Goals for 2015

I have a few things to focus on this year. Some are big and some are small. Goal-setting is a strong technique at leading a great life for ourselves. I am not going to go into detail with my own goals, but I will touch on a few.

Firstly, to set strong goals we can create SMART goals. That means goals that are Specific, Measurable, Assignable, Realistic, and Time-related.

1. Bad Habits

    To break a habit, you must make a habit. Bad habits are something that I am working at replacing with better habits. This is a priority goal but it is only supported by my other goals that are SMARTer.

2. Relationship

  I want to focus on my relationship with my girlfriend. I want to do more special things for her and be more present with her and more patient. Our relationship is always growing and developing and I want to make her a priority in my life.

3. Write a Novel

    In 2014 I began work on a novel. This is something I have wanted to do for a long time and this particular story has been floating around in my head for many years. It's about time I got it written down. I hope I will have a huge chunk of it done and ready to share with people soon.

4. Filmmaking

  I have a few film projects coming up this year, most notably an adaptation of a Stephen King story (my favorite author). I am the cinematographer for the film and I plan on writing/directing one other short this year. I am limiting my involvement with film projects this year as in the past I have become overwhelmed and stressed with putting too much on my plate. I may also start writing a feature length screenplay later this year unless my novel project overwhelms me too much.

5. Theatre

   Before I went to film school I was involved with the theatre company in my hometown. It's been a long time since I've acted on stage and this year I would like to get back into that. I plan on doing at least one play this year so we'll see how it goes.

6. Learn a Language (French)

   I have been making an attempt to learn French (both writing and speaking) for over a year now and my efforts have just felt half involved. I have a decent learning tool (a trilogy of audio lessons and workbooks) but these have been sporadic in their implementation. This year, I plan on setting a regular schedule for my lessons and getting my girlfriend to help me reading and such.

7. Write Poetry

   I want to try writing some poetry this year.

8. Meditation

   I want to continue meditating every day and maybe learn some new things from social discussions and lectures.

9. Health: Eating & Exercise

   I want to eat healthier this year. Add more fruits and vegetables. Pass on more junk food and greasy garbage.

10. Reading

  I want to focus on reading more books rather than watching TV. This is something I have already committed to but I hope to continue this habit into the new year.

So that's a lot of goals there. Now there isn't any rule saying I have to actually complete them and I am sincerely hoping I am not biting off more than I can chew but I think this is a good idea to write out what I want at the beginning of the new year. It's like a New Year's Resolution but instead of giving something up like a lot of us do I am focusing on adding more value to my life. 2014 was a great year for me and I want 2015 to be even better!

Wash Your Bowl

I haven't talked a lot about Zen on this blog even though it is in the title. I don't know a whole lot about the concept or the practice of Zen but I still find it fascinating. It is one of those words that everyone hears and throws around when referring to peace and calmness, but I wasn't truly introduced to Zen in the Buddhist sense until I started listening to Alan Watts's lectures.

You can listen to the complete Essential Lectures of Watts from his Out Of Your Mind series by clicking here.

Now, I am far from being enlightened or full of Zen or whatever, but I find the concepts fascinating and that many of the ideas benefit my life. There is a famous Zen story that goes something like this, which I first heard through Alan Watts. 

A monk told Joshu, "I have just entered the monastery. Please teach me."

Joshu asked, "Have you eaten your rice porridge?"

The monk replied, "I have eaten."

Joshu said, "Then you had better wash your bowl."

At that moment the monk was enlightened.

Since learning about Zen and mindfulness, I find myself devoting my mind more wholly to the present task. To focusing on the task at hand. I am certainly not perfect at it, but I feel like it has definitely benefited me. Thinking about the Zen story above, I have really changed my attitude toward doing dishes, to "washing my bowl". When I do the dishes now I focus on it and I only do that. I find just being present with the dishes and enjoying the small details of my dishes a humbling and meditative experience. I grow more appreciative of their simple beauty. I wrote a while ago how classical music helps me appreciate the beauty of the world. Well, it is the same thing with fully allowing myself to be with the dishes. To pay attention to the texture of the sponge, the shape of the bowl, the temperature of the water. Beauty is in the details.

PS: Not only does doing my dishes keep my mind calm, it also means having a cleaner living space.There is something peaceful in having a tidy home that lends to Zen as well. Simplicity is the heart of Zen and minimalism.

Indulgence and Moderation Part 2

So I have returned from all of my family holiday visits and am back home in my peaceful apartment. Before I left I wrote a post on indulging in Christmas treats and my goal to enjoy the holiday goodies in moderation.

Well, I FAILED.

It wasn't that bad, honestly, but I did eat a lot more sweets then I intended. I had some moments of resistance where I declined another piece of cheesecake, Moments where I really wanted to grab another chocolate Toblerone but I stayed my hand and watched another ten minutes of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation before taking another. It is really difficult, though. The holiday season seems to be the time of year where people like to pressure us into indulgence. It only comes around once a year, they say. Live a little, they say. Just a few more won't hurt, they say. 

We say it, too. 

