Author Archive
I overslept today, and so I was in a bit of a rush to find some items. But I lucked upon a few simple items to get rid of. I’ve also realized I’m either going to be writing really long posts, or I’ll need to be a little briefer. I guess that’ll depend on the items.
Three of today’s items are things I am glad to no longer need. I am still around the weight I was after finishing the Soylent challenge I did earlier in the year. All three of these belts are too big for me now, and I am going to try really hard to keep it that way. The two black ones don’t have much of a story; I bought them from Walmart as I was losing weight. The brown one is a nicer one I got to go with a suit I had in high-school. It looks nice, but I can’t wait to get to my goal weight and get a nicer, newer suit.
As for the bottle, I’m not sure why I’ve kept it around. I kept hearing about Alpha Brain from Onnit, and order a few bottles to try. I think this was a discounted add on to my order, and it is supposed to be some fancy, souped up St. John’s Wart. I never really noticed an effect while taking it, and it’s just rattling around in my stuff. I didn’t have much of a problem trashing it.
455 items to go. 🙂
– Shaman
This is harder than I thought. One part of me knows I have junk to get rid of. But another part of me doesn’t want to let it go. I spent money on these things, and it feels like I should be using them. But, since I am not, they should go to people who want to. Which is what I did with the three below items.
The Keyboard is kind of cool. It is a Bluetooth keyboard I bought in order type things on my phone. I used it a quite a bit, but then I got my Surface Pro Laptop, and I didn’t need it anymore. On top of that, one of the keys has fallen off in storage (the “B” Key), so it’s less useful as well. My mom was excited for it, so I’ll give it to her and show her how to use it.
The knife in the middle is a Chinese knock off of a Cold Steel knife. My friend was moving in college and was de-cluttering himself. I used it to open a package once, but mostly would show people the knock of branding and the unique closing method. My brother liked it, so now it’s his.
He also got the other knife. This one is less interesting. I bought it back when worked at Big 5 Sporting Goods, because I thought it looked cool. It has the paracord handle, and a nice plastic sheathe that can be strapped to a tactic vest in the event of a zombie apocalypse. But mostly it’s an inefficient pocket knife that sat in a drawer until it got dirty. Hopefully my brother actually makes use of it.
459 items to go.
– Shaman
It’s day two, and I decided to take it easy again. That is probably going to bite me in the butt later on.
I got rid of the below two items:
I bought the shirt when I first started college at SLCC in 2010. I never really wear it, but as you can see from the white splotches, I was keeping it for when I was painting or other messy work. But I don’t do enough dirty work to keep it around. I can always buy a T-Shirt from a thrift store if I need a throwaway shirt in the future.
The item on the right is a wireless number-pad. I bought it when I had a small laptop that was hard to type on. I thought it might be useful for gaming and for school, but I never used it. I don’t even know why I was still holding on to it. But my mom seemed excited by it, so it’s hers now.
Only 462 items to go.
– Shaman
First day will be nice and short, as I only have to get rid of one item.
I decided to get rid of an old pack of green Bicycle playing cards:
This seems like a small item, and it is. But I have held onto them for a while. I bought them while I was in Hawaii in case my friend and I wanted to play cribbage. I can’t honestly remember if we did, but when I got back to Utah I carried these around with my all the time. I like the green color, as it is rare to find. Supposedly they are made for members of the military to play cards in low and red-light environments.
These have been shuffled and used so much that the box fell apart and the cards all stick together. They have lived a long life for cards. I think I was holding onto them partially for the memories, but also because I kept thinking I would turn them into magic gimmicks, or some sort of art. But I have a surplus of cards, and other Hawaii souvenirs. So instead, I will give these the honor of being the first thing to go.
Only 464 items to go.
– Shaman
I’ve decided to give the 30-Day minimalism game a try.
To put is simply, I am going to be getting rid of stuff. On the first day, it will be one thing. On the second day, it will be two things. On the third day, three things; the fourth day, four. I’m sure you get the idea. As the name states, this goes for 30 days, with 30 items to go on the last day. It could end sooner, if I run out of junk to get rid of. The goal is to de-clutter, not to run around like a naked caveman.
