Last month, it snowed. A lot. This photo was the view outside my dorm. It had been piling up for a few days, and got pretty deep. One morning, I was rushing to university when I very nearly fell flat on my face. Thankfully I saved my dignity by doing an ungracious twirl with about the skill of a ballerina with two left feet. Luckily, I was with a friend to laugh it off with.

Just a few minutes before I had been complaining about how sick of the snow I had become. That’s when I realised.

The good things in life, the things we love and enjoy, we cherish them because they don’t come around very often.

Even the little things that pass us by everyday without us noticing.

We play in the snow like kids and have snowball fights because the roads and gardens are only covered in a beautiful white blanket of snow once a year, if that.

We feel a bit superhuman when we manage to pass a green light, or reach the crossing just when the green man shows, only because most of the time it is red.

We bathe in the sun, have picnics and go for walks in the summer because it’s hot, and because it’s not summer all year around.

We can’t help smiling when our favourite song comes on the radio, because most of the time they’re playing something else.

We laugh when someone tells a good joke, because it’s hard to find a good one you haven’t heard before.

We love weekends, because they come less often than weekdays.

We love our mother’s cooking because there is only one place you can have it, at home.

We love our friends and partners because there is nobody else in the world quite like them.

How often do we forget to celebrate these tiny victories?

We can’t have our favourite dessert all day everyday because then it wouldn’t be our favourite any more. We love the things we love, because we don’t have them very much or often. That’s what makes them special.

Minimalism is about having fewer things – so we can cherish each and every one of them. Appreciate their usefulness, design, durability, versatility and value.

Did something happen to you today that made you smile?

Inspired by 1000 Awesome things blog

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Chopsticks. Right now, millions of people are digging into their food with two sticks that have stood the test of time as a utensil for humans, even when countless thousands of other tools, gadgets and products haven’t. But what’s so special about them?

What can we learn from mere chopsticks?

Personally, I have used them all my life, but it was only recently I realised the depth of influence they had in many people’s way of life. They teach us the importance of:

1. Simplicity. They can come in all kinds of colours and sizes but essentially they are just two long sticks. There’s hardly anything more simple than two bits of wood being pushed together. With new technology being released everyday and adverts bombarding us with the need to be able to do more with less, multi-tasking and multiple-use devices, it is sort of refreshing to still have something which has just one use – simply to eat. Chopsticks are a living example that simplicity simply works, and we don’t need to keep developing, improving and fixing things all the time.

2. Versatility. Chopsticks can be used for picking up all kinds of food; meat, veg, rice, even the bones from fish, because by nature, their simplicity means that they are adaptable. Instead of aiming for a niche in an attempt to find a ‘gap in the market’, or to fill a hole that probably doesn’t need filling, they cater to a wide range purposes. Imagine being like chopsticks in this way, able to appeal to many people because you are useful, without worrying about being ‘more innovative’ or ‘better’ in anyway. They just do what they are made to do, they just are.

3. Aim. If you’ve ever tried using them, you know that you can’t get what you want by just haphazardly stabbing at the plate. To be able to get what you want, you have to aim for it. There’s no way you can pick up everything in one go. Know what you want, and just do it. Sometimes, a little bit of focus makes the difference between failure and success.

4. Practice. Using chopsticks doesn’t come naturally. You have to learn to use them and practice it. But how will you learn? Should you just read about it? Most would agree that there’s no better way to practice than to look at the delicious food in front of you and tell yourself  that you can’t have any until you can use the chopstick to get it. In real life, you can read as much as you like about all the things you want to do, but it will just amount to dreams and theory if you don’t try actually doing it. Don’t just watch others eating, put yourself out there and give the chopsticks a go.

5. Slowing Down. A common health tip is to try to eat with chopsticks when you can. Why? Because it slows you down and allows your stomach to tell your brain your’re full before you overeat. Eating with chopsticks is a slower process, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes we need to slow down and take things one step at a time, break it down at each stage so that we have time to think, to realise that we’re actually full and that we don’t have to keep charging full speed through life.

Sometimes it’s nice to enjoy each morsel of life as it comes.

“Nothing is softer or more flexible than water, yet nothing can resist it”. ~Lao Tzu

If only we could be more like water – strong, life-giving and beautiful. It trickles and surges, ebbs and swirls, here and there, following the natural course of life without attachment or resistance. Even when it appears to be quite still, it is not stagnant but peaceful and content. And it is always always flowing.

There are some weeks you’re busy, some weeks you’re bored. Sometimes you feel like working out, other times you feel like pigging out. Some days a friend or loved one can do no wrong, other days everything they do irks you. You can have an absolute favorite movie, song, food dish, book or hobby, but a few months later its being overplayed or you tire of it. One moment the sun is shining, the next it is raining.