When we buy into these coaxes, we are inadvertently selling it to ourselves. I agree that there is nothing wrong with eating a few chocolate truffles or having a couple candy canes. But what about when those two become five? When that five becomes ten? Ten becomes twenty? What about when you end up eating fifty? What about when you return home after the break and your body is so used to eating copious amounts of junk food that we keep wanting more? It's a slippery slope into unhealthy eating habits. It's going to take some work to get back into a healthy routine but it is a priority in my life. Here's to eating healthy and resisting the urge to eat more chocolate!

Indulgence and Moderation

Food over the holidays can be awesome, but it can also mean a lot of bad eating habits. Which isn't always bad if taken in moderation. This past year I have focused on eating a healthier diet. I put a lot more vegetables into my daily meals (salad for lunch almost every day!) and this past month I have worked on adding more fruit as well. But every now and then I still need to indulge myself into some treats. Indulgence is sometimes stuck with a negative connotation. Gluttony is one of the Seven Deadly Sins after all. But indulging ourselves with a treat here and there isn't always a bad thing. It is good to reward ourselves, especially if we have accomplished something recently.

The problem is when our indulgence goes beyond moderation. It doesn't need to be said when we go beyond this point. We all feel it. When I eat too many chips, or have too many chocolate-coated coffee beans during a board game (like I did this week), I don't just feel guilty for over-indulging; I feel unhealthy inside. But I also feel unrewarded if I don't let myself indulge every now and then. There has to be a happy medium! That's where the concept of the Middle Way comes in.

The Middle Way is a concept of Buddhism which describes the Eight-fold Path, the basic way of life that leads to enlightenment according to the Buddha. According to the Buddha, the Middle Way is a life lived between the extremes of self-denial and self-indulgence. So what this really means for us "unenlightened" people is that you can't go too far to either extreme. Essentially, stuffing your face is not the way to a good life nor is starving yourself the way to a good life. What I take from this idea is that it is okay to indulge yourself a little bit and it is also okay to restrain yourself from indulging too much. You have to find the perfect middle ground, which can be a difficult thing to do during the holidays.

Last Christmas I stuffed my face with chocolates. Way too many chocolates. This year I will strive to keep the Middle Way concept in the forefront of my thoughts. I won't neglect my desire to eat a few chocolates or candies, but I will keep this in moderation. I don't want to feel stuffed and gross from over-eating. Nor do I want to feel jealous of all my family members enjoying sweets in front of me. I will set myself happily in the middle of indulgence and asceticism. Happy Holidays!

Money and Budgets

The most precious things in life are not those you get for money. - Albert Einstein

I have never been all that good with money. I'm not terrible with it. I don't impulse shop or spend frivolously or steep myself in credit card debt or anything. I'm really just bad at keeping track of my expenses. This is something I have been working a lot more on, thanks in large part to my wonderful finance-oriented (and math genius) girlfriend. She has really taught me the value in keeping a budget and seeing exactly where my expenses go.

It is sometimes a terrifying and frustrating experience to tally up my finances. It is an arduous process for me. I have an artistic visual mind and not one that is accustomed to dealing with numbers. I just plain don't like to do it. However, I see it's value. By keeping track of my money and making sure that I am spending it wisely, I have more freedom. I don't need to worry about finances if it is all in order and running fine.

I make an effort now to write down every little thing I spend my money on. I've been trying to do this every month now in 2014 and I failed every time. Finally, now that it's December, I have made the effort and actually kept track each and every day. Hopefully going away for the holidays to visit family won't spoil the streak I've had. I have to remember to bring that budget book with me!

A final note. I hear a lot of people complain about not making enough money and their plans to make more and more of it. I don't like to think this way. It seems to me that a lot of people put intrinsic value on money, as if it is valuable in and of itself. But that isn't true. Money isn't wealth; it is a measure of wealth. It has instrumental value, in that it is a means to an end (ie. money can buy you things you want). I realized a while back that the things I really want are not things that money can buy. Health, friends, family, love, passion. These are things I need to get for myself. Money can sure help, but it can also be a burden. If we are too focused on purely making money, we can easily lose sight of why we need the money. We need to pay close attention to our goals. To what we really want. I aim to do what I want with my life and only strive to make the money I really need to achieve those goals.

Here is a link to a great article on a minimalist's perspective on finances and budgeting. The Minimalists really influenced my philosophical idea of money and how to better organize my life around it. Check it out here.

Weapons, Violence and the Tao

I read this wonderful passage from Verse 31 in the Tao-Te Ching by Lao Tzu today. The Tao is a classic Chinese text and is fundamental for both philosophical and religious Taoism. Many of its ideas are still applicable to today's societies and I think this is an especially relevant passage:

Weapons are the tools of violence;

all decent men detest them.

Weapons are the tools of fear;

a decent man will avoid them

except in the direst necessity

and, if compelled, will use them

only with the utmost restraint.

Peace is his highest value.

If the peace has been shattered,

how can he be content?

His enemies are not demons,

but human beings like himself.

He doesn't wish them personal harm.

