In Fall 2009, I moved to Boston after three years in DC and transitioned from retail to the business world.
This is a blog on realistic mindfulness, maximizing technology, with some irreverent and perhaps vaguely interesting commentary on the side.
Realistic mindfulness, maximizing technology, and occasionally the Boston Red Sox.
It's the week after Thanksgiving and the holiday shopping craze has begun. From Black Friday and today, Cyber Monday, through Christmas Eve, it seems to be a cacophony of "buy! buy! buy!", and "more! more! more!".
I'm fortunate in that I've been able to have a lot of great things in my life. But in having many things, I realized something -- things are a small part of Life. Living in a nice house or having the latest iToy isn't going to make me happier. Owning a car isn't going to do anything to my mental well-being. It's the value that these things add to my life that make them worth having. But my life isn't going to be inherently more fulfilled by having them.
To that point, I recently sold my Wii on Craigslist. It ended up being bought by a family of three and I even got to meet the little boy who would be enjoying it. While I was a little skeptical, I haven't missed it at all. The handful of times I used to play it, I was with friends. And believe it or not, cards or simply hanging out is just as fun.
It seems that the job of our economy is to make us want more. I think the true challenge is discovering what is enough. Maybe having a Wii is part of "enough" for you, and I completely respect that -- especially if you've thought about it and come to that conclusion.
This weekend, I thought about my things, and I took on one of the Bastion of Things in my life -- DVDs. I used to pride myself on how many DVDs I had, and would prominently display them in my room. Yet, yesterday, I rounded up about twenty of my thirty-odd DVDs and took them to Newbury Comics to sell. (I may eventually part with the DVDs that I didn't sell. Baby steps.) What I realized was that having these DVDs didn't add anything to my life. They weren't part of "enough"; they were excess.
Having these DVDs actually detracted from my life. They were another distraction that was easily available. I think there's power in eliminating distraction. When I cut out media in February, I was able to really hear what I wanted to do. How I wanted to be. This is similar, but with "stuff". Do you find that you have "stuff" in your life?
I thought that, if you happen to be checking out my blog over this long weekend, it might be worthwhile to learn why so many people have Monday off, particularly because I honestly didn't know until I just researched the holiday. Turns out that there's more to it than the unofficial end of Summer...
Why do we celebrate Labor Day?
Labor Day was created to honor the working men and women of the country, originally in the form of parades and festivals. (Currently in the form of beer and BBQs.) It's literally a holiday that exists just to take a break. Cool!
Where did Labor Day begin?
Labor Day #1 was celebrated in NYC on Tuesday, September 5, 1882. (We're 22 years away from the 150th anniversary!) It was organized by the Central Labor Union. By 1885, many cities were celebrating it. By 1887, the holiday was law in five states, with Oregon being first. In 1894, Congress finally caught up with the 31 total states that had made it a holiday over the prior twelve years. President Glover Cleveland signed it into law. It makes me feel a tiny bit better to know that Congress was slow back then too.
Why September?
Believe it or not, it seems to be simply because September used to be a holiday dry spell. The first Monday in September is halfway between July 4th Celebrations and Thanksgiving. This means that, come September, we hit a five month stretch where there is at least one US Federal Holiday per month. (March, April, May and August are the only months without a Federal Holiday.)
Now stop reading and go celebrate the United States of America's workers!
In Fall 2009, I moved to Boston after three years in DC and transitioned from retail to the business world.
This is a blog on realistic mindfulness, maximizing technology, with some irreverent and perhaps vaguely interesting commentary on the side.
In Fall 2009, I moved to Boston after three years in DC and transitioned from retail to the business world.
This is a blog on realistic mindfulness, maximizing technology, with some irreverent and perhaps vaguely interesting commentary on the side.
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