People are fickle, states are constantly changing, old things break, new things are invented. Things don’t simply move in just one direction – they can go backwards, forwards, left or right, up or down, and even in complete cycles. If we try to force things we cannot control to be one way or another, or if we insist on being at one extreme or another, then eventually we will lose our balance. This is okay sometimes too, but if we look for it, there is always a middle way.

There is too much energy in the world for things to ever truly be still. It’s exactly these fluctuations and transitions that we experience every day that makes things exciting, keeps us on our toes and reminds us – if we remain mindful of it – that we are alive.

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Humans are social creatures. We like to fit in. As the old saying went, “the nail that sticks up gets hammered down’. If you act too differently, you’re labelled ‘wild’ or ‘crazy’. At school, from our parents and through the media we are told all the things we should want. We ‘should’ want a big house with bedrooms to spare, a perfectly waxed car and a walk-in wardrobe.

Have you noticed that everybody is working so hard to acquire these things, but haven’t stopped to ask why? Why do they want all of this stuff? Because someone said that’s the way to ‘be normal’?

When we were kids, and our imaginations ran wild, we had ambitions like wanting to be famous inventors, world explorers or astronauts, but by the time we were thirteen or so our dreams were crushed for more ‘sensible’ things like getting a 9-5 job.

It’s absolutely fine to live a normal life. But it’s much more fun to live a different life.

dare to be different

A different life isn’t a sign of social rebellion. It’s about living your life, however you want it to be. You can adapt and change it how you want. Here are three steps to get you started.

1. Don’t care what others say. Before you start, make a promise to not care about what others think or say. It’s exactly this fear that keeps people from doing the things they dream about. There’s probably no thought more crippling than “Oh, I couldn’t possibly do that, what would my friends/neighbors/family/boss think?”.

2. Remember to be yourself (kinda). Don’t do something for the sake of doing it, do it because you want to. Don’t force yourself, but keep in mind that the excitement only comes from pushing yourself out of your comfort zone.

3. Be spontaneous. Do something crazy that you never thought you’d do. Or do something crazy that you’ve always wanted to do. Here goes nothing!

• Take a trip
• Donate all your clothes
• Join a club
• Volunteer
• Take up a new hobby
• Change your routine
• Take time to disconnect
• Write a story you would want to read
• Laugh or sing more
• Smile at a stranger
• Get a pet
• Change jobs
• Quit your job
• Take the stairs
• Have a picnic
• Go camping
• Go to a concert
• Go to a play
• Go backpacking
• Climb a mountain
• Dance in the rain
• Quit TV
• Start a herb garden
• Learn to speed read
• Go to a different section of the library
• Read a book regardless of it’s cover
• Be healthy
• Learn to make good coffee
• Photograph something beautiful
• Photograph someone beautiful
• Cycle everywhere for a week
• Eat a raw meal
• Learn a new language
• Write a poem, play or song
• Take up the guitar
• Go to the beach
• Start meditation
• Draw/paint anything
• Build something
• Invent something
• Go barefoot running
• Plant a tree
• Write a life list
• Be a minimalist, not a consumer
• Change the world
• Live an extraordinary life.

The technology company Apple, creator of the iPod, iPhone and iMac, uses the slogan ‘think differently’. They refused to follow the status quo and did things their own way. They took criticisms in their stride, carried on and now they’re one of the most successful companies in the world. They changed how people lived their lives, why not change yours?

Do you have any life changing ideas? Please share them in the comments!

“Not all readers are leaders but all leaders are readers” ~ Harry S. Truman

For a lot of people, reading is ‘boring’. To them, books remind them of something they ‘had to do’ at school. Until recently, I didn’t realize the extent people actually rejected reading, as if it was something to avoid. I’ve seen dozens of facebook profiles with “don’t read” or even a “you’re joking” in the favorite books box.