Nor does he rejoice in victory.

How could he rejoice in victory

and delight in the slaughter of men?

He enters a battle gravely,

with sorrow and with great compassion,

as if he were attending a funeral.

Violence is something that we are all aware of. It's on the news frequently, and has come to overwhelm the entertainment industry (in movies, music, and especially in video games). Peaceful interactions and resolutions to conflict can be difficult to attain but it is important to aspire for peace in any situation. I am all for self defense and defense of loved ones and innocents if the situation calls for it, but I think violence should be abstained from as much as possible. Read Sam Harris's excellent essay on the morality of self-defense here, and I agree with a lot of his ideas on it. However, the last passage in the 31st verse of the Tao is all the more relevant in cases such as these.

An Empty Inbox

Today I went through my entire email inbox and cleaned it out. I have a couple important emails I wanted to save, but I narrowed it down to 7. This was out of nearly 7,000 emails! My inbox became a glaring mountain of responsibilities and things calling for my attention. I needed to clean it out. In other words, I needed to take a minimalist perspective on my email usage.

I read this article today from Zen Habits on the concept Email Zen and I realized that I need to have an empty inbox to make room for the things that truly matter. Achieving a mindset of peace and calm is a pretty noble state of mind to aspire for. However, whenever I log into my email account and see all those emails piled up over the years, my calmness is overwhelmed with the past. Do I need to keep all these emails? Keeping them around and clogging up my inbox is just another form of procrastination. So I took action today and emptied it out. Just one more step to a more peaceful daily life.

Experience, Beauty, and Classical Music

The experience of life is what it is. It is just experiencing. I have found that many of us get bogged down with our daily lives, our jobs, our responsibilities, and we forget to enjoy this experience. We forget to enjoy the little moments of every single day, of every single second, and realize that there has never been a single second exactly the same as this very one and there never will be again. There is just this, here now. It is beautiful. We forget to enjoy the life we are experiencing and get worried about things that are not here. However, there are ways we can learn to be present and in the moment and enjoy our experience of the world. One way is meditation, a practice I am learning more and more about. The other is listening to music.

I have always been a lover of music and have explored many facets of the great art of putting sounds together in clever arrangements. Rock music, hip hop, jazz, electronica, pop, folk, heavy metal, avant-garde, punk. There is so much to listen to and experience. Lately, however, I have been relentless in my exploration of the classics and seeing the world accompanied with the sweet strings of a symphony or a concerto.

From the epic tour de force of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto 1, to the quaint subtleties of Strauss's The Blue Danube, and Beethoven's fierce and unyielding Symphony No. 9, the music of the past is filled with wondrous and poignant insights into the human experience. More than any other music, the works of the great composers strikes a great chord in my heart. 

I typically enjoy listening to music while going on walks (an enjoyable activity without music) and often times the music I am listening to acts as a commentary on the scenes I witness. Listening to classical symphonies and overtures I feel so much more involved in the surrounding world. So much more present. I have been very interested in the concepts of mindfulness in the past year, whether it be from a scientific point-of-view or from a spiritual perspective through Eastern philosophy, and no music has ever made me feel more in touch with my awareness of the present moment (except perhaps for ambient works such as Aphex Twin or Brian Eno). Watching the little moments of the human race, society, the ever changing world around us becomes the most beautiful experience one can achieve while accompanied with the peaceful melodies of Mozart or Verdi. The small things we take for granted: the breeze rustling the leaves of a tree, the warmth of the sun on our heads, the delicate intricacies in the molecular make-up of the entire universe; it all becomes painstakingly beautiful with the commentary of the great composers. And, if one listens carefully, when the music is gone and we are left with silence, we can hear the beauty of the world singing without the need of distractions. Music can show us great beauty but when the music is gone, don`t forget those little moments. 

We live in a beautiful world. - Coldplay

One Month With No Facebook

It has officially been one month since I deactivated my Facebook account.

It feels like it was yesterday that I was on it. It feels like I haven't been on Facebook in years.

It feels great.

I don't miss it. People can still get in touch with me. I still have email. I still have Twitter. It's funny because when I started this blog I shared all my posts on Facebook and at that time I had a lot more views. A lot more people read my blog via Facebook. I don't have as many views anymore, but that wasn't really the reason why I started writing this anyways. Writing this blog was more of a place for myself. A way to write my thoughts out. A way to quantify and record my journey into a healthier life, a more mindful life. A more meaningful life. 

Life without Facebook has left me with a lot more focus. I don't find myself constantly wanting to check my news feed to see what my friends posted. I don't waste my time with that anymore. I check my emails on the internet and that's it. I only use Twitter to post things occasionally but I don't scroll through the news feed very much. I use the internet much more intentionally now. I do everything much more intentionally now. I don't always. I'm not perfect. Just last night I ended up staying up later than I wanted to listening to music on my phone. I planned on listening to one song but I listened to five or six instead. I lost sleep because of that. But that's okay. I'll make up for it.

