Photograph by Zach Durland
My childhood is a healthy mix of the 80′s and 90′s where Saturday morning cartoons shook money from the pockets of my parental-units in the form of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle action figures, hammer pants, and various other media including video games and comic books. Today, so much of my frame-of-reference is composed of pop-culture references and stereotypes that in those sobering moments of clarity I realize the kind of coma that I’ve fallen into over years of exposure and the piles of junk that came with it.
The coma that I speak of is that of the muted brain, a stifled creative-self that does not possess its own language and energy to propel its will into the world; a mind that merely refers to lowest common denominator, media, as it’s method of communication.
In my own life, video games, for example, were not necessarily an addiction in most serious sense of the word. But, aspects of my life have been damaged by sating the desire to explore new realms of fantasy landscapes and unlock hidden, tantalizing secrets, etc. The cost of chasing these expensive and time-consuming hobbies was that of my first girlfriend, who was rightfully miffed when I would spend more time on Cruisin’ USA than a phone call. Dumped, less depressed than I should have been, I persisted this lifestyle into first part of my twenties.
At 23, I re-entered college after a stint as a store manager at a video game store, moved back home, and found that I could pass the courses and maybe subscribe to a bigger movement than supporting game publishers with my hard-earned dollars. I enrolled as a Visual Communication student at the University of Texas and finished my degree in the Spring of 2010 with a decent GPA and bit of a platform to stand on for accomplishing some other dreams.
It was bit prior to this time that the floor dropped out from under the crack-house of my gaming world. MMORPG-laden nights full of snack-food and homework-neglect were replaced with thumping Daft Punk records and concept-sessions, working my brain to the boiling point for a good idea. That’s right. Ideas.
I can think! I can reason! I can DO!
Studying graphic design yanked me from a malaise of hypnotizing game-plots and promises of engrossing adventures and introduced me to a world where real and important problems were being presented for us to solve. As design students, we discussed, competed, and pushed each other to accomplish higher forms of communicating with the outside world. YES! The outside world!
My life became about output, consideration, and to use a broad term, the doing of good things.
Transitioning into “a designed life” as I’ve seen it referred to, drove me into a mindset of subtraction and removing “things” from my life that obstructed the path to positive and beneficial realms of thought and action.
The games are gone, along with almost all of physical media. Useless clothes have been discarded in place of a more streamlined morning decision-making process. Finally, and most notably, gone is the desire created by twenty years of consumerist lifestyle that ends in impulse buys, obesity, clutter, extra cleaning, and numerous hours spent contemplating that thing that I bought that I haven’t gotten a chance to use yet. I’m hinting at the collection of stuff that pours on the guilt every time your interests shift, resulting in a Thigh-Master that taunts you to use it because you bought it, not because it’s best use of your time!
Now, I do enjoy seeing technology spring along and ache to upgrade things like my digital camera and cell phone, sometimes. But actively regulating my desires help me make good decisions about consumption of any kind and keeps me out of debt. I’m human, but I’m working on it, all the time.
So, what can I count in my life as being products of a simplified, action-oriented, and non-consumerist life?
Writing. I have never accomplished much in writing. But, I feel unrestrained in my words and thoughts as I have time to contemplate and observe . I blog more than ever, compose my thought with more precision and focus, and have been able to connect better with like minded people.
Reading. I have discovered so many great and free classics since reducing my time at my computer by using an e-reader instead of filling book shelves that cost money to populate. I can also carry these wonderful insights into ages-gone-by far more easily than stuffing stacks of bound paper into my bag.
The Outdoors. I have been to the coast twice this summer and visited many frienda that I hold as dear to me. I have more money in pockets from not buying media that has allowed me to do a bit of travelling and enjoy time with real people.
DIY. I make things, now! Simple days = more organized days = more time to do things that I find to befascinating. I love filling storage needs with home-made solutions from left-over materials. The emotional rewards are fantastic and make me a more well-rounded person. Most recently, I found that I needed a slip cover for a device. So, I made it and have more faith in myself as a result!
Ok ok. I’ll stop there. You get what I’m saying right? In fact, I hope that you realize that I’m trying to convince you of it. Have less. Consume less. Be more. Do more. Discuss more. Disagree more. Relax More, even!
At the end of the day, when it’s almost time to rest and fall asleep, I marvel at the idea that we need far less than we have. I find encouragement in knowing my culture is wrong in defining me by what I lack. I see hope in that I have more of my life to live. And, I relish the meaningful time that I get spend with friends and family.
Finally, I pass on to the next day when I can reap the benefits of the better lifestyle that I lived the day before.