I want to document it here, and I thought it would be interesting to write a little bit about the things I get rid of. I already live a pretty minimal lifestyle, so most of the things I still have I kept for a reason. By writing about them, I will examine why I kept them and what they meant to me. Hopefully this will help me grow as a person on some nonsense like that. At the very least, I make room to buy more crap.
I have some basic rules to follow:
First, the item has to be solely mine. I can just give back something borrowed, or getting rid of some of my daughter’s old clothing doesn’t count.
Second, it just no longer has to be mine. I can give it to friends, donate it, throw it away, sacrifice it to a Cthonic deity, etc. It just has to leave my possession in a way that I cannot get it back. No loaning something to a friend for a month and then asking for it back.
Third, I need to write at least a couple of sentences about each item. An explanation of what it is, why I got it, and why I want to get rid of it will suffice. But if I want to write more I can.
Fourth, the challenge states that the item has to be out of my house by the end of the day. That is not entirely possible in my case. But it will be put in a pile, to be taken to goodwill or to the people who want it as needed.
Finally, I need to define what counts as an item. A set of things, like a pair of shoes or a bunch of dominoes, counts as one thing. Getting rid of a checkers set shouldn’t count for 50 things. Clothing counts as one item each, although socks count as shoes. Book are one item, even if they come in a set, since you can use each one individually. Anything I’m not thinking of is up to my discretion.
If I can make it to the end, I will have gotten rid of 465 items. Which is a lot of stuff to get rid of. I honestly don’t think I’m going to make it past day 15, as that is 120 items gone. It only gets harder from there. But I think it will be fun to try.
Wish me luck!
– Shaman
I just heard this poem on the Art of Charm podcast. According to the original website, this was found written on the wall of a death row inmate’s prison cell. It is really good, so I wanted to make sure to share it.
When you get what you want in your struggle for self,
And the world makes you king for a day,
Then go to the mirror and look at yourself,
And see what that man has to say.
For it isn’t a man’s father, mother or wife,
Whose judgement upon him must pass,
The fellow whose verdict counts most in life,
Is the man staring back from the glass.
He’s the fellow to please, never mind all the rest,
For he’s with you clear to the end,
And you’ve passed your most dangerous, difficult test,
If the man in the glass is your friend.
You can fool the whole world down the pathway of years,
And get pats on the back as you pass,
But the final reward will be heartache and tears,
If you’ve cheated the man in the glass.
Anonymous
Hope you enjoyed,
Shaman
This is one of the assignments I had to do for my recent return to college. I feel it was well made, and wanted to share it, in its original entirety below. The recorded version references the site I had to create for class. If or when I decide to re edit my recording, I will send it here.
How do we help the homeless? Simple, give them homes. In the below recording, I will explain why. (Transcript and further reading below.)
Homelessness is a major issue today, both in Downtown Salt Lake City, and in other major cities across the nation. Officials are scrambling for a way to tackle the issue that is both effective and low cost. But I believe Utah has found the most effective solution. It’s simple: if you want to solve homelessness, just give the homeless homes.
I know – it sounds both too simplistic and unrealistic. But from 2005 to 2015, Utah reduced its number of chronic homeless individuals by 90%. This was accomplished by giving the homeless homes first, before working on their other issues. It is almost impossible for someone to find a job, keep appointments, or improve their life if they don’t have a stable place to live. Our typical methods of providing job training, addiction therapy, and food, are well intentioned, but if you don’t get the homeless out of their bad environment, you can’t help them effectively.
Isn’t providing housing expensive? According to the Utah Homeless Task Force, in order to provide a home and social worker to a person in need, it would cost $7,800 a year. That sounds like quite a lot, but the average cost per year of a homeless person living on the street is over twice that amount at $19,000. That is the cost when you take into account emergency room visits, jail time, etc., in addition to the social workers and care programs we already use. Society is already paying the higher cost, so why not pay half of that in order to help twice as many people?
But are these figures true? Well, it is a little more complicated than that. Firstly, the numbers above are only for chronic homeless people. That means someone who has been on the street for over a year and has some sort of mental issue, like schizophrenia or drug addiction.They make up about 20% of homeless people. The remaining 80% of homeless people are temporary homeless. These are people who are in-between jobs and homes. Secondly, as Kevin Corinth from the Huffington Post has pointed out, Utah may have padded the numbers a little bit.