Do these people know how much they’re missing out? I mean, what about all that fantastical adventures, beautiful romances, emotional turmoils, romances, tears and guilt? What about all the battles, betrayals, heroes and villains of the past that you haven’t heard of? What about all the fascinating things about the world that you don’t yet know about? From reading, you can learn the lessons of geniuses, revolutionaries and from the greatest leaders of all time. So the real question isn’t “why should I read”, it’s “why shouldn’t I?”

how to develop a reading habit

1. Know where to start. If you’re not already an avid reader, you might feel a little overwhelmed at the choice of books available. In that case, why not try some reliable lists, for example:

• 30 Books Everyone Should Read Before Their 30th Birthday – Marc and Angel Hack Life
• For top books in specific genres try The Guardian’s 1000 list
• You can see what your friends/fav writers are reading at Goodreads
• I’ve also written up a small list in a previous post 5 Inspiring Ways to Feed Your Soul

2. Get it cheap. You don’t have to spend a lot of money at all. Never pay RRP for a book. My first point of call is always Amazon, but the Book Depository is usually cheaper for new books and worldwide delivery is free. Of course there’s also the library, charity shops, sites like Paperback Swap. If you know people who read, you can borrow or swap with your friends, family and even professors (who are especially helpful with hard to obtain/expensive books in your field).

3. Read everyday. Even if it’s only for a few minutes, it will all add up week by week. Always try to have a book handy somewhere to pull out when you’re standing in line or sitting on the bus. Or you can keep a book by your bed to relax you into sleep (not put you to sleep!). I usually look forward to evenings when I block out a bit of time, make a warm cup of tea and snuggle in my duvet with a good book for a few hours. Even the thought of it makes me smile 🙂

4. Aim. You could read casually or you could set up a goal. If you choose a field, by reading one book on it a week, you can become an ‘international expert’ within few years. If that’s a little too much, you can easily make up your own goal such as two books a month (1 book per 14 days), or twenty books a year (about 1 book per 20 days). By having an aim, you can more easily write/decide your list(s) and possibly get through many more books than you would otherwise.

5. Balance and diversify. Almost everyone has a subject/genre that they are really interested in. It doesn’t have to be an ‘academic’ subject either. Whatever it is, choose it and read as many books as you can find about it. However, you should also have a go at something completely different – how do you know you won’t like it until you’ve tried it? Why not wonder into a completely different part of the library, randomly picking up a book and reading the blurb or first page? You never know, you may discover a new passion. The key is to balance depth and breadth.

So, try not to think of reading as a chore. It’s not homework. It’s not work at all. It expands your horizons, pushes your imagination and can change your life. Don’t miss out, kick start your reading habit today.

“There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate’s loot on Treasure Island” – Walt Disney

Do you have any more ideas on how to read more? Or any book recommendations? Or maybe you’d like to share what you’re reading right now? Please comment below!

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They say that it’s best to aim for the low hanging fruit. A lot of the time this is true, but it isn’t always the case.

In the short term, it might make sense to take advantage of whatever comes your way first. The low hanging fruit are easy to reach, but they aren’t necessarily the best fruit on the tree.

In the long term, only doing what is easy won’t get you very far. If you only go for low hanging fruit, you’ll never taste the sweetness of overcoming a difficult challenge, and achieving something worthwhile.

Learning to climb a tree takes patience and perseverance, but if you take things step by step, you can reach the top.

It helps if you’re not weighed down by stuff. Carry too much, and your burden will hinder your progress. Let go of the things that don’t matter, and focus on the things that do.

You only get one chance at life, so why not aim high? The sweetest fruit grow at the top.

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The next stage of our journey along the Noble Eightfold Path is understanding how Ethical Conduct affects every single aspect of our lives.

By conducting Right Speech, Action and Livelihood to the best of our abilities, we can move closer towards an enlightened body, heart and mind.

You don’t have to be Buddhist to follow these principles. As you read on, you will see that that these concepts, and indeed Buddhism itself, is a way of life that emphasizes growing and practice.

It’s not about overhauling your life completely, rather, it’s about doing our best to make small changes, and choosing the right decisions as you encounter them. You don’t have to do everything at once, even a small attempt at any of them will improve your life, and the lives of others around you.

Right Speech

Unlike our actions, because we cannot always see the potential effects straight away, we sometimes forget how powerful words can be. They can move people to laugh or cry, make someone fall in love or into an enemy, they can create friendship, war, art, memories, arguments, admiration, motivation or inspiration.

The Buddha points out four different types of wrong speech which actually can be much more common in our lives than we like to admit:

1.  False speech refers to the telling of lies to others. We should not speak deceitfully to exaggerate our worth or convince people of something that is not true.

Perhaps sometimes telling very small lies for the sake of peace is acceptable when your intention is in the best interest of somebody else, not your own. However, while it may be difficult to eliminate lies completely, we should strive to remain genuine and honest as much as we can. That way, people will come trust us, and believe in the things we say. Nobody would choose to confide in or take advice from a liar.

2. Slanderous speech. We should not use words maliciously against others. Some things are just not our business, so it is a waste of our time to gossip about them. As good people, we shouldn’t talk about people behind their backs, and in return, people won’t talk about you behind yours.

