Starting Thoughts

The start of January at the start of a new decade seems like an appropriate time to start a new blog. Whether or not it is really appropriate for that blog to be about my search for simplicity and productivity remains to be seen. As a millennial (a person born between 1980-2000), I am growing up in the US in what seems to be one of the most complicated eras in human history. Consumerism remains very high, in spite of the recent recession. More products pop up every day, many to help us deal with malfunctioning *other* products. The Internet is consistently throwing out new opportunities and websites-- ways to promote ourselves, ways to keep in touch, ways to occupy our time, ways to sell and buy things, and more.

I love the Internet, and I love many things about the world in which I live. Opportunities abound in this kind of environment, and there is no reason not to keep in touch with the people you care about. But all this comes at a cost, too-- a cost to simplicity and to genuineness and (if you are not careful) to real productivity.

I am here to write about my own struggles against those costs. I want to find a way to combine the best of the age I live in, with the best of values from the past. I believe it is possible to go beyond consumerism and web dependency without going incommunicado and becoming an ascetic. It's called minimalism, and the point is to get rid of the clutter that detracts from the things we truly love.

I've already done a bit of writing on the topic, which can be found under the "Simple Living" or "Productivity" labels on my other blog. I would also encourage regular perusals of Zen Habits or a similar site for inspiration beyond what I write here. Others have been seeking much longer than I have, and it is from them that I chiefly draw my inspiration.