When I first decided to get rid of my Facebook, it was only going to be for a month, as an experiment, to see how it felt. Now that the month is up I don't think I'll be reactivating. I think I'll keep it off for a while longer. I'm enjoying my freedom from it. I have so much more interesting things to take up my time now.

Learning to Let Go

Letting go is something people talk a lot about but not a lot of people really do. Everyone wants to be happier, more content with their life, more focused on what we really want, but most of us tend to carry on with our same bad habits, our same old routine, our same boring jobs. In the past year I've made attempts at letting go of a lot of ideals and letting go of a lot of activities. If I have 50 things on my dinner plate, how much can I really enjoy each one? What if I had only 5 things on my plate?

I've been learning to say NO to a lot of things. My time is valuable. I need to focus more on what is important to me. What are my priorities? I may say that my priority is writing, but if I spend 2 hours on Twitter or Facebook and only 20 minutes writing in a day, then what does that tell you about my priorities? Limiting my time on social media and the internet in general has been a great exercise in focusing on what I want to do, on leading an intentional life. Instead, I use the internet much more deliberately. I check emails for a limited time. When I find a Youtube video or an article I want to read, I save it for later when I have a better time to focus on it. I delay the desire to watch a video or read an article, and if I still want to take my time later then I will.

All of these things stem from letting go. The holiday season is a hard time for a lot of us but there is a lot of things we can do to lessen our stress and limit our focuses. Leo Babauta wrote a great blog post the other day about simplifying over the holidays. Give it a read here.

He also has a free E-book called The One Skill: How Mastering the Art of Letting Go Will Change Your Life. It is a short and easy read and very helpful. Check it out!

Healthy Eating

My mother recently bought a ton of groceries for me. I am undoubtedly appreciative of this gesture, but.... there is a lot of junk food that comes with it. The bane of my health, Doritos, came along with it. A huge bag, too. Twice the size of a regular size. And guess what? I ate all of it. I have more chips at home now too but I am trying to stay away from it as much as I can.

However, there is some good with this predicament as well. I recently wrote about the act of delaying my urges and my plan to stop buying Doritos at work. Well so far I have succeeded this week. When I get the urge, I tell myself I can have a snack at home. Then I can save the $1.50 that it would cost me to buy some. Usually by the time I get home I have supper (usually something healthy - last night I ate fish with roasted red peppers and onions over couscous, and I cooked it all myself) and after that I usually am no longer in the mood for a snack (except maybe a cup of tea). So I pass through the whole day without chips.

What I've learned in the past year is that how I feel is directly linked to what I eat. I eat salad for lunch everyday now, and I snack on apples or celery or hummus instead of chips or candy. Sometimes I'll eat a few nuts too (usually cashews or almonds - no salt added). I still eat junk food every now and then, but I do so in moderation, and if I do eat some fast food or some candy, I make sure to eat something healthy to counteract the bad effects it may have on my body. Since eating healthier and putting more fruits and vegetables in my body than probably any other period in my life, I really feel better than ever before. Not just physically, either, but mentally and emotionally. I feel better about going to work, about personal projects I am working on, about how I look. It feels great. The weather doesn't even bother me anymore. I can look outside at freezing rain and slushy streets and see the beauty in the changing season - all because I feel better inside. And that starts with eating healthy food.

Delay the Urge

Leo Babauta from Zen habits wrote a blog the other day on the Power of Delay.

http://zenhabits.net/inasec/

It is a very powerful idea and I love the concept so much that I am going to try this for the next week or so and see how I do. One of the biggest things I am going to try this with is my recent urge to buy a bag of chips at work (particularly Doritos, the bane of my health). When I get an urge to buy chips for an afternoon snack, I will instead delay the urge and say "hey! how I about I wait for another half an hour before getting chips?" I think this will be an easy and effective way to keep from eating so much junk food and saving myself change. Wish me luck!

19 Days With No Facebook

It has been 19 days since I deactivated my Facebook account and this is an interesting time to post about my experience. (The number 19 is a number of power in Stephen King's Dark Tower series which I am reading right now for my third time so this arouses a unique feeling of fate, or ka, in me.)

I must report that it is going splendidly not having Facebook. It feels great and at this point I don`t even feel the compulsion to check my account for messages and updates. It is just out of mind now. I`ve had a few people comment to me that they had trouble finding me after realizing I was no longer on the social media site, but after getting in touch with a few people they were able to track me down easily through email. I honestly feel awesome not spending any time on Facebook at all. Maybe soon I will write a post about my experiences having a flip phone instead of a smartphone. Yesterday, I actually had a colleague who was shocked that I didn't own an iPhone. Hahaha!

Maitri

In developing a healthier life for myself and focusing on positive actions, like meditating, eating good food, sleeping better, and exercising, I gain a deeper appreciation for life. For my life. I feel healthier and happier. I enjoy simply being. The joy of moving within the world comes out of treating my body and my mind with respect. With love.

