We ventured over to the mall last evening. There was a point when I enjoyed going, looking at all the new items each of my favorite shops had for sale, even if I didn’t buy anything. Seeing the new pieces of hardware the Apple store was offering. Seeing the new arrivals at the Microsoft store. Seeing what random shiny object each random store had. Searching for neat things to look at.
I realized last evening as we were walking around, I don’t really enjoy that now. Sure, it was fun to walk around and try to pick out things for others; I’m not yet one of those minimalists that has given up on gift giving. It is still a normal, happy occurrence in my family. I do have to admit, I have a hard time picking things out these days. I find myself thinking ‘would I want X item for a gift?’ And 99.9% of the time; the answer is no. Sure I still like what the Apple and Microsoft stores have to offer, I’m a card carrying computer geek. Sure I still like what the LEGO store has for sale. However, based on my own answer of ‘no’, I have also found my follow up question to myself ‘well, if I wouldn’t want X, why would I get it for <insert name here>?’ This may be a good change in my transition to a version of minimalism that works for my life, but I have to also admit, it is a challenging one.
Written 19-Dec-2013; still working to minimize ‘things’ in my life