Minimalism: A Worthy Hit

I've heard tons of quotes throughout my 17 years (does it not almost-kinda-notreally sound like I'm old?) that have mentioned that possessions welcome grief aka negative energy. I never really got it until -- well, I still don't know if I fully get it, but I can certainly feel the wavelength a little more.

These quotes were expanded upon when I checked out the "100 Things Challenge" on Zen Habits (credits to Dhru for the ref), and happened to find it all over the place online. The more possessions I own, the more burdened I feel, especially when I start to concern myself with them. I mean, if you can own shit and not care whether or not you lost it, great for you, but I struggle a bit with that. When I buy new bedsheets, shit, I want those bedsheets to stay spotless. When I buy a book, I want to make SURE the corners don't bend because I like the way new-looking books look in my bookshelf. Simply put, increased possessions lead to increased attachment.

Today, I completely cleaned my room, inside the closets and drawers and out. What I found were tons of clothes I don't wear anymore or that I could do without. Sadly, my closet still looks like this:

Mildly successful attempt at combining two pics of the closet?

If I knew I were going to write a post about this 12 hours ago, I'd have taken pictures of it pre-cleaning, but trust me when I say that it was a LOT more jam-packed than that.

Now, is it just me, or do we all get clean feelings inside when we trash, donate, or sell a lot of belongings we don't use/don't need/don't need to use (or any combination of the previously listed)? This 100-things challenge is really getting to me, and when I think of it, besides the things I wear, read, use for school or put around my room, the only things I really use are my iPod, camera, water bottle, tennis racket, blender, juicer, and cell phone. Maybe a few more things, but I really don't think the things I wear/read/use for school/put around my room are necessary at all.

Cleaning out the bit that I did already makes me feel like my life is a little simpler, and that feeling would only be amplified upon ridding myself of more possessions (read: weight). I was briefly mentioning this to Kush earlier, and together, we kind of came up with the idea of having a clothes drive at school where all of us could clean out our closets and bring stuff that other people would actually wear and sell it at school as a fundraiser. It wouldn't be old garb that no one wants, but rather, nice clothes that we've just stopped wearing so much. Upon thinking about it a little more, I expanded on the idea by having a yard sale of sorts at school. With a group of willing individuals, we could all clean out our closets and rooms, and have a giant sale in the gymnasium as a fundraiser for the AIDS Walk or another cause we'd agree upon. It'd definitely take some work to get this by administration, but I think it's TOTALLY feasible. That said, rather than keeping it an idea, let's make it reality -- if you're reading this and you're from Herricks, let me know if you're into the idea via comment/email/AIM/whatever and we could put this together.

Basically, I'm putting the idea out there to challenge all of you. Do you actually need all that you own or could you live a simpler life? I'm still working on it, but I think it's definitely a worthy effort. Personally, I think being able to rid yourself of any number of possessions kind of emphasizes that we could not only be satisfied, but content with fewer possessions. It only makes sense that it would lead to further peace of mind and happiness with less _____ than you're used to getting. Just a thought.

Stay minimal,
Ankit

P.S. I'm thinking of just throwing in random bits of happiness in the post-scripts of these posts when they have nothing to do with the actual post. With that, check out my room -- I finally put pictures in my frames and filling in my box-shelf things. The bookshelf is here and filled (though it's been here for about 3-4 months now. I just never posted it after my old post when I didn't have it [which I think is on the old picture blog]):

Also, school's starting on Wednesday, and to be honest, I'm totally excited. Work's no fun, obviously, but seeing everyone and the constant company you get in school isn't something you find everywhere. Looking forward to that.

XCountry started last Thursday for me, and it's so killer (in a good way). I love the post-workout satisfaction of having completely pooped your body. It's the best. On Thursday, went to Long Beach with the team for a boardwalk run then a sand workout + ultimate frisbee. Did 4.4 miles in 28:30 with Eric. I swear, I didn't think it was possible, but the thought of leaving all the pain for Eric sounded only too kind, so I got some for myself. Friday -- 6 miles at a human pace, dying of the lactic-acid buildup. Only getting ready for a whole season of this. Lovely.

Lastly, a few songs I haven't been able to stop listening to recently:


"Sarandonga," by the Buena Vista Social Club


"Green Light," by John Legend feat. Andre 3000 - you've gotta listen to 3000's rap at 2:53. Too good.


"Human After All," by Daft Punk - their music is what got me through the cleaning day. Always makes me wanna dance.


"Fruta Fresca," by Carlos Vives - sometimes, I wish I were latino.

I'm SO obsessed with this audio embedding thing. Hope you enjoyed the music.

Zen Habits

I occasionally write posts where I throw in a big block quote from another blog or article and write a few lines of commentary, but I've been skimming this blog recently (skimming because I have to actually work at lab. Otherwise would be reading intensely of course) called "Zen Habits." It's not some spiritual thing, but it has so many great bits about how to lead a more joyful life, and it's totally relatable for everyone, so definitely check this out @ ZenHabits.net.

