The complicated path to simplicity?

I was going to write a post this week about the convoluted, confusing, sometimes downright dumbfounding path to simplicity. But Leo over at mnmlist.com beat me to the punch. And since he did it in a much…ahem…simpler way than I ever could, go, read, enjoy, ponder, be enlightened…

But mostly, Slow Down.

New contest – Name this process!

I was just talking with my roommate about this blog and the reasons for why and when I started it, when I realized something – As anyone who’s read more than one post here can tell you, I’m in the middle of a big, I mean life-changingly gigantic…process. The problem is, I have no idea what to call it.

So I’m open to suggestions, what would you call this sort of process? To recap briefly: beginning two years ago(more or less) I started reevaluated my life and where it was going. In the intervening years I’ve started eating a Primal Diet, wearing minimalist shoes if any at all, lost somewhere in the area of 30 pounds(with at least that many to go), quit my field of employment, moved halfway around the world to Israel, and begun life anew at age 32. I sold off well over half of my belongings, dozens of books, hundreds of cds and dvds, 2 kayaks, and given away at least 10 RAV4 loads to Goodwill. I no longer read 10 news sites a day, have cut my RSS feeds down to 20 that relate directly to either my new home or my new, as yet unnamed lifestyle, and do not have a Facebook account.

I don’t know where this process is taking me, what I know as of right now is that I just started an internship in a new career field (more later on that).And I know that I’m giving my new home 1 year to make it’s impact on the process. Next summer I’m going to have to move from my current apartment anyway, so that seemed like a good time to decide if I can cut it here or if I’m going back to the states with my tail between my legs. Or maybe I’ll head somewhere else entirely? I just don’t know at this point, that’s part of the process.

I’ve heard and read about many “Lifestyles” that are close enough for government work, such as Downshifting, SeaChange, Minimalism, and Voluntary Simplicity. But being one who’s never really fit catagories even when pushed…I’d like to come up with something better.

So I leave to you readers, what would you call me?

General update

I’ve been giving a LOT of thought to my life situation recently – funny how moving to a new culture after 27 years in one place will have that effect on a person. Not that I came up with any mind altering, ground shaking, life changing (no pun intended, I swear) realizations, but it’s been a fun exercise, albeit mostly futile. I’m going to be honest with y’all and lay it all out there, air my own dirty laundry if you will. I’m in a strange headspace right now and find it cathartic to write this stuff down. I figured why not put it in a forum where I might be able to get some feedback from disinterested third parties.

About a week after arriving here I had what some would call a minor breakdown. Others would likely call it an epiphany. Either way, I was walking around my neighborhood on Shabbat afternoon. Shabbat is the Hebrew word that has been translated as Sabbath, and here it’s on Saturday. As the bulk of the country shuts down completely due to the Biblical injunction that “no work shall be done” on the 7th day, I find it very peaceful to wander during that time. That brings us to the end of today’s religion lesson, now back to the story -

So I was just walking around minding my own, when I had a moment of clarity…WHAT THE F$&% AM I DOING HERE?!?!

To explain, I am Jewish, and I do realize the region I’ve chosen to move to(if you haven’t been following along, I moved from Seattle, Wa. to Jerusalem, Israel in August). The realization had more to do with where I am in the sense of overall life place and less to do with my physical surroundings. I’m 32, single, wrapped up a career I couldn’t stand just before leaving Seattle, just moved halfway around the globe in an effort to simplify my life (yes, I see the irony in that) and really really miss my dog. I am in full time (8.30 – 1.00 5 days a week) language lessons and am hoping my cash reserves last out the year. I have no real idea what I want to do with my life at this point. One might ask how on this green earth I made the decision to move to Israel when at such an uncertain time in my life. One would have a very good point. I guess I saw this as the optimal time seeing as how everything else was in flux, so why not jump in with both feet?

