''Five by Ten''
and still had room to spare
So how much more to go
until I live without a care?
Intent I was to free myself
and cut away these strings
I searched to find a storage space
for all my earthly things
For reasons of frugality
I chose the smallest size
and packed and wrapped up all I owned
and said all my goodbyes
Concerned I was that what I had
would fill and overflow
Imagine my surprise to find
that lo, it was not so
My world fit in a little cube
but what can I deduce?
Perhaps I'm bound until
that storage size I can reduce
This metaphor for freedom
told in terms of length and width
Shows freedom's not in having more
in truth that's just a myth
True freedom comes when all I own
are thoughts in mind and then
I'll walk free of encumbrance
and won't even need a "five by ten!"
COMMENTARY:
I'm a minimalist. That means I strive to have less and less in my life. Less attachments. Less complexity. Less things. If you're among the close friends who've visited my place, you'll know what I mean. But then, my minimalism extends to my social interactions, and social minimalism means I also have...well, less close friends. (Hmmm...maybe I need to rethink this.)
Anyway, I'm also an extremist. Which means I'm an "all or nothing" person who goes to extremes for what I believe in. For example, I'm not just a vegetarian, I'm a vegan (a fanatic vegetarian!).
I also believe in freedom. I left the corporate world to pursue my passion because I wanted freedom. This is good because minimalism lends itself to creating freedom. Why? Because the less things I have, the freer I can be to pick up and indulge a nomadic lifestyle.
As a freedom-obsessed, extremist minimalist, I've recently put a lot of my possessions (the heavy ones which are a burden to keep moving) into storage. Now with just a laptop, a phone line, and an order fulfillment company, I'm free to indulge my nomadic lifestyle. (So make that a freedom-obsessed, extremist, minimalist, nomadic vegan thank you very much!)
Now, what's that you ask? Why does a minimalist need to put his belongings in storage? Why not just throw them out? Well, some things I just can't seem to part with yet-- my records and books. The records have sentimental value and are a connection to my past as a radio dj, and which provides hours of nostalgic enjoyment and keeps me in "the zone" when I write. And the books, well, they're mostly the inventory of my own self-published books.
Anyway, back to the storage story. It occured to me, as I pulled the metal gate shut on storage space No.575 on the 3rd floor, that everything I owned had just fit in a 5' x 10' space, and that I was free of the weight.
But then I realized that real freedom will come when I can throw away the key and simply walk away!
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