I am sure most people owns at least 1 memory box that stores pictures from different times in their lives, some letters (if you were born before the Internet era), and some important materials.
I am not different. I own 2 memory boxes where I kept my favorite photos, tickets concerts/shows/exhibition, business cards, and whatever I think will bring joy every time I spend my time go over things in that boxes.
BUT!
How many times in my life exactly that I intentionally go through things in those boxes. Maybe once a year or less!? And what was the occasion to look at those things? I can only think of one…when I have to do major change in my room which happens like once every 5 years. Not once I have the urge to spend my time with my memory boxes and reminisces to good old time. Girl…it’s time to throw away some junk!
After a careful consideration I have decided to reduce the amount of things that I have been holding on for almost 2 decades. I have realized that those things are merely symbols/representations of the memories I have. What is more important is the memory itself, not the material.
What I have decided to throw away…concert tickets that do not look attractive, concerts that I have been to and already forgot about them. Photos that I have taken which doesn’t mean anything to me anymore, and, of course, ones that I look terrible 😛 Some other items that I don’t know why I decided to kept. I was able to reduce those by more than half.
So it’s down to 3 quarters of a box now. As this is a beginning of my minimalist journey, I will take it slowly but steady. I am getting better in organizing things and actually prioritize the important things in my lives. Moreover, I feel good when the persons I give my old belongings are happy and need those things more than I do.
I would describe a lifestyle of this vibrant city so called the city of angles or Bangkok as a maximalist. Why? Everywhere I look, people are constantly striving for more…more clothes, more property, more money and more of everything. I always hear people say, “if I have (an item, you name it), I’ll be happier.” Once they have purchased the item, nothing has really changed, but the space in their home has been taken for an extra item that they recently bought. Believe it or not, in a few months time, that extra item that people have once said to fulfill their lives will be forgotten and become a burden in the future.
People said they want to be happy, but they never settle for anything. It’s never enough.
First of all, I have to say I come from a middle-class family that is never a minimalist. We have lived in a society where our possessions reflect social status and photos on social media portray a “good life” we live. I can save you time and tell you that those are all filtered.
I had been in a society that value these designer items until I actually hypnotized myself that I should own one too. Therefore, I took my hard-earned money out of the bank to buy a Louis Vuitton bag, that I have never really used. Even worst, I saved money for many other things that I finally bought and never thought of it again after a few months that I had in my possession.
I used to be a white-collar, working in a fancy office earning above average of a bachelor’s degree graduates. My friends, my cousins, and acquaintances thought that my live was perfect. The reality was I worked 10-12 hours a day, I always brought work home after I had left my office at midnight just to finish the task at 4 am and back to work again at 10 am. I get sick almost every month for a year and a half, what a vicious cycle. I finally decided to study abroad for a year and came back to work at the same company, repeating my horrible lifestyle just to get sick regularly for another 6 months and finally I quit.
Why did I do that to myself? Why did I chose that lifestyle? My answer was social norm and social expectation. And I simply cared about what would other people think, if I had chosen otherwise.
‘Where to?’, people asked.
‘To where my passion is. To where I do not feel that I don’t feel a day that I am working’, I answered.
After a year of living a freelance life, there are pros and cons. Living as a freelance has got me thinking, what’s actually important in life and what’s not, which I will write more about this later on. I have reached the point that deep down, I am not a materialist, coupled with I have actually started looking into a concept of ‘minimalism’. And that is why I started this blog. This blog was meant to be written in Thai, but statistics shown “Thai people read less than 8 lines a day.” Hey! Why don’t I just exercise my writing skill in English. So here I am starting this blog.
คำแปล: จงเลือกงานที่คุณรักและคุณจะไม่ต้องทำงานอีกแม้แต่วันเดียวในชีวิตของคุณ – ขงจื๊อ
เราไม่สนับสนุนให้คนเป็นหนี้จากการใช้จ่ายโดยไม่ยั้งคิดค่ะ ไม่งั้นจะมีสภาพเป็นแบบในหนัง Confession of a Shopaholic นะคะคุ๊ณณณ! และอย่าอ้างว่าตอนสุดท้ายนางเอาของไปขายได้ ในความเป็นจริงแล้วทุกคนก็ไม่ได้โชคดีแบบนางนะคะ เรามองทุกอย่างจากความเป็นจริง หรือที่เรียกว่า Realist นั่นเอง
thingsthatmatter 