In the intervening month and a half I’ve been able to calm down my brain at least a bit, collected the information I would need should I decide that I was too hasty in my decision to move here, and started trying to build a new life. I’m meditating twice a day. I’ve found a 5 month residential Green Apprenticeship program offered by a Kibbutz down south that results in 2 internationally recognized certificates, a Permaculture Designer Certificate and an Ecovillage Design Education certificate. I’ve been interested in these areas since high school, but it’s taken awhile for me to realize that it was possible, and even necessary to at least try to do what you love in order to make a living. I’ve also recently changed aspects of my life (read Purged STUFF) that make it possible for me to live a very comfortable life on a lot less that most people realize is possible.

I’m also hoping to start an internship in SEO soon. What is that, you ask? Search Engine Optimization. It’s basically New Marketing for websites, using a combination of writing and editing, and other marketing tactics to drive traffic to certain websites up. It’s a career that I can see myself in for a number of reasons, first and foremost the simple fact that I can do it and do it well…and secondly that it can be location independent. I can learn the skills in this internship, then take it to the web and look for freelance work for companies anywhere in the world. This way, if I end up going back to the states in a year, I can still work in that field while finding a place to indulge that passion for permaculture and eco-village design and construction.

Wow, that was a mouthful…

I’ll wrap up this little glimpse into my brain with a rundown of my physical ailments. The short version is “I’m a trainwreck with feet.”

I’ll start from the bottom and work up. I don’t have full range of motion in my left ankle. This resulted from a doctor who was proud of his ability to remove a bone fragment that he forgot he had nicked my Achilles tendon and never gave me sufficient physical therapy. I have a hole roughly the size of a dime in the cartilage behind my left kneecap. This is the result of being built a little wonky combined with having been a hardcore skiier (alpine and telemark) for the better part of 25 years. I have a bulging disc in the lumbar region of my back as a result of my own sheer and overwhelming stupidity. This is the #1 ongoing issue I have right now, sitting in plastic chairs 4 hours a day learning a new language is made all the more difficult by searing pain. Then there’s the damage done to my left rotator cuff (torn Bicep Tendon and pulled Trap) from being dragged down a set of cement stairs by a co-worker at a remodeling company. That one’s led to a myriad other issues all in the general area of my shoulder that plague me to this day.

Wow, I’m a bigger mess than even I realized.

Thanks for indulging my tendency towards the rant, this post is actually substantially shorter than the original draft, hopefully I didn’t give away too much about myself – I like to keep some mystery in my relationships.

Purge Suggestions, part 3

To continue the series on suggestions for purging your life of extraneous STUFF, I’m going to go a slightly different direction with this one:

Try living out of a duffel bag for a few weeks

Seriously, in my case this was forced due to moving around the globe and my shipment being help up by local holidays for 2 extra weeks – but who’s to say you can’t try the same thing.

Start by looking at your clothes, what items do you regularly wear? Next time you do laundry, pile the folded clothes on your bed and take a quick inventory of what items are there. Do this the next 3 or 4 times you do wash and you’ll have a pretty good idea of what you wear day in day out. Put these items in a duffel bag or suitcase.

Now look at your other “Daily items,” things like toiletries, your computer, cell phone, iPod, camera, makeup, etc…and put the items you use regularly in the same bag. Now put yellow police line tape across your closet, bathroom drawers, desk drawers, etc…or in some way block access to the rest of your stuff (to get more extreme, box it all up and leave it in the garage, but I hesitate to actually suggest that route unless your STUFF problem is equally as extreme). Now try living out of that bag for a few days, a week, or even a month.

If you’re anything like me, you’ll find the experience really liberating.

The backstory here is one I’ve talked about already but I’ll provide some details here. I recently moved from Seattle to Jerusalem, Israel. I packed a total of 3 bags to carry with me and all the rest of my STUFF went in what’s called a Lift, or shipment, to take the slow boat here. I arrived on Aug 19th and it’s now Oct 17th, so I’ve been living with what I carried for almost 2 months now and I feel great! I really don’t miss anything save a couple of books I needed last week and my bed (which is the single reason I did the lift in the first place, without that bed I would have moved with only the duffels!).

