Why minimalism?

As early as 23, I have what most of the ladies at my age do not have.

I have a stable job in a bank, managerial level.

I can afford to stay in a whole house on my own.

I have my own car, a car from my own pocket. Without a single cent from my parent or siblings. I got a my car without a guarantor.

Well.. I forgot to introduce myself. I am Len, from Malaysia. In Malaysia, if your income is not strong enough, you will need a guarantor to get a loan for purchasing a car.

I can pretty much handle everything in my own. I stayed in 2 rooms apartment alone.
I pay the bills all on my own.

With that freedom of having a house, I fill one of the room with my clothes and another room for me to sleep. Such a heaven!

I've got everything a reasonable human being wants.
Job, a house and a car. But.... what do I feel with that?

I feel empty... I keep buying new things as a therapy.
There are times, I tell myself "I want to be successful and RICH!"

But then again... I imagine myself being super rich. Would that really make me happy? Fulfilled?
The answer is no!

Every day, after a long day at work I will drive back home.
When I see the THINGS at my home, I feel extremely annoyed.

This is too much! Too many stuffs!! That I don't even need at all!
I never use and will never use!

I tried so hard to stop buying things, but I could never refrain myself from
doing so.

At one point, I feel that there is nothing in this world can fill the 'empty' feeling in my life.
That 'empty' feeling is the hunger for more. I could never stop that 'hunger' for more of everything.
It is exactly like I don't want anything, I just want EVERYTHING!

And I clearly aware that is never gonna happen.

But if that is not gonna happen? What can I do?
How am I going to be happy if this craving for more would never stop!?
Think Len! Think!

So I 'Googled'... ' How to be happy in life?'

After months of looking for the best way to be happy... I found MINIMALISM.

Oh yea.. you might think that I should find a soulmate for fulfill the incompleteness.
That could be the reason why I felt not complete.

But I had a boyfriend back then and it does not make any difference at all.

Therefore, back to MINIMALISM again.

Maybe I should get married? Hmmm... nay!
Married people like Joshua Becker, and Minimalist Mom still need minimalism.

So... again, back to MINIMALISM.

WTF Minimalism did to me?

WTF is that title?

Let me tell you what minimalism did to me?

1. I am deeply motivated to reach for my goals.
2. I am focused to things that matter.
3. I can see things clearly and I don't feel cloudy anymore.
4. I feel FREEDOM.
5. I feel like I am getting a full control of my life again.
6. I am being reasonable.
7. I have more space in my house.
8. I have more space for beautiful feelings instead of constant annoyance, irritation and strayed mind.
9. I feel content and fulfilled. Calmer.
10. I am being grateful for things I have.
11. I can relate more to others.
12. I can set boundaries instead of boundaries setting me off.
13. I rarely feel frustration.
14. I can let go of the pasts and move on easily.
15. I feel beautiful for what I am.
16. My debts are dramatically reducing.
17. I hardly feel tempted for buying beautiful useless things.
18. My friends and family are not feeling burden to buy me expensive things to meet my expectation. (I got a candle and lotion for Christmas gift)
19. I learned to give instead of receiving.
20. I feel that I worth more than I've ever been.
21. I've learnt to do selfless acts.
22. I am making peace by not spending time for unnecessary talks like gossipping.
23. I am a difference.
24. I got rid of some of my weaknesses.
25. I am closer to people I love more than ever.
26. I spend time listening instead of judging.
27. I have no envy over other's possessions.
28. I got a hold of my own feet. I don't shatter over silly criticism.
29. I can afford to buy luxury and high quality stuffs which is way cooler than before.
30. I am AWESOME! With or without your approval. ;)

For simple reason, minimalism got me all of the 30 above! So here is my year 2014 resolution.

My Year 2014 Resolution , 6 Jan 2014

I have terrible insomnia. I do sleep at 3am every day and wake up at 9 a.m. I am thankful enough that my working hour is 10.00 am to 7 pm. So, getting to bed early is one of my goal.

When I came back from my hometown after Christmas season, I weighted 59 kg. That is extremely heavy for my size. I've lost 2 kg since January and hopefully progressing well. I had a problem getting my passport earlier but now I have it.. therefore, I make it a resolution to visit at least a country this year considering that I have to clear half of my debt this year. 

What's up with that no.7 ? It is not that I don't wash my face before I sleep and after waking up. However, there are times where I feel too lazy to not to remove my mascara after a long day at work. On my lazy weekend, I do not wash my face right after waking up sometimes. Most of the time, I will only wash my face after breakfast. Therefore, I want to be more disciplined. Not to fail washing my face before breakfast.

At this point (March) running half a marathon seems like almost impossible for me as I have unsubscribed my membership at Fitness First gym. However, to reach my losing weight goal, I am currently working on p90x3 workout program. I am being optimist here.

And yea... I signed up for Mount Kinabalu Via Ferrata on last month for Oct 2014 schedule. Hopefully the weather will be on my side and I will be able to go for it. If any of you are interested to go for Via Ferrata, I got friends who can help to arrange for you.

After all, I am Bornean from The Land Below The Wind. 

Cheeers~~~!

Paralysed by Analysis

I don't really Tweet.

Why?

For real, it is a self centred action.

Narcissism.

I will talk about that later. :)

=====================

It has been three months without posting anything and my last post was all about new work place and clothes.

