Better to have and not need than to need and not have?

Monday was my 28^th birthday. Birthdays have always been a sore spot for me, while growing up my father was not a fan of celebrations and almost every birthday I can remember ended with a family fight- as I got older I started planning vacations. I work in an office in a little tiny cube and I have realized that if I am at work on my birthday I go a little fight-club-crazy and it’s not good for anyone.

I almost always go to the beach. Which isn’t really the best choice, since my birthday is in mid -May and I live on the east coast so the beaches are usually very cold. But I have never in my adult life made a trip to the beach (or gone on any other vacation for that matter) that was not on my birthday so I hesitate to change the tradition. This year was different though, the weather & water was warm (for once) and I went to Myrtle beach (mad props to my bf for paying for a hotel & gas). We went for 3 days and I over packed…like I always do.

I use what my friends and I have come to call the “grab & stuff method” of packing which involves brining every single thing u think u could possibly need and shoving it all into your bag, sitting on it and making it zipper.  As I was doing it I recognized that I was and that I would probably regret it later once I had an exploded-barbie style closet to deal with every day. But my mind kept going back to that saying “it’s better to have it then not need to, then to need it and not have it” I’m not sure why at the time I thought that applied to extra bathing suit tops but b-day weekend logic is always a little senseless.

Here is what I packed:

·        2 sweaters

·        2 bathing suits

·        1 long sun dress

·        1 short sundress

·        2 bathing suit covers

·        3 pairs of shorts

·        2 t-shirts

·        2 bathing suit tops (top only)

·        1 pair of jeans

·        1 pair of capris

·        1 mini skirt

·        3 club/dressy-type tops

·        2 wifebeaters

·        2 pairs of sandals

·        1 pair of flats

·        1 pair of sneakers

·        Leather jacket (it was bike week)

And I actually wore:

·        1 sweater

·        2 bathing suits

·        2 cover ups

·        1 pair of sandals,

·        1 pair of sneakers

·        1 bathing suit top

·        1 pair of shorts

·        1 sun dress

·        1 pair of capris

·        And also 1 new t-shirt & skort that the bf bought me (NOT MINILMIST AT ALL- but they looked so good on meeee L )

I think the worst part was that since my duffle bag was so full I kept leaving my cloths around the hotel room like some kind of drunkin stripper…not very classy. I am going to make better decisions next year on what I bring…I’m not sure why I was so worried that I might not have the right thing to wear… it is MY birthday after all J

In the Big Inning there was BASEBALL....

I have decided to start blogging about my approach towards adopting minimalism and simplicty and how it is intertwined with the single minded dedication it takes to become a boxer.

I have become dispirited reading about people that have been able quit working and move to the country and sell their cars and are so happy and free they could spit.  It’s easy to say “You don’t NEED your job.” when you are not living paycheck to paycheck and don’t have aging parents dependent on your financial success for their retirement.

I love reading all the interesting blog entries about people’s transformations from clutter to zen in their lives and houses but i am not as free as many people who have thier own space. Right now I live with 3 people in a rented house, 2 of them are hippies that are not willing to part with a single piece of their collected clutter and seem to always have some kind of drama or disconetentment going on in their lives that somehow ends up being blamed on me.  I have minimalized my possesions or at least started to….but the clutter is still a very real issue in my house and I am not at liberty to de-clutter it all.  I have found inspiration in the oddest places though and I would like to share that inspiration with anyone willing to take time and read my blog.

So this is my little blog where I will attempt to provide my mini input. Maybe no one will read this and it will be my own private sounding board and that’s ok with me…what’s more minimalist then speaking when no one will hear?

“The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.” - Hans Hofmann