Here’s what my room looks like, yup that’s an air mattress:

And here’s the closet (the other side has 10 hanging items):

And the pile of bags waiting for departure:

Now, understand that the apartment came with kitchen stocked, living room furniture, etc…so I’m only talking about personal items here, but still…this part of my journey has been eye-opening for sure. I’ve really come to understand the addiction-like quality of material possessions and what affect it can have on your life. I’ve also come to understand that it truly is about how you live your and the people and activities you fill your time with that matter most. Stay tuned for more installments in this series as well as updates on the direction my life is taking, hopefully including a job in the near future!

Ramblings, etc…part 3

In the last installment I believe I covered up through what I call, “The Big Wait.” Up until this point, I was doing a whole lot of not much, punctuated with short bursts of activity. Now, after finding out from the organization that was helping me that not only was I totally approved but that they were giving me a grant to help out, it was time to make concrete plans. I had my flight date, Aug 18. I had a place to land in Jerusalem (my flat is actually family owned), and I had no clue what to do next.

So I stepped back and looked as this as an outsider, what was the next step? I knew when I was leaving and I knew where I was going once I got here…what about my stuff? Ah yes, the shippers.

I’m going to skip the scarecrow-like convoluted path that I ended up taking to find this guy…suffice it to say I ended up finding a fantastic logistics guy, based here in Israel, who used a very good local (Seattle) moving company to pack me up. As I write my lift (that’s what your shipment of household STUFF is called) hasn’t arrived, so I can’t speak for this end yet…stay tuned as it’s due sometime in the next week. I promise lots of picks of unpacking and organizing!

So the Seattle manager comes out to measure my STUFF and tell me how large a shipping crate I’m going to need…I walked him around the house pointing at everything that was coming, and 5 minutes later when I say “that’s it,” his reaction is to repeat louder, “THAT’S IT?!?!”

I loved that, and will never tire of saying so.

Here’s a pic that I think I’ve used before showing ALL MY STUFF packed up in their truck:

This pile even includes a couple of chairs, a side table, and a cedar chest that aren’t mine…they’re my mom’s and are coming with me to help furnish the flat I’m living in (which she owns) so they won’t have to come next year when she moves. Have I not mentioned that my family (mom and sister) are following me to Israel next summer? Well they are, and they’re bringing the dogs including my Shira!

So that takes us through the packing phase, next time I’ll cover the joy that is airline travel.

Simplifying, Simplicity, and the Seachange

I know this is a sidetrack from the story, but I felt strongly that this topic was something I wanted to cover. I’m seeing a very interesting trend in the blogs I read. A trend is emerging toward minimizing spending, stuff, footwear, living spaces, etc…and what I find the most fascinating about this is the wide variety of people who are finding their way to this way of thinking.

Now, if you’ve read more than one post here you’ll know that I’ve been making my way down this path as well for well over a year now. I’ve sold off or given away the vast majority of my STUFF, sold my TV, gave away my Ginormous live CD collection, and ripped and sold all of my DVDs and commercial CDs (combined around 350 of them!) I got rid of my stereo system, and multiple computers. I now have a single 13″ Macbook laptop, multifunction printer, iPod with dock for tunes, and I watch whatever I want online and read most of my news the same way.

When you start looking critically at your live as a whole, you may be overwhelmed. I was. That’s why this process has taken me as long as it has to get this far. Let me suggest looking at one area at a time, and see where that area leads you. In my case, I actually started with my feet.

Yep, my feet.

Let me try to explain briefly: I started seeing a reflexologist around 18 months ago to try to help a nerve problem with my right hand. She suggested that I start thinking about my footwear as a way to help several other physical issues I’ve been battling for years now. Basically, the idea is to let your feet do the job they were built for…that is support the rest of your body, and motate (shut up, I like that word) you to your next destination. So I dumped my Superfeet insoles, traded my Chaco sandals for Vibram Fivefingers, and started training my feet to handle pavement au natural.

This led to some interesting finds when Googling things like “Minimal footwear”, “Barefooting”, and “Simple shoes.” I started getting links to sites that talk about the Small House Movement. Then I got some that went into New Urbanism and the effect of suburbia on the health of the planet and each of our individual health as well. And now, I’m seeing a trend in the blogs that I have classified as Health, Small Living, Simplicity, Barefooting, and even a couple of the local Israeli blogs I read…all talking about the same things, simplifying EVERYTHING and the effect it can have on your life.