Slanderous speech does nothing but divide people and create enemies.

3. Harsh words. It might take some practice, but even if we are angry, we should try to remain civil and calm as much as we can. Resorting to insults that offend or hurt others will never make the situation better.

Similarly, putting the blame on ourselves or others for something that happened in the past cannot reverse it.

We should also try to take all criticism constructively, even if the intention of the person wasn’t so. There is always something you can learn from others. And when we are trying to give feedback, we shouldn’t just point out everything they did wrong but include praise for the things they did right.

4. Idle chatter. We should always try to speak with purpose, depth and good timing. Using speech only when we have something useful or interesting for the other person to hear andknowing when to remain silent is a sign of wisdom.

A lot of people are uncomfortable with silence, but actually if you are truly close to someone, or if you are confident in yourself, there’s no need to impress people with small talk to ‘prove that you’re not boring’.

In the end, the things that you don’t say are just as important as the things you do say.

Right Action

It’s not always easy to do the right thing all the time. However, as much as we can, we should try to:

1. Abstain from doing harm towards others intentionally or delinquently. This includes any sort of violence or action that may hurt other people or prevent them from having basic human rights such as food or water, freedom and equal love.

We should refrain from taking life, including, as much as we can, the lives of animals. You don’t have to be vegetarian, but you should respect that an animal has literally given it’s life for you to eat. Even insects are sentiment beings and as much as it is practical, we should try to spare their lives.

We should act kindly and compassionately towards everyone we meet, and try to make their day better for happening to cross our path.

2. Abstain from taking what is not given. This means refraining from stealing and fraud. We should respect the belongings of others and we should try to repay our debts to the people we owe and not take advantage of those who are in a position of less power than us.

If you manage to do this, the next stage is attaining contentment, which means being satisfied with what you already have, without feeling that you have to keep collecting more stuff, especially via unscrupulous means.

Finally, the highest goal is developing a perpetual sense of generosity – using or giving away one’s own wealth and possessions in order to better the lives others. You don’t have to live in a hut, but if you are content with what you have, then you will realise that most things that people desire, such as a sports car or huge house are not really needs but wants. A true practitioner would not waste their resources on such superfluousness and instead they would do what they can to help those in actual need.

3. Abstain from sexual misconduct. Although this mostly refers to relationships with our partners, we can also include any sort of loving relationship, such as friendship or family bonds. People should be honest and faithful to each other, care for them and be prepared to put their interests above their own.

Even if we only want what’s best for the people we love, we cannot change them by shouting about minimalism or Buddhism or any other way of life we believe is better. We must show them. When they see how happy and content we are, they may wish to change, and only then should we guide them.

Right Livelihood

Wealth is not evil. It’s how people obtain it or what people decide to do with it that makes it ‘good’ or ‘bad’ and even these labels can sometimes fall into grey areas.

In general, wealth should be gained legally and peacefully. In other words, we should try not to harm other beings in pursuit of it. Therefore, we should avoid:

1. Dealing in weapons or anything malicious that could potentially be used to exploit others. We should not knowingly be involved with violence or trickery.

2. Dealing with living beings in a harmful manner such raising animals for slaughter or being involved in  the slave trade or prostitution. If it is within our power, we should try to reduce the suffering of workers, especially those who are exposed to dangerous or over-laborious conditions.

3. Working in meat production and butchery. If this is not possible, we should at least try to discourage the slaughtering of animals by not eating meat excessively. Check out this TED talk.

4. Selling intoxicants and poisons, such as alcohol and drugs. Again, it might be a lot to ask for to completely stay away from alcohol or cigarettes, for example, but at least we should stay away from being involved in potentially very dangerous, illegal or addictive drugs or substances that are bad for people’s mental or physiological health and draw people in against their will.

Finally, we should try to stay away from jobs or activities that would violate the principles of Right Speech and Right Action.

When you think that minimalism is all about asking “what is necessary?”, it’s easy to see how it relates to Ethical Conduct – don’t lie or show off about the things you own, do what is right and be content with what you have.

There was so much to cover here, and this is only the tip of the iceberg. It may take a while to master all of these, indeed, it may even take a lifetime, but remember, there is no goal, what truly counts is doing your best with all your heart.

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These three principles act as a bridge towards the next stage, Mental Development, which I will talk about in the next post.

Whether it’s money, possessions, body type, career, status, fame or fortune, most of us find ourselves doing it almost everyday – comparing ourselves to others.

We see someone else with more or better X, or Y than us, and we feel less of a person because compared to them, we don’t stack up.

