Category: Thoughts and Ramblings

“I say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand; instead of a million count half a dozen, and keep your accounts on your thumb nail.” – Henry David Thoreau

“Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage – to move in the opposite direction.” – E. F. Schumacher

This rule is pretty obvious for someone living a minimalist lifestyle like my own. I often have to give things up, simply due to lack of space. Sometimes, the most difficult times to do such is when those items have sentimental value or mean something personal. This rule creates the challenge that freeing yourself of these things, even, is better than holding on needlessly. Similarly, it also challenges to “let go” of those people I grow to love and the places that steal my heart.

“Once destroyed, nature’s beauty cannot be purchased at any price.” – Ansel Adams

“Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit, and as vital to our lives as water and good bread. A civilization which destroys what little remains of the wild, the spare, the original, is cutting itself off from its origins and betraying the principle of civilization itself.” – Edward Abbey

Any outdoors person is probably familiar with the Leave No Trace principles. “Take only memories, leave only footprints,” is a basic summary. While those principles are an important part of my daily life, I prefer to go beyond Leave No Trace, and apply it beyond the intentions of what the usual principles really ever intended to cover. From simple outdoor ethics to minimalism and constant learning, this rule is a cornerstone of my lifestyle.

“Dare to live the life you have dreamed for yourself. Go forward and make your dreams come true.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.” – Henry David Thoreau

This is one of my rules that is remarkably simple. Dream. Dream often. Never stop dreaming. Grab onto the dreams you dream and chase them unceasingly. Unwavering and stubbornly. When your dreams seem to run away, you run faster. Never give them up.

“People don’t want their lives fixed. Nobody wants their problems solved. Their dramas. Their distractions. Their stories resolved. Their messes cleaned up. Because what would they have left? Just the big scary unknown.” – Chuck Palahniuk

“Do one thing every day that scares you.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

There is this common thing I hear some times about people fearing the unknown. This rule calls to put such fears behind and embrace whatever that unknown is. By embracing it and heading into it with arms open to it, I allow it to unfold in its purest, most beautiful form.