A little description by the person that runs Zen Habits:

My name is Leo Babauta, I’m married with six kids, I live on Guam, I’m a writer and a runner and a vegetarian and I love writing Zen Habits.

Zen Habits is one of the top blogs on the Internet, and covers: achieving goals, productivity, being organized, GTD, motivation, eliminating debt, saving, getting a flat stomach, eating healthy, simplifying, living frugal, parenting, happiness, and successfully implementing good habits.

(from http://zenhabits.net/about/)

If you slightly enjoy any of the things I write about, definitely check this out.

btw - I don't know Leo Babauta, and he is in no way related to me. He needs little to no help increasing the popularity of his site, but I think you all should definitely consider enriching your lives with its content :)

Much love,
Ankit

Are you kidding me?

Not only do they not feed cattle corn (which sucks), but not they're moving to potato chips and M&Ms. You are what you eat: junk.

The One Way Nature of Blogging

Found this online while browsing some blogs -- why we should all be blogging:

There's a woman who reads this blog regularly who I went to high school with 30 years ago. We were two of the "smart kids" in our grade. We took the same classes and had a pretty similar experience in high school (it sucked). Both of us went on to really great schools, blossomed, and have gone on to leave fulfilling adult lives.

She emailed me yesterday about a small problem she had with my Donors Choose Bloggers Challenge (reminder, I still need some help getting to $25k). We traded a few emails and in one of them she said:

That's one of the great things (or maybe not) about blogging. I haven't
seen you in almost 30 years, but I am fairly up to date on your business
and family etc... Of course, you know nothing about mine so it's pretty
one sided.

It's true. She knows a ton about what I've been up to and I don't anything about what she's been up to. I asked her if she blogged. She doesn't and then sent me a two paragraph email update which I read with interest. Her point was she's got nothing to blog about. That's for her to decide, but I am not so sure.

I read blogs all the time from people who leavehave lives that many would say are not worthy of blogging about. They are some of the best blogs I read. It's not so much about what you do, it's about what you think and how you share those thoughts with everyone else.

But until everyone has a blog, this medium is still going to be pretty one way (me talking to you). That's why I love comments so much. I want every commenter in the entire blog world to have a single page where all of their comments are captured. Then they'll all have a blog that I can subscribe to. And it won't be one way any more.

- Quoted from http://tinyurl.com/6na7ck

Consider it. Check out www.blogger.com, www.tumblr.com, or www.wordpress.com. Maybe there are more hosts. These are three of the biggest though. Let me know if/when you start one. I'd love to read it.

Testing. Testing. 1, 2, 3.

"Everyone Nose (Remix)," by N.E.R.D. featuring CRS


"I Have a Dream," by Common featuring will.i.am and Martin Luther King, Jr. (who knew he was a hip-hop superstar?)

This is really just a test to see if this audio embedding thing works. If it does, you'll be seeing plenty more songs on this thing.

Enjoy.

Much love,
Ankit

Now Featuring: A Difference Maker

I love it when people take initiative to do something great. This post is all about someone who's doing just that, and I'm gonna request your help in making it even greater.

Her name is Taara, a fellow senior at Paul Schreiber High School in Port Washington, and she was there to celebrate my birthday last Saturday, and she came back the next day to give me a gift that was unnecessary, but appreciated nonetheless. Part of the gift had a pack of greeting cards with cool prints of Ganesh and a phrase written in Hindi, saying "Om Shanti Om." To be honest, I thought this was some pack of cards she had left over from Diwali or something and she was just giving them to me -- that is, until I turned it over and saw a little informational card, saying that the pack of cards helped donate a bit of money to Autism Speaks, one of the most up and coming organizations when it comes to raising autism awareness and money for research to progress the fight against the unfortunate disease.

I find out a bit later that Taara didn't even buy these cards. She made them. I was completely fooled. They were professionally made, wrapped in plastic, and really...good looking. I just didn't think you could make that kinda thing without machines or a factory or whatnot, but it turns out Taara is not only determined and passionate about the cause, but she's AP Art status, so she pulled this off pretty well.


She took her skills to do something special, and that is to raise money for autism awareness while selling a great product at the same time -- excellent, 100% handmade greeting cards (she used a roller to print! I didn't even know people did that anymore!). She's selling a pack of 5 cards with envelopes and a cute little autism charm for $10 where 50% of the cost goes straight to Autism Speaks (and the other 50% to materials. Art materials cost more than you think -- or at least, I thought.)

Not only do I write this to simply call attention to the efforts, but to encourage you to take part by buying a pack or two of greeting cards. It's a small $10 investment, and you're gonna love these cards. Taara's selling them, and if you're interested (shipping is possible), feel free to contact her at taarahs@aol.com or myself -- I grabbed a few to help her out -- at a.shah811@gmail.com or by commenting.


Make a difference. Take initiative. Taara did.

Much love,
Ankit

Kon the Louis Vuitton Don - Through the Wire / Champion

Kanye West - Through the Wire / Champion (Live) from Ankit Shah on Vimeo.
Live at MSG. August 5, 2008.