Looking at the title of this post, I realize I haven’t even mentioned Seachange. The simplest definition I can find of this phrase is found here. I guess in my case it’s more of a Desertchange…but I digress again…

I’m putting together a list of some of these blogs and I’ll post it shortly, along with some of the videos and eBooks that I’ve found extremely helpful for me during this time of transition in the hope that some of you may find them helpful as well. I’ll also continue my saga in the days to come, right now I’m getting ready to head out to a free concert by a friends band downtown…that I’ll be taking the bus to, using my unlimited monthly bus pass. Talk about simple fun!

Ramblings on Moving, etc…part 2

It’s the night after a 25 hour fast (edit, it’s actually several days later now that I’m ready to post this), and I feel surprisingly good. Especially considering that I walked nearly 4 miles towards the end of the day! My Plantar fasciitis has made an inglorious return. I’ve been spending nearly everyday walking around in my Source (Israeli version of Teva, which are actually also Israeli, but nevermind that for now) sandals. I’m going to switch back to Vibram Fivefingers for a few days and see what happens…of course I’ll update here as well.

Now for the continuation of my saga, if only I could remember where I left off, oh well – this’ll due:

I came to the realization back about a year and a half ago that fixing computers was not something that I wanted to do for the rest of my working life. It’s a great way to make some money (hence I’m still doing it), but it’s not a career I see myself in. So now I’m sitting in Seattle, unhappy with my job and work life over all, contemplating moving around the world, and searching for something I can’t even really define. The first thing to start to work itself out was the move. There’s an organization that exists to help North American Jews move to Israel. We call it Making Aliyah, alluding to the trip Up to Jerusalem both physically (it’s 2000 ft above sea level) and spiritually (the most holy city in the world). I got in touch with them and started the process of getting my paperwork in order. This could very well spin off into a whole series of posts in which I question my own mortality and whether or not anyone would miss me if I spontaneously combusted – but I digress.

This paperwork gathering was seriously trying as it came right as I started cleaning out my life as a part of my Great Purge. Now here I was gathering papers I hadn’t seen in ages (like the court documents from when I legally changed my name, nothing like that you twisted, twisted readers…it had to do with a step father and wanted to use my maternal family name) and looking for a way to store them where I could get to them easily but they weren’t littering my newly cleared and windexed desk. I ended up creating a new stacked folder, just several manilla folders inside a larger plastic one, that I kept in a file box on my bottom shelf. Problem 1 solved.

Problem two in this process was trying to keep track of what needed to be done when. This process consisted of several bouts of activity punctuated by months of nothingness. This was also easy after thinking about it for a second, I am sort of an anomaly in the computer world, a tech who uses a paper calendar. So I simply went out to the appropriate month and put in an action item (I’ll get into how I separate items in my calendar sometime) for whatever was next. This is sounding like it was all really easy in reality, but trust me when it was happening it seemed WAY more difficult. Frankly, looking back on this period of time, the hardest part was the extended periods of NOTHING that came between each and every bout of activity. Whether I was waiting for a response to an email, or I had sent in a round of paperwork and was waiting for confirmation of receipt…or if there was just nothing I could do until a certain date…those times were pretty much unbearable. All I could do was think about what I was going to do once I got here, setting up a business, learning Hebrew, meeting people (unlike many who make this move, I didn’t have a huge circle of friends already here), etc…etc…etc.

The thing I had to remember through all this was not to let my expectations run away with my grasp on reality.

Speaking of a slipping grasp on reality, I need to head off to bed…I get up at 5.30 these days…if anyone reads to this point, do me a huge favor – are you actually finding this interesting? Or should I stick to reviewing shoes and ranting about airline food?

More ramblings on moving, etc…

I’ve got some posts in me, somewhere – I think they’ve been simmering somewhere down near my spleen…

I have a felt need to explain myself. It’s been a lifelong battle I’ve been having with myself, there are certainly somethings that merit explanation, but the vast majority doesn’t. I’m not entirely sure where this felt need comes from, and honestly in this particular case, I’m not entirely sure what it is I feel I need to explain, so bear with me if you would while I try to work out this little synaptic misfire.

