Category: Essays

Please, this year lets practice minimalism in our holiday shopping. Forget the nick knacks and fluff that we usually get our friends and loved ones, and instead give the gift of new and/or good experiences.

Need some ideas? Here are some:

• A dinner date
• A Swedish massage at the local spa (my fave)
• A night on the town
• A movie
• A wine tasting tour
• A Theater show (Broadway, or off-Broadway)
• Seats at a sporting event
• Concert tickets
• Casino trip (I don’t condone gambling……but just saying)
• A sporting experience (white water rafting, kayaking, hiking, water skiing, sailing, tubing, bicycle touring, sky diving, etc)
• A vacation

Also, spend money responsibly. Shop local. Avoid giving money to big businesses, and instead support local businesses. Remember, how we spend our money carries more power than our vote did in this last presidential election. Give your money to your neighbor, not the 1%. Big Business only has the power we give them, and they depend on the holiday season for their prosperity. Let’s take the holiday away from them, while at the same time stimulating local economy.

And yes, that means no shopping on Amazon either.

Although still not as mobile as the smartphone, the computer is still a far more powerful tool for connecting to the world, and more versatile in its usage. Minimalist or not, if one wants to thrive in today’s world, they must have a computer and internet access. I don’t think I need to list out all the functions a computer serves as I did with the smartphone in a previous post; but needless to say a computer has all the same functions, and many more.

With that being said, the compactness and mobility of the laptop computer lends itself perfectly to a minimalist life. Thanks to the laptop computer (as opposed to the desktop computer), we no longer have to reserve space in our home for a computer. Many of us have even reserved an entire room for our computer; we call it “the office.” Of course people usually fill the rest of the room with things they seldom use that give it an “office” look (old books, decor, and whatnot). For anybody whose digital needs are simple (like me), I highly recommend having a laptop computer. For those who have very complex needs (online gaming, music composing, and interests of similar variety), it’s an entirely different story.

A laptop computer affords the user the flexibility of having any room in the home be a potential office (or anyplace out of the home for that matter).

I was attending Church a couple Sundays ago and heard the following humorous and truthful joke:

 

 

 

There once was a rich man who was near death. He was very grieved because he had worked so hard for his money and he wanted to be able to take it with him to heaven. So he began to pray that he might be able to take some of his wealth with him.

An angel hears his plea and appears to him. “Sorry, but you can’t take your wealth with you.” The man implores the angel to speak to God to see if he might bend the rules.

The man continues to pray that his wealth could follow him. The angel reappears and informs the man that God has decided to allow him to take one suitcase with him. Overjoyed, the man gathers his largest suitcase and fills it with pure gold bars and places it beside his bed.

Soon afterward the man dies and shows up at the Gates of Heaven to greet St. Peter. St. Peter seeing the suitcase says, “Hold on, you can’t bring that in here!”

But, the man explains to St. Peter that he has permission and asks him to verify his story with the Lord. Sure enough, St. Peter checks and comes back saying, “You’re right. You are allowed one carry-on bag, but I’m supposed to check its contents before letting it through.”

St. Peter opens the suitcase to inspect the worldly items that the man found too precious to leave behind and exclaims, “You brought paving stones?!!!”

 

Life and Love matter. That’s all. One day we are all going to meet our maker, and when we do, God won’t be concerned about how much our net worth was in our last fiscal year. God will only be concerned about what kind of difference we have made in other peoples lives; how much we loved.

Thus endeth the lesson.