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3. MINIMALISM

A computer specialist enters the chat room.

I welcome him.

The computer specialist explains his situation. He is surrounded by a lot of things. He has no overall view of his life situation. His life seems to him like a chaos. He has to do a lot of stuff and he has a lot of stuff. He wants to have more clarity.

I rummage around for old documents under the bed. I believe that an article could help him.

I send the article WHAT DOES A MAN NEED? to the computer specialist in the chat room.

3.1 WHAT DOES A MAN NEED?

During one life a human consumes 999 animals. How terrible! That makes me thoughtful. I have the question: What does a man really need for living? The answer is surprisingly simple. Astonishingly it is very little: Something to drink. Something to eat. Some clothes. And a place to sleep for the night. I ask myself now following question: How much stuff do I have? I will start to make a list with the things I have. It takes a while... Some time later.

Well! I have made a short list. I have count 600 objects up to now. This is a lot. I have not yet count everything. I have surely more than 1,000 things. The time has come now, to get rid of some stuff. To throw away. To give away. To sell. To donate. Now I begin with that. At first with the clothes. I donate many clothes. It is likely, that someone needs them. Furthermore I sell my books and movies. It is a great relief, to separate from things and to let these go.

With that I would like to examine shortly the spiritual aspect. The distinction nowadays between doing, having, and being in the current Zeitgeist. A lot of man lives in permanent stress. They are lost in doing something constantly. To have more stuff, which they do not need. Just to accumulate wealth. In doing so it is rather a disadvantage for being. To be present in the here and now, you do not need anything. If one realizes, that no material thing can give permanent happiness, then you are enlightened. Of course, you can be happy with your wealth. You should not identify with it. Above all, if there is no material wealth, you can meditate and listen very well to stillness. There is nothing that could distract you.

At the moment we are doing something. We are reading these lines for example. This takes its time in the respective life situation. Having includes all material things. The more things you have, the more energy you have. Especially the things want to have attention from our consciousness. Too much things absorb energy again and thus attention. Being is the timeless condition here and now. Everything that is here, is now. Life is manifested in the now. To live life as conscious as possible, that is my meaning of life. I relinquish some things. I eat less meat. At least as little as possible and as much as necessary.

I live for years with as less luggage as possible. There are phases, when I have more or less. I came across the term minimalism some weeks ago. I carry constant ballast with me. I have hardly material ballast. I have rather emotional ballast. I try to order my stuff and my thoughts now.

I am mucking out old stuff for weeks. I have donated clothes. I sold books and movies. I sorted out old documents. I deleted many photos, in total 6 gigabyte. I deleted my profiles in social networks. It consumed too much time. I have deleted my accounts at internet shops, which wanted to entice me into consuming always more. I have cancelled my memberships in clubs, because I did not use its offers any longer. I cancelled a magazine subscription. I cancelled old insurance contracts. I cancelled my bank accounts. And I gave much broken stuff into the waste containers.

I am on the path to simplify my life. I would like to spend more time in nature. Living simple, plain, and calmly. I spent one night in the forest. It was something new, just having a few things around me. And still, I had everything necessary to survive. I feel comfortable with less stuff around me. This leads me to more clarity of the perception of consciousness. I try to release me from the chains of past. To have less stuff means to me, to have more time to live consciously. Above all to enjoy the here and now in the nature.

I philosophize about my lifestyle. I face the following challenges in order to expand my comfort zone.

I take a shower with cold water for 7 days.

I sleep on the ground for 14 days.

I walk barefoot for seven days for 15 minutes daily.

I relinquish the internet for seven days.

I challenge myself, to leave the bubble of restrictive concepts. It was tough at the beginning. Since then I got used to the small big change in my lifestyle. I want to live more natural. Not so far away from nature. Feeling the hot sun. Listening to the raging wind. Tasting the cold water. Touching the smooth sand. Just irresistible! And with that not to forget the conscious breathing. The small steps provoke the greatest changes.

Here is my report of experiences, to amplify my comfort zone.

FIRST CHALLENGE

I take a shower with ice-cold water. At first I had to get used to it a lot. I took a shower for quite some time, because the water was really cold. It is such a great feeling. I am awake and full of energy. My conclusion: From now on I take a shower only with cold water.

SECOND CHALLENGE

I sleep on the ground. I could hardly sleep the first night. This has clearly improved. I do not need a blanket. I do not need a pillow. Now I can imagine a life without a bed. Wait a second! I would just have an empty room. Wait and see. The beds until now were always too soft for me. Now I realize that I can sleep very well on hard ground. My conclusion: I sleep now on the ground. Forever? I do not know. In any case I do it as long as I like it.

THIRD CHALLENGE

Walking barefoot. I like to walk barefoot on the beach. Can I do it in everyday life too? I walked barefoot on short ways. I was walking on grounds like grass and stone. It is exciting to gain new experiences. It is like a massage for the food. It is pleasant to walk on soft grass. At first I had to get used to the hard ground of stone. I feel good, when the ground is different. It is a good experience. Now I go barefoot more frequently. I do not have the goal, to walk barefoot in every season of the year. Maybe it develops itself towards this direction. Who knows? On one hand I am calm because of the experiences I made. On the other hand I am curious, what life still has to offer.

FOURTH CHALLENGE

I am offline for one week. I think it is quite easy. I discover very fast, that I am online for many hours. And that every day. And that for years. Thus I am addicted to be always online. I am not able to disconnect myself. I listen to music online. I watch videos online. I am connected with internet from morning to night. That is enough. Now I perceive other things. I have suddenly so much time without internet. I do not need music, movies, or videos. This program is there all day. I feel the moment in its diversity. Without distractions. Simply being here and now. To relax. To enjoy. To move. Simply being natural. My conclusion: Maybe I cannot relinquish the internet for always, because I get some inspirations from the tube as well. I use the internet consciously. Especially I like the stillness, when I am offline now and then.

Okay! Those were my four challenges. I hope the one or the other takes on the challenges of life. Thus to live more freely and to amplify the comfort zone.

The computer specialist has left the chat room. He informed me, that he is doing immediately a sabbatical year. Without internet.