I read an article on maitri by Pema Chodron, a teacher of Tibetan Buddhism.  Essentially, the core concept of maitri is to cultivate unconditional love, but in particular an unconditional love and friendliness towards oneself. This is a concept I have been trying to create for myself. Rather than be hard on myself for my failures and short-comings, I take these opportunities to learn and gently talk to myself about the experience. What happened? Where can I improve on this matter? There is no point in punishing myself. Often, we already suffer enough from our mistakes. Why prolong our own suffering by putting ourselves down? Instead, I have opted for forgiveness of myself and turned my focus not on the mistakes and bad choices I have made, but on the positive actions I can now do instead.

You can read Pema Chodron's article here:

http://old-shambhala.shambhala.org/teachers/pema/maitri1.php

Focus

Now that I am starting to say NO to a lot of projects, I have the freedom to really focus on what I want to do. I have a few personal projects right now that I have the time to really dedicate to. A while ago I talked a lot about minimalism and even did a month long experiment of getting rid of many material possessions. By having less stuff I can appreciate the things I have a lot more. The things I have that really matter to me and add value to my life. 

Having less projects to work on is also a form of minimalism. It doesn't have to be material things that I let go of. I can de-clutter my life of things to do as well. Sometimes we overwhelm our lives with too many activities because we always have to be doing something. We have to do more to appear successful and productive to our peers. We see what everyone else is doing and we want to do more, to have a leg up on the rest of the world. Instead, I need to focus on a few projects and really do a good job. With this new focus on important things in my life I can cultivate a passion for these things and really be in the moment and love what I do.

Saying "NO"

The past few weeks....no, actually the past few months....have been very stressful for me. I have a tendency to want to do too many things. I take on too many projects. I try to do way more than is humanly possible. What happens is I end up feeling stressed out and only doing each project half as well as I should be doing them. Not even half as well - that is giving myself too much credit. So now I have a plan.

I am saying NO to more projects than I will say YES to. I need to slow down and strip my schedule down to what I really want to do. With too much to do, it is hard to focus on being healthy and hard to focus on doing good work. I am always thinking about the next project or the next task that needs to be done, rather than focusing on the task I am actually doing right now. So until 2015, I am only focusing on a few personal projects, my relationships, my health, and my job. This is more than enough to focus on right now and I don't need more projects on the go. I recently tied up all my projects of the past few months and now it is time to say NO....at least for a while.

Facebook Update

I went the whole weekend without missing Facebook at all. The funny thing is that I have had many people already comment on me being off the site. A lot of people have been trying to find me and to their surprise I am not there! There actually has not been a lot of negative feedback from it though. People seem to be cool with me not being online as much. And so far it has been great for me. I feel a lot more connected to reality now.

It was fairly easy to forgo the social media this weekend as it was the Silver Wave Film Festival all weekend and so I had a lot of events and social interaction in person. It was a great weekend and I was even nominated for and won a few awards for a few films I worked on. Going home, I really wanted to share my mild success via Facebook but again realized that I no longer was using it. I settled for sharing it with my family and loved ones and posted a mere tweet on Twitter. I am really just content with getting some recognition for my artwork. Facebook would just be me tooting my own horn and I really don't need the fame. On to another week Facebook-free!

No Facebook

Another day of no Facebook. It is strange how much our habits become part of our routine. One of the first things I did at work today was go to www.facebook.com in my browser. I didn't give in to logging in but I did go to the website before any of my other frequent sites I visit. Interesting to notice this kind of behavior. So far so good though.

1st Day of No Facebook

Today is my first day of no Facebook.

Last night was kind of strange. I had to do some editing work on my laptop and checked my emails from the client. Naturally I pulled up another tab to check my Facebook at the same time. It had become a habit for me to check email and Facebook at the same time. So it was weird to have to think about the fact that I don't have an account anymore. I could have easily reactivated my account and check it anyways, but I am glad to find that I am not so attached to the social media site to have a strong desire to do that. 

Today, I am sitting in a Starbucks and writing this blog, sipping my coffee while copying over my documentary project to the client's hard drive. It still feels weird to not be checking Facebook right now. But it is probably a good thing. Now that I am done writing this update, I think I will read a book for while instead of staying on the computer. 

Cheers!

Quitting Facebook

Today I am deactivating my Facebook account. I have found that I waste way too much time on it and it doesn't do anything for me. I waste time reading other people's statuses, looking at other people's photos, and watching videos that I could find on my own if I were so inclined. Going on Facebook becomes a slippery slope into wasting my time and I only have so much of that. 

Instead I want to focus my free time on things that matter to me. Things that add value to my life. Whether it be reading a book, writing some poetry, learning something new on Khan Academy, painting a picture, or just going outside and enjoying the present moment, I want to do something that feels like I am actively in the moment and doing it. I want to live life and not watch it pass by one status at a time. This may not be goodbye to Facebook forever, but I am planning on keeping my account deactivated until at least December 1st. I may go longer. I will see how it goes and if going without Facebook has any positive or negative effects in my life. This is an experiment, and I'll be keeping tabs with it on my blog here. Obviously I won't be posting anything new on Facebook, but you can still follow me on Twitter and on Google+. Cheers!

Question!

I ask a lot of questions. 

I believe in questioning everything.

Some people find this frustrating.

