i shaved

This might seem like a random topic, but I shaved yesterday. I shaved my hair because it had grown too much. I shaved my head hair, then my facial hair and being unsatisfied, continued to remove about 3/4 of my body hair.

After that, I exercised a bit and took a shower.

You know what, maybe I should shave all of that more often. It looks nice. See?



PS: Pictures like this make me think, "OMG, I'm soooo fat..." o(~_~#)o but whatever...

Aside from that, most of my week has been at a standstill. I suppose I would like to say I am powering through my minimalist movement -- and in a way I am still -- but that's less about me doing things and more about inspiring others now. I still have things to type hanging on my board and books to read. I did take a shirt and a hoodie out of my closet, but that's nothing to write home about (although Polli was about to put them in the laundry basket).

Speaking of, he's here.

He silently says "hi".

Most of the work of minimalism is maintenance, I think; I mean, I already took a lot of stuff out of my closet, but at the same time, I see the occasional "ooh shiny..." and I want to bring it home. I could bring it home. I could just buy the thing. It's not like it's expensive, but the fact is that I don't need it and it would just take up space. On the other hand, when I can clean my whole room by removing one item from the floor, I have to say that I feel pretty good about myself and where things are going. I can remember when it took much longer...

Much, much longer.

As an aside to that trend, new thought patterns are developing. I think taking the trash can out of my room was a smart move since my room has been a bit cleaner without it in here. I hate leaving trash in the open, so I just have to suck it up and take it downstairs...

By the way, in order to ninja myself on slackness, I also took the bathroom trash can out of the bathroom so we wouldn't have a bunch of trash collecting there. I think that I might have to rethink that one and instead be more disciplined about just not putting trash in there.

Having that one thing I must do has evolved into a growing list of things I must do. These lovely people suggested that I have this list as step one in this article they wrote, but I kind of skipped that part of the process. Mind you, not because I thought I knew better, but because I knew that I had enough to do in front of me to not pretend that I had to make a list before I started. I don't recommend that to everyone, but for me it was obvious what needed to be done and I think it's just stupid to ignore what I know needs to be done in order to theorize about what might need to be done.

Besides, the list would evolve later.

It started with "I need to get rid of this stuff I don't need." Now it has evolved into:

• I need to look my best when I go out
• I need to clean my room before I go out
• I need to brush my teeth before I go out
• I need to complete things within a week of stating that the thing needs to be done

It's almost compulsory; that is to say that I can't leave my house without doing these things now. Exercise will be added to that list in general, I'm sure. I think part of that will involve me using my calendar now, so I will be doing that. It feels nice to know that my room has become the place it has. It is still breathtaking when I turn around and see the amount of space I have in here, the way my focus wall looks, the ease with which I can clean and maintain everything... It's amazing and I love it.

My book closet is so delightfully thinned out that I only need two shelves for everything now. Two and not four for things that I didn't even care about. Kitchen -- unruly as it is -- only takes a moment or two to clean. It's just easier to manage and live with and I have more time for things I care about (trans: doing nothing for now) and thinking.

My next thing to deal with are people in my life. More clutter in some cases. Sometimes, more often than not these days, I prefer to either be alone or with very few since the masses aren't adding value to my life. It's the same mundane things: job - home - i want a gf/bf - i'm bored - i wish i could have/be/do... I need some go-getters. Some people that are willing to be real and raw with themselves, get sick of the crap, want more of the best and are willing to make some kind of steps to get there.

I need mover and shakers and people that are about to fight tooth and nail -- right freakin' now -- to make the things they want happen (as much as it depends on them; some things only God could do... ask Polli). Forget the things that are getting in our way:

• low paying jobs
• high bills
• student loans
• frustrating schedules

Fuck it all. It can kiss my ass. I refuse to have excuses when I have things I want ahead of me. Here's to the "Hell Yeah" life. Here's to spending more and more time dropping and jettisoning one thing after another until I only have the things required for me to do the things I wanted to do anyway. I'm working my way through, step by step, and I will have what I wish for and that is one and only one thing: a passionate life.

A passionate life.
A passionate life.
A passionate life.
A passionate life.
A passionate life.
A passionate life.

That's the ultimate goal of this journey. I want to only have what I need to live the life my passions demand of me and that I will have in spades.

And if you are man or woman enough, so will you.