30-day 'Letting Go' Series: Day 4

pet booklet
Love in the time of Cholera - from a friend, never read
Presumed Innocent - from a friend, never read
Learn to Speak English Fluently - read but never learned (lol)

30-day 'Letting Go' Series: Day 3

Day 3: Cowboy hat - I only used this once last year, for my nephew's christening. (https://goo.gl/RvJ3vM)
Boldstar (You must have been a beautiful something) - my favorite Pinoy Indie band.
Revised Penal Code of the Philippines - Just because I was once interested in taking up Law.

30-day 'Letting Go' Series: Day 2

Bvlgari Extreme - ex-gf's gift. 

HDMI cable - have never used because my computer's videocard doesn't have an hdmi slot.

30-day 'Letting Go' Series: Day 1

Tsinelas. - I have no use for this anymore since I have the same one (black).

30-day Minimalism Game.

I'm a "just-in-case" guy. I keep things "just-in-case" I need them in the future, never really knowing when that will be. I guess I have acquired this habit from the people around me... or maybe it's just one of those 'Filipino' things where we don't remove the plastic wrapper of a newly-bought TV, keep the box of shoes that we bought (even years after the shoes were gone), or keep the gifts we received somewhere in the wardrobe, in the cupboard, or on the table, just because they're 'too good' or 'too expensive' to use.

So why do most of us like having these ‘just-in-case’ things?

Why do we like keeping stuff that we don’t use? There are many reasons. One of those is because we never really know when we might need them, so in a way, it’s for our security or our comfort in the future that we are worried about. For others, it’s the sentimental value—maybe from a loved one, a product of an unforgettable experience, or from someone we admire the most--- that matters because they make us remember some important moment, something that we don’t want to lose, something which we have identified as already a ‘part’ of ourselves.

Now there are hundreds of reasons out there but I guess now that I’ve mentioned two common reasons, let me narrow the root cause into two: The Past and The Future.

The past

We keep these ‘just-in-case’ things because we hold on to the past. We do not want to lose our identity or the things that make us remember who we were, what we experienced at a certain time in the past. We want to somehow remind ourselves that we’ve done 'this' or that we’ve become like 'that' at least once in our lives. And this feeling sometimes gives us ‘hope’ that we can still change things. It can give us a burst of happiness. It can also make us sad or even feel nostalgic—and that feeling feels good even if we feel bad (got that?) thinking about it.

The future

We keep these ‘just-in-case’ things because we want to feel secured in the future. Ever wondered why most people want more money than what’s enough for them? It’s that thing called ‘saving for retirement’. We keep the ‘just-in-case’ things around so in case we need them, we have access to them.

Having these things around is not something that’s bad. But we don’t always need them. In fact, sometimes they hurt more than they help. Instead of them helping us become focused on the things that we need (or at least the things that we want), they stop us from really knowing what we need. They become clutter. And instead of adding value, it decreases the value that we give both to the useful things and to the ‘just-in-case’ things that we have. Instead of really valuing the shirt that my mom gave me, it’s difficult to appreciate it because I have 50 other shirts--- and it’s causing me headache just to choose a shirt to wear.

Realising this, I guess it’s time for me to do something about it. I think that Barry Schwartz was right in “Paradox of choice” where basically he was saying that having too many things to choose from often leads to the consumer feeling bewildered when facing the choice and less satisfied even after taking a decision. The more options we have, the more difficult it is to choose, period. This doesn’t only apply to choosing, but also to actually ‘doing’. The Pareto principle for example, states that 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.

How is that connected with the excess or unused items I have at home?

Simply put, the more shirts I have, the more difficult it is for me to choose from them, therefore wasting valuable time. 80% of the shirts that I wear are 20% of all the shirts I have, this means that 80% of my shirts are technically useless! The sad part is, there are thousands of people out there who don’t have shirts (or at least nice shirts to wear) yet here I am letting my shirts (or other things) collect dust in my wardrobe.

What can I do to help myself then?

It’s not simple and it takes a lot of emotional power to ‘let go’ of things especially the ones that seem important to us. However, I think that it’s worth the ‘letting go’ or ‘letting be’. So I decided to play the 30-day Minimalism Game. I’m going to remove one thing (that I think doesn’t add value to me anymore) on the first day. On the second day, I will remove two things. On the third day, I will remove three things. And on the 30^th day, I will remove thirty things. If I am able to keep it going for 30 days, I win. If I play it with someone, then whoever can keep it going the longest, wins.

D7000 (complete) + Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 (non-vc)- 20k

Hello guys. Selling my D7000 and complete package plus freebies

and

Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 non-VC (sharp copy!) for Php 25,000

PHP 20,000

D7000 package:

D7000 Body

Box

manuals

16GB Sandisk Ultra SD card

2 pieces EN-EL15 batteries

Original Nikon charger

1 tamrac camera bag

1 Rocker 30 Camera bag

Haida Optical Circular Polarizer

Extra nikon lens cap (18-55mm)

OP/TECH USA strap

Steinzeiser UV filter (58 mm)

Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 (canon cap :D)

please text 09333939757 if interested. Meetups at Anonas LRT station or nearby area. Thanks!

pictures:

Seeing God: through the eyes of a dog.