But it is the only way to learn.

The only way to realize.

The only way to live.

The only way.

To the truth.

Halloween is Over

Now that Halloween is over I can look back on my eating habits. I decided to treat myself (or trick myself?) into buying a bunch of candy for the holiday. Halloween is my favorite holiday season so of course I had to celebrate one of the biggest traditions: sweets! I bought a bunch of orange and black jellybeans, Halloween kisses, mel-o-creme pumpkins, and sour witches. It was great, but after eating candy every day for a week, I could feel the toll it took on my body. 

As well as eating a bunch of candy, I volunteered at the Charlotte Street Arts Centre's Haunted Tours four nights of the past week. This left me tired every morning and I neglected my plans of going to the gym each day to catch up on sleep. On top of that, I went to a few Halloween parties and ate more candy and drank some alcohol (not too much though!).

So it looks like I have a lot to work on. Well it is November now; a brand new month! We have snow in Fredericton already and a lot of it too! Time for me to restart my healthy living plans. I plan on eating less junk food this month (but not planning on cutting it out completely like in September), and eating a healthier three meals each day. I also plan on getting more gym time, especially focusing on running (on the treadmill now due to snow and slush). So let's get to it! I already did the gym this morning so I am off to a good start. Let's keep it up!

Mornings

I like to consider myself a morning person. Ever since I read about how Joshua Fields Millburn took back his mornings, I have been making an effort to be more productive in my mornings. The past few weeks have been difficult but today I accomplished a lot.

I woke up at 5:00 AM. I went to the gym upstairs from my apartment and did a short work out for 20 minutes. Then I read a little from the book I am reading (The First and Last Freedom by Jiddu Krishnamurti) and then meditated for 10 minutes. I did a set of 50 sit-ups and crunches and then sat down and wrote some prose for about 10 or 15 minutes. After that, I showered, ate breakfast, and packed my lunch before catching the bus for work. All of this before I even had my morning coffee. Starting my day like this, I feel great! This sense of accomplishment and productivity will hopefully be carried throughout my whole day. I even did my 10 minutes of writing from Sarah Selecky's writing prompts before checking any other emails at work today. Now I just have to make this a routine and stick to it as much as I can.

Exercise, meditation, and writing. If I can get these three things done in the morning before I need to do anything else, I will feel a lot better about my day. Even though I know this it can still be a difficult task to accomplish. Let;s see how the rest of the week goes.

Falling Apart

Lately I have been falling apart with my healthy living plan. I haven't written on this blog in a few weeks and I haven't gone to the gym in over a week. Also this past weekend I did not eat very healthily either. It's been difficult. Sometimes we make plans to improve our lives or our circumstances and everything seems to cave in on itself. Like this pumpkin I carved for Halloween.

I set this nicely carved pumpkin out on the balcony of my apartment. Then I forgot about it. When I went out to look at it many days later, it had caved in. This is just like my healthy living goals. I set the goals and then forgot about them, left them on their own, and did not act on them. When we let things sit outside for too long without caring for them, they break down.

I will build my new plan though. I will set new goals. I won't give up. Here's to a new beginning!

As a first step to get back into healthier habits, I signed up for Sarah Selecky's Daily Writing Prompts again. I used her prompts via email subscription a few months ago but stopped when I was getting too busy with other projects. I had started work on writing a long story last month but have since lost the momentum I had and haven't written anything in over 2 weeks. So to help get back into the habit of writing every day, I will use Sarah's ideas to get me writing for at least 10 minutes each day. If you have an interest in writing but don't have the time or the willpower to sit yourself down, you should try her writing prompts and just start with a little bit each day. Small steps are the best way to big goals.

“It is better to take many small steps in the right direction than to make a great leap forward only to stumble backward.” - Old Chinese proverb

Accidents

Accidents happen. And sometimes they can be the key to great creativity. Take this photo for instance. Completely unintentional; totally accidental. A mistake. A failure.

And yet it is uniquely beautiful in its simplicity and its awkward composition. Sometimes the greatest works of art come from accidents. I spill a bucket of paint on my canvas; it turns into an abstract. I make a mistake in a sketch; the line moves the drawing into a new direction, turning into something new and wonderful. An actor forgets a line creating an awkward hesitation, changing the scene into something uncomfortable and tense.

These kinds of accidents can be seen as failures. Or they can be taken as opportunities to try something new, take the meaning of something in a different direction. Run with it. Don't be afraid. Uncertainty can be a guiding light.

Failure

I had a plan to not eat any junk food this past September. It's October now and I can confidently say:

I failed.

Failure isn't always a bad thing though, despite all of its negative connotations. I learned a lot about myself through this experience. I learned how my body feels physiologically when I don't feed it so much junk food. I learned what it feels like to crave junk food. I learned how it feels to not want junk food and have people frequently offer it to me. It's pretty amazing how much unhealthy foods are pushed on us in our society. Friends, family, and especially media and advertising wants us to share and partake in the consumption of junk. Just two days ago my mom brought me two jumbo sized bags of chips for me. This was my biggest failure. I ate those bags of chips.

