As part of a personal desire to reduce the amount of time I spend mindlessly surfing the internet and focus on doing things in life with more intention I’ve been journalling a lot more. Writing has been helpful with other personal changes for me so I definitely view journaling/writing as an important tool in my efforts to be more deliberate.
I’ve been reading the archives of The Simple Year lately. Each year the blog has a different author with their own definition of what they want to do to simplify their life. The founder spent a year without buying anything new, while others have had spent a year focussed on decluttering, reducing trash, and other areas. I’ve long been drawn to these types of projects ever since reading Living the Simple Life: A Guide to Scaling Down and Enjoying More back in the 1990s. Lately the simple living idea has become an internet movement with lots of bloggers and books promoting aspects of simplicity like minimalism decluttering zero waste in various combinations and I’ve been gobbling them up. I’ve spent many free hours roaming the internet on this topic and even implemented a few of the common ideas into my real life like the Marie Kondo sock and underwear storage techniques, Project 333 and doing a weekly dinner planning list.
Currently, The Simple Year is taking applications for a new author. The project lover in me is really tempted to apply, thinking that the accountability of writing for a public blog with a huge following would force me into success. Much to my own surprise, I’ve also realized that agreeing to write for a popular blog would add an extra commitment to a life that already has a lot going on and likely have the exact opposite effect to what I’m aiming for. Instead, I’m going to stay away from making any big announcements on social media, use my own personal journals, and the neglected blog that I already have.
This is meant to be a warning to myself (and for anyone who happens to stumble across it), that while there may be more posts showing up here it is happening in conjunction with a desire to keep things as simple as I can. I don’t plan on having any sort of plan. Not that this blog ever had one to begin with. Let the random continue!
