minimize my non-material possessions

I have not had a TV set for more than ten years. I dislike the programing and the fact that I watch it anyway even though I think it is mostly crap.

But there are some TV series I like and due to the internet and a fast DSL connection I collected a lot of episodes. They are funny, better than just zapping around, and unfortunately swallow a lot of time, because I tend to watch them if I am trying to avoid work. Which I often try.

Some minutes ago I caught myself watching another episode for the fifth time or so, while there is a giant backlog of things I have to do. To watch all the videos in the “TV series” folder once again would have taken about 150 hours. Deleting it took about two seconds. There is no backup.

There is still enough distraction material available, including a large DVD collection. But it was a first step.

What are non-material possessions? A non complete list which basically says “focus!”

• Sometimes manifested as books, magazines or CDs, the character is non material like with bookmarks, MP3 files, PDFs etc. Mostly text, audio, video or pictures. I’m into information, I have hundreds of CDs and DVDs, several thousand books, even more eBooks and probably an infinite amount of further references. Add the internet and you end up with several hours per day just reading through new stuff. This of course is not all bad, actually it’s a lot of fun. But also a lack of focus. I guess I’d be happier in the long run if I spend more time using all the information instead of primarily consuming it. Since I show obvious signs of addiction the best way might be to get rid of the substance of abuse first. I already “turn of the internet” from time to time to achieve this.

• All those things I want(ed) to do or still want to do and keep thinking about instead of doing them. New ones are generated out of thin air every minute, but few ever go anywhere. Accepting your own mortality means accepting that time is limited and thus not everything can be done. So throwing out projects is mental house cleaning.

• Doors kept open, parachutes in case things don’t work out. Obviously one should always keep some options, but just as many as are really necessary. In a world of infinite choice choosing will be a burden.

• Fear is kind of a negative option, a prejudice either based on experience or education to stop you from doing things that might hurt or harm you. So basically a good thing. Unfortunately it is not hard to realize that most of my fears are not concerning life threatening situations, but mostly the expected reaction of others in a way that stops me from trying things. I’m not talking about becoming a total jerk, but e.g. about asking any person on the street I find interesting for whatever reason to sit down and chat. Even with a 90% failure rate it would result in meeting a lot of interesting people.

• I intend to stay alive as long as possible (and I want to), primarily by behaving smart and healthy. I might get cancer nonetheless, so health insurance seems like a good idea, but I would rather accept every of my material belongings to be lost by fire than considering ensuring myself against fire, hail, floods etc. It’s just stuff. And if I already assume I don’t really need it, why use/own it in the first place? Might seem a little extreme, but I turned off the warm water about half a year ago and now shower with water at (I guess) about 15°C/59°F or less. I no longer shower for half an hour (guess why), waste less energy and water (and money), probably improved my health, am more awake (and have more time) and never feel cold when stepping out of the shower. Sure hot water is more comfortable, but somehow it’s “just not worth it” for me. Hard to explain why, it has something to do with the feeling of depending on things I know I do not really need.