I learned after these latest two bags of chips, that I don't really want them anymore. I wished I had declined her gift of chips. I may consume a few morsels of baked goods or a bag of chips every now and then, but through this experiment, I have learned that I want to focus even more on eating healthy. 

I'm going to make October another healthy eating month. Instead of the goal being "no junk food!", it's simply going to be "eat better".

The Minimalism Game - The FINAL DAY

Here we are at long last! The final day of The Minimalism Game and I am getting rid of my final thing for this experiment. Today I am getting rid of a deluxe edition of Jurassic Park & The Lost World. I love these films and I love dinosaurs so it makes sense that I own this, but I already have another copy of the movies that takes up less space. So off it goes!

 

 

All in all, it was a very interesting month and ultimately a successful project. I didn't always manage to get rid of things when I was supposed to, as things happen to come up in life. My next experiment with minimalism is to cut down on so many projects and focus on ones that really matter a lot more to me. I want to focus on creating more art that is personal to me. I want to focus more on healthy living and activities that lead to a life that is generally more happy, positive, and fulfilling. I think this is a realistic goal and one that is really the only goal we can aspire for in life: being happy and living life to the fullest.

 

I plan on continuing this blog and writing about my goals in healthy living, experiences I have, and whatever thoughts and opinions I have that concern positive life, healthy life, and mindfulness. It's not an easy life to aspire for as there are so many distractions and easy comforts we can resort to that lead us off the path of  truly healthy living and into the prison of health in exchange for convenience. I intend to abandon convenience in exchange for a truer life; one that I can be happy with. 

 

The Minimalism Game - Day 29

One more day to go! It's been a long journey and one that I didn't necessarily follow all the rules. I forgot some days, but I always caught up. I didn't always get rid of the exact number of items I was supposed to, but I always got rid of something (sometimes more than the allotted amount). And I started counting down my number of things halfway through the month instead of progressing to 30 items on September 30th. None of these are horrible sins or anything, and I still feel like I accomplished something in this process. I'll probably continue to get rid of more stuff after this experiment is over, but it was a great introduction to letting go of possessions, becoming a little more clutter-free, and becoming more of a minimalist.

Today I got rid of two more DVD sets. I know a lot of people who may call me out on blasphemy for this choice, but it is likely that I may not watch this series again in the near future. Sorry fan-boys and fan-girls!

 

The Minimalism Game - Day 28

So I have been counting down my exodus of stuff and today was supposed to be a goal of 3 things. Well, I actually got rid of more than 3 things today but I think they count since I really went over my goal. Overachieving a goal is still achieving it after all. Today I got rid of a bunch of socks and old boxers that I don't plan on wearing. If I get rid of these old crummy ones, then I can stick to only wearing my new nice ones.

The Minimalism Game - Day 27

4 things going today! 3 more days to go. This is the final approach...the last hurrah!

 

Today is a modest reduction in my book collection. A few books I probably won't read again given away to someone who will probably get some enjoyment from these stories. Rather than hanging onto books I might read again or might one day read, I can make room for all the other books that I want read. Going to the library is a much better alternative. The books don't take up room in my living space, nor do I have to pay for them.

The Minimalism Game - Days 25 & 26

I didn't post yesterday on Day 25 so I have combined this post to include both days. yesterday I got rid of 6 items and today I have gotten rid of 5. Both days were another batch of DVDs. I know, I know. I am getting a little redundant with the getting rid of my movie collection, but it's an easy bunch of stuff that I can ditch items for this challenge and I have a lot of them. A lot of them that can be let go of.

 

 

I don't have a lot of days left in the Minimalist Game and September is almost over. All I have to say at this point is that this has been a great experience and I think everyone should try it. What stuff do you have lying around that you never use? Stuff you have lying around "just in case"?

 

 

The Minimalism Game - Day 24

Today I got rid of 7 DVDs. My collection is dwindling and it is a beautiful thing. As I narrow down my choices of films to watch I cleanse my mind and detoxify my attention and focus on the things that really matter to me. Keep the movies I really want to watch, instead of a pile of DVDs that I only watch every few years. I love cinema, but I want works of art and great entertainment; not dust-collectors.

 

Today I got rid of 4 collections of classic Hollywood Films, Repo! The Genetic Opera, Romeo + Juliet, and Let The Right One In. I've had some people question my choices of movies that I get rid of. "Why would you get rid of that one?", they ask. "It's such a great movie!" Unfortunately I've probably only watched that movie once in the past three years.

 

I'm sorry that I'm not sorry, but I'm really not even sorry for that. I have a life that is more than the movies I watch and the things I own.

On the topic of focus and attention, watch this video from College Humor that addresses the issue of distractions in the internet and how it is affecting our lives and our minds. It was easy for me to watch the whole thing after developing mindfulness through meditation for the past few months. But you should give it a try and watch the video until the end. I dare you.

