I’m so thrilled with my desk setup–this was taken from my treadmill, where I can walk while using my laptop and iPad–it’s such an efficient, comfortable setup. I love it, so much.
I’ve spent so much money out here, some of it wisely, some it not so well. For instance, many things I’ve spent money on I hardly use. Let me propose a ranking methodology: the more “touches” I give to any given object throughout the day/week/month, the more valuable it is.
I sold my Jeep–it still pains me, how much time, effort, and MONEY I put into that thing, how much will and learning and so, so much money gone..but, I didn’t drive it much. Hardly at all.
Sometimes, I get job postings that require a vehicle, and I kick myself for letting that rarity (it was a limited edition model, not very common) go, when I perhaps could have asked to borrow money from you to pay for it a while until I get back on my feet.
However, the truth is: I don’t want to be a car person. It was attractive, for a while, to think I could skirt the usual expenditures, that I could save by purchasing a good, used vehicle, and using my free time to educate myself on how to care for and upkeep/repair the vehicle, saving money on repairs and buying tools I can use on many jobs, rather than give my money to a mechanic.
And all that worked, for a while.
But the truth of it is: I don’t want to be a car person. I don’t want to be banging on things and tugging and pulling and straining and staining my hands and clothes and bending down and ugh, its just, not interesting enough. There’s not enough payout.
So, I was not driving, maybe once or twice a month (usually to visit my friends on the east side, in Bellevue, Sammamish, Redmond, et cetera), and I don’t want to be a car mechanic (so loud, so filthy), so I let the car go. To say I lost money is the understatement of the century.
However, if we’re measuring it by “how much did I touch it,” the answer is: not that much. Hardly at all. I miss the car, I miss it for many reasons, but I’ll be alright.
One thing I touch every day, multiple times, that I’m very grateful for is my iPhone. Its not the latest model but it works for I: I use it endlessly and having a reliable computer with which to place my energy (I want to create more than I consume) is essential. Everything working together in tandem increases my productivity by multiples.
Which leads me to my digital tools: I use my keyboard and mouse setup every day, for hours and hours (and hours) whether at work or personal time, so making that as comfortable and ergonomic as possible is a priority. At the same time, learning from car-spending issue, I don’t have a flashy desk: this is a generic shelving unit from Costco, with some found wood and well place magnets to make my setup easy and fun to use: I like settling down to work because flow is easier to achieve when mind is given to how I work.
I bought a bunch of books–you can see them in tonight’s project in these storage bins. Its fine to have taste and enjoy books, but how often do I touch these books, how much did they cost, how much do they weigh, and how much are they holding me down, because I can’t move as freely or as fluidly with them?
The same is true for all my possessions: if there I things I use ALL the time, like computer, treadmill, yoga rings, treadmill, vibration plate, foam roller, medicine ball, et cetera, I will keep them around: if there are things I don’t use, then what’s the use of keeping them around? The off-chance I use them once in a while?
There are definitely things I use all the time–worth the money.
The things I use seldomly–well, I’m glad I learned my lesson with these sums of money, rather than were the stakes to be higher.
But I want less holding me back from achieving more. When did my dreams become so shallow, hollow, empty and sad? Here’s to w-o-r-k (I can’t get in enough steps at the computer, even though typing a blog entry like this is vacation from things I should be doing).
Love you two!
Ruth