We are wired to favor novelty. There’s a fair bit of professional study on this – we like things that are new and different. To be more accurate, “like” isn’t exactly the right word but it is fact that things that are new and different will draw our attention. We are all still kids with a new toy on Christmas day that leave it discarded by Boxing day.
A part of my plot to get rid of 100 things a day has been not only things that are physical but things that sit on my seemingly infinite to-do lists. For me, books are a massive to do list that could just as well be a very long list of all the books or […]
When I started this side quest, I knew I had digital and physical clutter and I suspected I would be happier if I could clear some of it out. Two months in I am still finding myself curious about the ‘extra’ that it turns out is all over my life. What has become clear is that getting rid of 100 things a day is far too often just holding steady on the number of things I have. I delete 100 pictures and somehow, I take 100 more. Donate some things only to turn around to packages by the door.
I recently led a thought session on nonattachment (or nonexcess), a common translation for aparigraha which is the fifth yama. The yamas are the first step of yoga (the shapes you may think of as yoga are the third of the eight steps) and are yoga philosophy’s first five guideposts for living. Yama translates as […]