However, no matter how you interpret the numbers, there is a definite decrease in homeless. On top of that, whether we provide longer term housing to a chronic homeless person, or a temporary place to live while you get back on your feet, it still helps you recover. I understand it can seem too good to be true. But even a marginal effect is better than no effect, and that is exactly what we get right now.
For example, let’s talk about counselling programs. These are programs designed to help homeless people with addiction and mental illness tackle their problems, and integrate back in to society. At the moment, many of our housing programs are contingent on people staying clean or making all of their appointments in order to stay in their home. If someone messes up, they are back on the street until they prove they are willing to try again. But addiction and mental illnesses are diseases. We wouldn’t kick someone out for having an unexpected seizure or an allergic reaction, right?
Giving someone a home that is not contingent on them behaving “correctly” allows us to remove them from an environment that actively agitates their issue. If you are living in an apartment with other people who are trying to improve their life, it is going to be harder to do drugs than if you are sleeping on the street corner a block away from your dealer. I’m not saying we never have to push someone to clean up their life. But making someone’s chance to get clean their only chance denies human nature. We fail all the time, especially when we are learning something new, or gaining back skills we’ve lost.
I am not promising a panacea for the problem of homelessness. I also acknowledge in the long term we need to solve the issues that caused someone to become homeless in the first place. But if we focus on giving people houses first, it gives us a much better position to fix everything else. On top of that, it’s much cheaper that our current methods. So, if it is cheaper and more effective, what do we have to lose? Let’s give the homeless homes.
Thank you for reading,
Shaman
Works Cited:
I haven’t seen my daughter in over 6 weeks. It’s not for any malicious reason on my ex’s part. Not that I know of, at least. It’s just bad timing and busy lives.
I always told myself I would always make time for my daughter. I would threaten to quit jobs before I would miss my weekends with her. I still feel that way. At least I feel I do. But feelings and thoughts don’t count for much. In the end, I still don’t see my daughter. If I had to say it to her face, would I still make the same excuses? Would she care?
Or does it just matter that daddy isn’t there again?
I don’t even know why I’m writing this right now. I’m not depressed, just sad. I guess its because this is something more concrete than a journal I throw in a box and never look at again. By writing this, maybe I’ll try harder from now on. But who knows?
– Shaman
I just did a Facebook purge. I went through my list, and really thought hard about who I actually cared about, and who cared about me. It brought back memories. Of times where these people made me smile. Times where they comforted me. Times where we laughed, times where we talked; meals, movies, and parties.
But I don’t do that anymore. Not with them. I didn’t think it’d make me sad. Many of them were strangers to me now. I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t even notice me if I passed them on the street. Some of them I didn’t talk to any more for a reason. A bad break up, or a mutual connection severed our connection. Some were withered connections; people that I always meant to check up on. But I couldn’t find the time to do that between video games and stuffing my face.
My birthday was last month. I only had 3 friends show up. They are really close friends who I love very dearly, and I truly enjoyed the company. But it made me realize how isolated I am. My friend was putting the dinner together, and she tried to contact people. But there wasn’t anyone to reach out to. The few she tried either didn’t care, or were those withered connections, angry at how I never talked to them.
Friendships are plants. Some are cacti, only needing little bit of water to grow. Others are crops, needing tons of work to foster a bountiful harvest. All are beautiful. All need nourishment. Other wise, they dry up, and turn to dust. If you neglect the garden too long, you are left with a pile of dirt and nothing to show for it.
I understand life is a journey, and people will drop in and out of that journey. Just like love, you either grow apart or one of you dies. I shouldn’t be surprised. When I think rationally, I know they weren’t friends anymore. They were bittersweet memories I would view as I scroll through Facebook. They were just ghosts of my garden. Now that they are clear, maybe I can get to adding new plants.
But not today. I don’t feel particularly optimistic. So I’ll sit in the dark, and mourn over the husks.
– Shaman
P.S: I know things have been sparse lately, I’ve been going back to school and it eats up my time. But I have been writing a lot in my classes, and hope to share it when I have the time.
I could never love you.
It’s not because I don’t love you;
It’s just that I can never love you
The way you’d love me to.
– Shaman Romney 2017
Shame on The Universe 