The Minimalism Game - Day 23

Today I am getting rid of 8 items. I can't believe the countdown is getting so low. So what am I getting rid of today? A Planet of the Apes box-set (because I only really like the first film), Season 1 of Community (because if I can watch it on Netflix), and my DVD copy of Dazed and Confused (because I think I've watched it once since I bought it a year ago). I am beginning to see my DVD collection in a new light. I may even get rid of more movies after my Minimalism Game is complete. There's no reason I need to stop in October!

As I get rid of more and more stuff , I have come to realize that I am not missing any of it at all. Not even a little bit. In fact, I barely even notice it's gone. If I have all of these things filling up my living space and I don't even know that they are there, are they adding any value to my life? This is an important question: what adds value to my life? Why do we keep buying stuff that we use once and then put on a shelf? To earn the money I spent on all this stuff, I had to use my time to earn that money. And time is not something we have a lot of. Just check out the video below. Maybe next time you decide to buy something, you will think more about how much time you have left and what you really want to do with your life.

The Minimalism Game - Day 22

Wow! The month is almost over and we're here at Day 22 of my Minimalism Game. It's been a crazy journey but I am feeling really great about this. Today I am getting rid of 9 items that are just laying around waiting for.....what? I will probably never pick these up for a real intentional purpose, so out they go! Going are a few books that I won't read again, a few magazines that I won't read again, and a CD that I won't listen to again.

The Minimalism Game - Day 21

Day 21 is here and this time I got rid of 10 things. Gone today are the last of the Animorphs books that I don't want to keep, the Chronicles of Narnia collection that I bought years ago and planned to read but never got around to, and a few old magazines that I will definitely not read again (no matter how entertaining the articles were). Again, I made sure to pass these books along to a place where they can be shared and enjoyed by others.

The Minimalism Game - Day 20

More Animorphs books are going today! 11 of them are gone now. I already wrote on my last post about the pains of letting go of these childhood memories. Nostalgia is a unique experience and one that I certainly have attached this wonderful book series. They introduced me a lot into the joys of reading and experiencing life through someone else's eyes. But now that I am older my literary interests have expanded and deepened, and I have a long reading list. I find it unlikely that I will read these particular books again any time soon. So why not pass them on to someone else who will find the joy that I once had? Perhaps some other young boy will discover the pleasure of reading a good story.

The Minimalism Game - Day 19

Here we are at Day 19 of the Minimalism Game and I am continuing my countdown of possession exodus with 12 items today. As you know, I recently attended a screening at the Atlantic Film Festival. I still had the printed program of all the festival events and screenings...until today that is. Why would I need to keep this booklet? For the memories? Those exist in my mind and I don't need a physical book to remind of it. In time these memories may fade, but they will be replaced by new fresh ones, and the important ones will remain through my life.

 

With this, I am also getting rid of 11 Animorphs books. These were my favorite books when I was in elementary school. In fact, they were some of the first books I read. I have many more besides these 11, and I plan on getting rid of more over the next few days. However, these books still hold a special place in my heart, so there are a few special episodes from this series that I am definitely hanging onto. I have a lot of books, and it has been difficult to get rid of some but none yet as hard as this. However, I know it's for the best and I am unlikely to read all of these again. I'll keep the books I will read again in the future and pass these on to someone else who can enjoy them, as I did in my younger days.

The Minimalist Game Continuued - Day 18

It is now Day 18 of the Minimalist Game and I am changing up the rules! Today I will get rid of 13 things, beginning a countdown that will end with just 1 thing on the last day. I think this will be an easier task, as well as an interesting progression as we descend to the end of this experiment.

So here are my 13 things I am getting rid of today! 4 cups, an old receipt, am old form, 2 gloves, an empty case of CDs, a lighter, a puzzle toy, a lock, and a basket.

 

 

The Trouble With Getting Up

Have you ever woken up to your alarm in the morning only to hit snooze and go back to sleep for fifteen minutes? And then that fifteen minutes becomes an hour? Then whatever plans you had to do when you set the alarm for that time are no longer a reality and you have to rush to get ready for work or school or whatever.

Lately, I've been setting my alarm for 5:10AM so I can get up early and hit the gym before I have to get ready for work. There is a fitness room in my apartment building so I don't even have to go far. However, I have been slacking off on it lately. I might be tired because of my busy schedule lately, but I also feel better about my day if I get a regular workout in the morning, so I value its place in my routine. But it's still so hard to get myself up.

This morning I got up and went to the gym, but not until 5:30, so I had to cut my exercise short to have time for a shower, get dressed, pack a lunch, and get out the door (I still had time to do a bit of writing this morning as well, another morning routine I need to work on). After doing my morning workout, I feel infinitely better than I did compared to yesterday when I didn't get up to exercise.

There is just something about getting ourselves up in the morning, pulling our complaining bodies out of the bed, to do something good for ourselves. Even when we know intellectually that this will be good for our us, we still want to stay in bed. Just ten more minutes, please. I consider myself an early riser, but even I can do better at this. Hopefully next week, I can get myself up more successfully, so I can get the things done I want to in the morning, starting my day off on a positive note. Because the bottom line is this: when I do take the time to get up and do stuff, I feel better all day.