Over the last, let’s go with 2 years, I’ve gone from being firmly ensconced in a stable job, great living situation for me and my dog, mediocre social life and absolutely no direction (or for that matter a clue as to where I would find that life compass that would give me a clue in which direction to begin looking for a clue as to which direction I should be looking in) – to having moved halfway around the globe, beginning to learn a new language (technically I knew some Hebrew from my youth and Synagogue), figuring out an entirely foreign culture, beginning a vocational training program (later posts will have details on this) and having a very good idea what my direction in life should be. Now mind you, I’ve still got no clue as the the exact direction my life is taking, but I’m finding the compass as we speak so it’s a matter of time.

Guess what?

Once I look past the initial “what-the-(&^$-am-I-doing???” I’ve never been more sure of any decision I’ve ever made. Nor have I ever been happier or more content in my absolute uncertainty. Sounds a bit wonky, doesn’t it? Trust me I know. It’s taken the bulk of the past 2 years of searching for me to be able to say that with a straight face. I’m 32 years old and am starting over. wow

I can see already that this is going to take several posts to get sorted out, so I’m going to cut this one off here. I’ll try to get a new segment of this story posted every couple of days or so, but I’m in the middle of holiday season here, so there are bound to be longer gaps. Keep bearing with me, my synaptic misfires will hopefully sound familiar enough to some of you that you can take something useful from my journey to help in your own. And remember, this all started with a desire to Simplify my life as a whole, it’s just ended up taking some strange twists along the way that may look complicated, but I promise the end result is going to be worth it.

Moving, New cultures, and thoughts on my new life…a little late.

We’re approaching the time of year where we’re supposed to reflect on our behavior over the last year and if necessary make repentance to those we’ve hurt. I’m not saying I’ve exactly hurt y’all, but I am very sorry for taking such a long – and I have to confess unexpected – break. I’ll start with a brief recap of the last few months:

When last we spoke, I was packing and preparing for my big move to Israel. Well that’s done, with the bulk of my STUFF now floating somewhere in a shipping container and I’m living with what fit in a large wheeled duffel and two travel backpacks. More on that later.

Then I headed out for a week in New York. Stayed with a friend and her husband on Long Island. The highlight of the week has to be climbing to the crown of the Statue of Liberty. Yes folks, if you missed it, they have reopened the crown to those willing to be sniffed by a mechanical nose, prodded by 3 – yes 3 – security guards, and climbing over 300 stairs half of which are a spiral staircase with what we’ll call limited headroom.

And of course, I was shod in my Vibram Fivefingers for the bulk of my day trips into the city -

And after a good transition week, I was off to Israel!

You see those bags on that cart? That’s all the possessions I brought on the flight. As in, that’s the extent of my STUFF right now, and you know what? I’ve loving it!

Now to back up to fill in one particularly appropriate stop I made while exploring NYC – the Vivo Barefoot store in SOHO. Why is this the stop I’m choosing to highlight? Because they make an amazing product and I want to take this opportunity to tell you about them. First off, Vivo Barefoot is the brainchild of Galahad Clark, yes that Clark, as in Clarks Shoes, and a childhood friend. To nutshell it for you, Galahad (sidebar, can you imagine growing up with a name like Galahad Clark???) learned about the benefits of walking barefoot and wanted to incorporate this knowledge into the line of shoes he was developing during his time at design school. The result is this:

This is one of the models I picked up while at the store in NYC, now here’s the kicker – they had just moved locations and were having an inventory clearance sale (unadvertised) and all shoes were $75. That’s literally half retail on the two pairs I got!

I’ll get some review comments up just as soon as it cools off enough here to wear them out and about, suffice it to say after wearing them around the store and my friends house and yard you get great ground feeling through the 3mm soles, and I have to say the upper is quite appealing in appearance and I shouldn’t have any problem wearing these for interviews etc when that becomes relevant.

Now on to the meat of this post, I did just move to Israel after all and at least some of you have to be wondering what’s up with that, right?