Let’s say we’re walking down the street and we saw a piece of paper lying on the floor. Will we pick it up? Maybe not. But what if the paper had ₱100 written on it? Will we pick it up? Maybe yes. If it had ₱1000 written on it? Maybe faster than we think. Change the sign to a dollar ($), will we pick it up? Let me be the first one to say that I’ll definitely pick it up! Now, let’s say we pick up the paper and papers with values written on them and put it in front of a dog. We gently lay down the white piece of paper first, then the paper with ₱100 written on it, then the paper with $1000 written on it. Which do you think will the dog pick up (or in this case, eat)? I do not think that the dog will be interested in any of those because the dog knows (at some level) that they’re all the same. We too, know damn well that they’re all the same; they’re all pieces of papers. But why is it logical to pick $1000 than $100 if they’re both papers anyway?

Because we’ve put a value in it. We put an identity on the paper – this value will give you this food, but this one has a higher value, it will give you more food. And I believe that "success", in our own definition, means just like the same. He is more successful than you, because of this, because of that. But stripped off of all these things, strip off all the money, fame, properties, abilities we have, and focus more into the structure, aren’t we all the same? Soul and body? Heart and brain? Aren’t we, in relation to my earlier analogy, all papers? Therefore, the belief that the paper with $1000 written on it and the one without are basically the same, which means it is an illusion to think that the former is more important/valuable than the latter? Or is it not?

(Fear and Truth dialogue)

Fear: What is it then that separates us from each other?

Truth: It is the Ego - Egoic mind, the mind that tricks us into creating a false sense of self, the “I” that we identify ourselves with. The “I”, who was a failure to his family, a womanizer, a murderer or the “I” who built a school in his community, who has the largest house in the country, who has been the president of this organization. This “I” which is our own thinking – conditioned by the past, whatever was done before, our upbringing or maybe family background – creates an idea of what we think we are made of and where we base our idea of self, of who we think we are. But the Egoic mind is, like the paper with written value on it, still a paper – no matter how many numbers are written on it - and it gives us an illusion that we are “more important” than a paper with lesser 'value'.

Fear: So how can we then identify what the illusion is and what isn’t?

Truth: By looking through the eyes of God which is manifested in the eyes of Nature. The trees, the animals, all these living things know what the truth is. Only humans fall for illusions.

Fear: But we cannot talk to the animals and the trees!

Truth: Not in your language, which you don’t even understand, but in theirs.

Fear: What is that?

Truth: Empathy. Compassion. In treating them as how you would treat yourself. In believing in what they believe in, taking care of what they take care of, and making important the things that are important to them. When you have done all this, you will notice a change with the things that you see. It’s not a physical change. You will still see the same things but inside you, there will be a huge shift - a wisdom that wasn’t there before. You will understand things differently. This shift, of being free of the illusions of this world and then being one with the world, will set you free. This is the truth.

Fear: So, to see through the eyes of a dog, or the nature, is to see through the eyes of God? But humans are very different from animals, let alone nature. The trees don’t have brains to think. The animals have brains but they don’t rationalize. How can I even see through their eyes?

Truth: By seeing through the eyes of an innocent child. “Become like children”, as Jesus said.

Fear: But why? Why can the children see what I cannot? They have eyes like mine, they have brains like mine. And they rationalize too.

Truth: Yes. They do. But they use their brains very different from how you use yours. In fact, they don’t use them that much. Because all they care about is the present – what is happening now -, not five seconds before, not five seconds after, but what is currently happening. They do not consume their days thinking about the past or the future because anything that is concerned with the past or the future is the creation of the Egoic mind. And we know, based from what was discussed earlier that it is not true – it is an illusion. “The future never comes as the future; it always comes in the form of the present.”, said Eckhart Tolle.

Fear: What good will this bring me? If I know how to identify the illusions of this world and if I know how to see through the eyes of a child, then obviously my understanding of needs will become different from other people. Will this give me all that I need? Because I don’t see the purpose of doing this if I’m not going to get the things that I need anyway.

Truth: To release your ego, is to be present. By being present, you are able to see things you couldn't see before. It’s like this. You are watching a comedy film but your mind is thinking about all your debts and all your problems and because of this you cannot enjoy what you’re watching. By being present, you forget all those things in the past, and the future, and focus in the now and therefore enjoy the film that you are watching. This is true in everything that you see or do. Being present dissolves the Ego in you (the time – past or future) and creates a new dimension, a new world, which makes you enjoy every second of your life – just like when you were a child. When you can see the world through the eyes of a child, you see through the eyes of the animals, and the trees, sun, clouds, everything. You start to empathize with others. You start to become compassionate with others. And being compassionate is the key to understanding love. And understanding love is the key to giving and receiving love. So would this give you all that you need?

I’ll leave you with John Lennon’s (and the rest of The Beatles’) answer: “All you need is love”.