a streaming service. (Mostly anime, which makes me laugh even if it's not very stimulating, and Star Trek at the moment.)

Don't get me wrong though, I'm not some clean mind guru, I just procrastinate and consume crap in other ways (funny cat videos, j-pop, reading hot takes on Twitter/Reddit...).

Are you one of those annoying people that spend huge amounts of time on Facebook boasting about not owning a TV?

No, because, ahem, I DON'T USE FACEBOOK

(Now I just need to become vegan and make it three for three)

strawberry float. You really are one of those people.

Oh it's interesting you asked, I'm actually reducing my red meat consumption because I'm concerned about the environmental impact, UUUNNNNGGGGG MMMMMMMM *wanks self into oblivion*

The way I approach keeping stuff is - if I died tomorrow and my family had to sort through all my gooseberry fool, would this item go in the bin/charity? If the answer is yes, and I don't use that item then it goes in the bin/charity.

Obviously this doesn't apply to my retro consoles because I need to keep those for obvious scientific reasons

Moggy wrote:

There's an excessive amount of Marvin the Martian stuff in that pic.

I’d love to get it but I don’t. Sure it must be a relaxing haven of peace to come home to no clutter but that won’t make up for the fact that you can’t have more than two friends over for dinner cuz you’ll run out of forks, or you don’t have the appropriate bra for a dress you want to wear.

My kitchen is tiny and can get messy quickly, but I love the fact that I can make a tagine, or paella or dim sum at home. With the appropriate equipment I’ve accumulated in said kitchen. And that my wardrobe is incredibly vibrant. Or that box of stuff I’ve gotten while travelling. That stuff actually does bring me joy.