It’s amazing.

Notice I didn’t say it’s easy, or that everything smells like roses, or even that I’m not having any issues. Come on, I don’t speak the language (at least not fluently), don’t get large aspects of the culture (my background is as an American Jew of Russian lineage, and the bulk of Israeli society has been shaped by Jews from Arab countries, North Africa, and Central Asia), and after all I’ve only been here for a month. Some highlights so far:

I don’t have a car, public transportation in Jerusalem is insanely good for the most part. I’m not taking into account the roads being torn to hell right now as the municipality installs light rail down the main drag…ggrrrr

I’m learning the language via what’s called Ulpan. Basically it’s intensive classes designed to get you up and speaking as quickly as possible. After all this is a country made up almost entirely of immigrants.

I’ve already had 3 clients for my home PC/Mac servicing and training side business. I’m doing this due to the random schedule I have to have being in those language classes from 8.30 – 1.00 5 days/week. I’m also starting a 2 year tour guide training course in a couple of months so that’s going to play even more havoc with said schedule.

I’m now living in slightly under 600 square feet with 1, soon to be 2, roommates. And you know what? I love that my stuff fits just fine! I’ve been working on purging and getting my stuff down to a reasonable amount for what…over a year now?!?! It better fit, even after my lift gets here. Speaking of which, here’s what’s in my shipment, add the 3 bags I traveled with and you have the grand total of my earthly belongings:

Yeah, now you know why that shipper’s comment was, “That’s IT?!?!” when he was tallying up the space I’d need…

I’ve about hit a wall with this post, the goal was just to fill y’all in on how things are going and what I’m up to in my new life. Look forward to more regular posts coming up after the holidays (Rosh Hashana is next Saturday, and I’ll be off the computer from then until Yom Kippur 10 days later) where I’ll go a little deeper into my reasons for this move and what I’m hoping to do with myself for the near term.

Thanks for reading, and thanks for your patience while I stumble through this milestone and figure out how I want to come out on the other side.

New York…twitch

I’ve been in New York for 3 days now and I’m finding it not-surprisingly difficult to relax. Geez, how do folks live here?!?!

For anyone who stumbles on this blog and doesn’t read the archives…first off, come on! It’s not that many posts, just read ‘em! Thanks.

Second, to fill you in, I’m in New York for a week leading up ’til my flight to Israel. I’m on a group charter flight leaving JFK Tuesday afternoon. Until then, I’m staying on my friends floor in the village of Port Washtington – which is about 40 minutes by train northwest from the city on the north shore of Long Island. It’s quite nice out here, quite at night, lots of trees, actually not that different from the Seattle area – except for the humidity.

What I have trouble with is the idea of living IN the city. I’ve only gone in 2x, for no more than 1/2 a day each time and I’m beyond burned out! WOW, the energy, the speed people move at, the NOISE…I feel like I need to decompress from my vacation week already. twitch…OK, next topic:

I was forced to find the Vivo Barefoot shoe store in SOHO, and I’m extremely happy about that! It turns out they were having a massive clearance sale to make room in their new store for the new lines…$75 for any pair of shoes in the store – that’s like 1/2 price!!! To back up for another moment, I now go barefoot as often as possible, and wear Vibram Fivefingers when needed. The problem is that I’m going to need to have interview clothes, and semi professional attire for meeting with prospective clients once I get established in Israel. That means shoes that don’t look like monkey feet. Enter Vivo Barefoot. These shoes have a 3 mm, kevlar reinforced sole and very Euro-styled uppers. I went with a brown chukka style model called the Oak, and a black slip on called the Dharma. That’s two pairs for the price of one. AND, the store was paying tax on top of that great deal, so I was out the door with two pairs for exactly $150! I haven’t worn them outside of the store yet, but from comparing a Vivo on my right foot to the Fivefingers on my left…I think the ground feel of each should be about the same, and with the wide toe box my feet can move naturally, and they’re so soft they can flex wherever your foot wants to.

Other than that, check out some pics, including my Fivefingers on the Long Island RailRoad and the 6 train heading for Penn Station.

More to come after the weekend, and hopefully before I leave!