It’s something that we don’t usually think of as a ‘toxic habit’, but it fits all the definitions. It’s something that you do continuously, usually without thinking, and is bad for you.

Why? Because while we’re busy looking at how much better someone else has done, we’re not seeing our own accomplishments. We forget to be content with what we already have. It’s one of the most poisonous things you can do to yourself.

Living a minimalist lifestyle isn’t just about decluttering your house, or how to roll your clothes up efficiently so that you can backpack around the world, it’s about so much more than that.

It’s a way of living a life where you are happy with what you have. A big part of this minimalist philosophy is to try to not compare yourself to other people’s measure of success, and find a way to live that means you are happy.

I emphasise try because nobody is perfect. Sometimes we just can’t help ourselves, and sometimes comparing ourselves to people who we admire might help us become better people.

Seeing good traits in others and aspiring to be more like them, such as being more honest, or more adventurous, or having a healthier lifestyle is fine. It’s comparing material possessions that is the most toxic, because this is the universal truth:

There will always be someone with more than you.

Even the richest person on Earth lacks something you have. Always reaching out for more stuff that is ultimately meaningless will only lead to constant dissatisfaction. You will never have enough. So stop comparing your life to other people’s, and start living your own.

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One of the biggest life questions that I’ve been battling with lately is how to balance work life – and everything that it comes with – with a minimalist lifestyle.

Can you have it all?

Since I was a kid, I have been extremely ambitious. I daydreamed about having a successful career. I would climb the corporate ladder, and the only glass I would encounter wouldn’t be a metaphorical celiing, but the full length windows to my corner office overlooking the city.

I imagined myself making ridiculous amounts of cash, buying a big house and getting VIP access to the coolest places.

The ambitious person inside of me still wants that.

The minimalist in me sees how fruitless it all is in the end.

The world of work feeds our desires, always making us want more. More money, more stuff, more status.

Since starting my corporate career a few months ago, I’ve found myself falling into this trap. It’s contagious, and I’m only human. Now that I have my own apartment and more stuff than I need, am I really happy?

A big part of me misses the time when I used to travel the world with my trusty suitcase which held all of my life possessions. Every day was an adventure. Now, every day is the same as yesterday.

Over the last few months, I’ve been so damn close to packing it all in and getting back onto the road, forgetting all of the reasons why I got off it in the first place.

There were so many times on the road that I would go back to my old daydreams. I decided that it was time to put my aimless wanderings on hold and finally settle down with a challenging job that would pay for my own apartment. For the longest time, I wanted a place that I could call home.

Is there a way to balance our ambitions, to have a ‘successful’ career, without losing our contentment with what we already have and getting sucked into a materialist lifestyle?

Part of the answer is finding a job that you love, that you’re good at, and that pays well. Unfortunately, this is a bit too idealistic for most people.

I’m sure there are plenty of people who have well paying jobs that they love, and don’t squander their money on useless stuff. The main problem is that when work is such a drag, saving up to buy something nice is all that you have to look forward to. A treat for all your hard work…

…and we’re going in circles, back to square one.

I don’t have the answers to this one. Yet.

This is something I’m going to have to learn the hard way. Any suggestions?

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There will always be a reason why you can’t or shouldn’t. 

But there’s rarely a justification for won’t.

It can take a lifetime to build up walls to protect yourself from getting hurt. Brick by brick, we build our defences and prepare ourselves for battle with all the people that come in and out of our daily lives – family, friends, acquaintances, co-workers, bosses, enemies and lovers. All of them are puzzle pieces, big and small, that fit together and make us the person we are. We talk, hug, avoid, compete, compare, shake hands, tell secrets, share interests, reveal feelings or even spend long silences with all sorts of circles of people that constantly change as we grow and move on.

The world is a scary place, there are those out there who can hurt us, hate us for what they think we are, but in turn there are those who can love us for being exactly who I am.

We could spend our lives hiding away, protecting ourselves from even the possibility of being hurt. We could keep our feelings hidden, never say what we want to say, avoid risk and never tell somebody that we love them.

But what kind of world would we be living in if we all did that?

Or we could take a chance. Open our hearts. Tell somebody how special they are and how much they mean to us. We could let go of our insecurities, fear and pride, and in return, get back something much more valuable.

If only we let ourselves be vulnerable.

There’s always a chance you’ll get hurt. That’s true of almost anything, but what if for once you ignored the voice of reason and took that step that will change your life?

You’ll never know the outcome of anything unless you give it a try. And ‘to try’ is to be willing to put everything on the line to see it through.

When it’s raining, most people head for cover. What if you danced in it instead?

Be vulnerable, be alive.

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