Tonight is one of those nights where it’s a perfect storm of being tired yet motivated when getting home from work. Add on top of that the interesting, yet pleasant feeling of knowing that people in your past are doing okay… well, it’s enough for me to look past this grisly bear look I’ve got going on and share some ideas with you… via video!
Enjoy and don’t pull any punches! 
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
Is this the first video? For real? The first video is always the toughest.
- Hand away from your face.
- 2:30 is about the longest anyone can pay attention.
- Your lint roller is in focus but your face isn’t. Weird.
I want to be a minimalist, too, but it’s almost too much work to own less. How the hell does that happen?
@Laurie, The contradiction of working your ass to be a minimalist just made my eyes cross haha
Thank you so much for the feedback! You’re so right! I’ll be on top of those things next time!
Hi! I toddled over from Brazen Careerist and figured since you asked, here are my thoughts (disclaimer: I know nothing about video blogging, so take with grains of salt)… My advice ties into what Laurie mentioned re: length – I say go straight to the point and focus in on the main idea you want to convey (a business idea for minimizing items). The other stuff in the vid was nice – I do like hearing about how you came up with the idea – but was just extra. If you wanted to still give the backstory of how you came up with the idea, that’d be something to type out and post on top of the video, a preface of sorts.
Other than that, I think the video was fine. I liked that you noted you’re willing to discuss the idea more in comments and such (while I’m not claiming this project, imo, brainstorming in groups is better than brainstorming alone, so I’m glad you gave that option in the video).
Anyway, I’m certainly not a skilled minimalist, but every once in awhile, when I feel the urge to downsize, I tend to employ two strategies. Maybe you’ll find them useful?:
1-There’s the “A fire, oh no! You have time to collect only five books/shirts/movies/whatever – what are you going to reach for first” approach The things you scramble to get are the things most important to you. Those are the definite keepers…
2-The two (give or take) year rule. If you haven’t worn/used it in a specified time frame, it has to go. If it doesn’t have some sort of personal value to you, it has to go. Don’t deliberate too long over it – once your hand touches it, decide immediately if you should toss it, donate it, or keep it.
It’s alot easier to do this if you have another party there with you. Someone who’ll be that voice of reason if need be (because it can be all too easy to talk yourself into thinking you really do need that pair of sandals or whatever)…that friend/neutral party is a bit more objective since they have nothing to really gain or loose from what you (don’t) keep.
Now, with all that being said, there’s no rule that you have to become a minimalist in a day. I think this is where some people tend to get a bit frustrated; they feel like they should be able to just dump armfuls of personal belongings into a bag and kick it out the door. It’s all about small, manageble chunks. Everything’s a process and processes tend to take time. When you have just what you need, you should be better able to manage what’s in front of you.
Dude, you need to shave and comb your hair. You look like a homeless person who stole someone’s laptop and somehow managed to record a video blog.
Love that you posted a video! It’s so fun to see you in 3D – well, okay – it’s still 3D, but at least you’re bigger than a Twitter avatar and actually moving. Looking forward to future videos for sure!
@Andrew, You try having curly hair you bastard!
@Lo, thanks so much for the thoughtful comment!!! All of those ideas regarding writing the back story before embedding the video are a good look. I tend to write long form naturally, so shortening it up is a skill I’m working on.
I’m also going to work on getting the video quality up as well.
As for the minimalist steps, I’m enjoying taking a long, hard assessment of what I am, who I am and who I want to be.
I’m going to give these ideas of getting rid of things I’m not using on my first impression like you mentioned. I’ll def. let you know how it goes!
Do you have a blog btw?
@Jenny Danger, you do awesome videos! I keep seeing people like you do them and I’m super excited to keep practicing and seeing where I can take it!
Hey James, well done on posting your first video blog. I actually liked it. I know a couple of people have commented on the length, but I found it okay. However, I will say I’m used to watching Diggnation (usually 30 mins+) on a weekly basis, so keeping my attention on someone speaking for more than a couple of minutes isn’t an issue for me.
I’m pretty attracted to the idea of minimalism too. I find the 100 things challenge pretty fascinating. How amazing would it be to only own 100 things in your life? One way to keep physical stuff to a minimum is to buy audiobooks or e-books instead of the printed word, if you’re a reader. We have 1000s of books in our library here at home, but if they were all digitised, they would probably fit on a single USB memory stick!
Anyway, good luck with future videos. I want to try something similar myself, but I’m not quite brave enough yet!
@Brian Thanks for reading/watching and commenting Brian! I say to hell with courage, just try it and see what happens…. people generally are not (that) mean haha.
I’ve found more people who don’t look at me like I’m crazy/nuts when I mention minimalism. I’m gonna work on getting my clothes sorted tonight and possibly some trinkets sorted as well.
Viva la content, video or not!
It’s so weird that you posted this!
I have been systematically decreasing “stuff” in my house and in my life for months now and will be helping my friend do the same thing. We JUST spoke about it last night and she was excited that I was so passionate about her reclaiming her life via purging of clutter and then I see you’ve posted this entry.
Weird.
I had a long convo Friday night about this too. Love when I meet people who are down with this!
I wish we lived closer because I would come over & do exactly what you’ve mentioned here… for free! Well, for a chance to hang out/network with you, I should say.
this is a great idea — I should start helping my friends/contacts in this way. I know you’ve been thinking about moving again, so if you end up in the NY/NJ area, I’ll be RIGHT over!
Dena, you rock!
I’m actually no longer with Brazen Careerist as of today, so I may wind up anywhere at all in the country so maybe we’ll be neighbors after all