I have tons of things in my mind but writing them down will take me forever. I always want things to be perfect or else I won't do it. That is probably why I have not done anything great. I mean extremely great because of the mindset of wanting things to be perfect. 

Once, I shared my plans for my life with my immediate superior.

I shared about what are the things that I am planning to do and I closed my sharing with...

"But.... I don't know. Do you think it is a good plan? What if it does not work and I will only waste my time and resources?"

He shut me up. He said. 'Here's the thing. YOU ARE PARALYSED BY ANALYSIS!'

I was ____________. I can't even find a right word for my reaction.

"Yes. You are paralysed by analysis. You are too cautious! You have all of these wonderful ideas and plans but here you are. Not doing anything! You know why? It is because you think too much! You analysed all of the consequences and probabilities and when you find that there is a chance of failure, you hesitate and procrastinate or even trash the idea! The things that you think are might not even real. Yet you are scared to take action! You are paralysed because of your analysis. Stop over analysing and take action! '.

My reply was just ' Okay. I got it! Thank you'.

When I went back home, once again I evaluated myself. I took a deep thought over the phrase.

Yes. I did! I have always been paralysed by analysis. 

There was once, I refused to attend a sponsored training amounting USD $3997.

I refused to attend simply because I had a big project ongoing and stuffing new informations into my brain might distract me from my current job. Besides,  the training was in Kuala Lumpur city and it was during raining season. There were few cases of flash flood during that few days and being caught in flash flood is the last thing I want to happen to my car. Alone in the flood and no one to call for  help. Bearing the costs of repairing the engine, having to rent a car as a replacement for few days until my car restored, or having the problem going to work. I might get harassed while waiting for the rescue.

Do you see how terrible my 'over analysing'? To be honest, I could think up to four layers of backup plan for failure. I mean.. I do think like that for almost all of my actions especially it is meant for something I never try before. Four layers of backup. Who the hell in the world does that???

If there is, please tell me!

Enough with the possibilities of dangers imagination Len.

Do you see that?

How a possession could make you stop from doing good things.

===========================

Alright... about Twitter.

I replied to The Minimalist Guy's tweet simply because I do agree with one of his tweets.

Being quiet does not mean I did not do anything.

Sunway Lagoon - Malaysia

My insanity is certified!

I did Bungy Jump! - 7.7.2013 -

Revamping life

It has been almost a month from my previous post.

On the very first day in the new company, I claimed : I am practising minimalism.

On the very first day, I realised that I have to revamp almost 100% of my wardrobe.

This is my third week in the new company and still sorting life.

1. This company has no dress code. We do meeting on bean bags. We have pull up bar and gymnastics rings set up in the office. We do battle of push ups in the morning, we play pool before lunch and we play guitar after work. Due to that, I found that my dresses are NOT SUITABLE to my working environment.

I have 13 dresses and I can't do pull ups in my dresses!

2. Working hours has changed. 10 am -7.00 pm.

My time is very tight and my original schedule. I supposed to go for gym on every Tuesday and Thursday. I terminated my Fitness First membership. I am currently looking for a new gym around Bandar Utama.

Seems like I am unable to sell my remaining clothes. #LOL

I will be in e-Curve on Sunday to donate all of my remaining clothes.

1 in 1 out

Since I declared myself as a minimalist, I have not bought any clothes or shoes. That is an amazing transformation for me because I used to buy at least 2 dresses every month. For the last Malaysia Breakfast Run, I contemplated a lot on what pants I should wear. This is not making me happy. If I own less, I won't have to think on what to wear right?

Anyway, I have been looking for a good training/running pants for these few months. I've checked PUMA, NIKE, Adidas and etc... the price are more, less or the same (RM109.00 - RM159.00). That is costly for someone moderate earner like me. The cheapest good pants would be around RM79.00 without rear zipper pocket.

After months of looking, I finally bumped into a House of Sport's SALE when I was in Nilai.

I got a Women Reebok Play Dry short pants for RM49.00 (n.p RM 119.00). It is a pretty good deal for something with this quality (especially with rear zipper pocket). I know that this pattern is outdated in terms of fashion but I don't mind being judged.

 

It won't change the fact that I am healthy. :) 



Reebok Play Dry Shorts -Women : With reflective line. 

 

1 in 1 out. I have to give up my white pants a shown in the photo.



Clothes for cash

I still have more than 30 pieces of clothes that I decided to sell for some cash.
However, I found that I am not good at selling at all. Well… here are the reasons or precisely excuses why I can’t sell.

• My host is a very short and her friends are tall. Not many people can fit her attire.
• I am lack of interest and confidence to sell the stuffs. Lack of effort.
• Probably my clothes are too ugly to be sold or my sense of fashion is too weird. J
• I am lack of patience. I can't wait to see my room is free of unnecessary stuffs.

Anyway, I don’t even feel like I have to explain why I am unable to sell those clothes. My host has two sisters which is 17 and 10 years older than her. Obviously! They can’t share their clothes due to a decade of style preferences.

Again: I am thinking of donating the remaining clothes too except for this one cute T-Shirt. It has a bad memory and a good memory.
Good: This is my cooking T-Shirt. The big bread is like my apron. I was happy cooking, baking and serving foods to others. This shirt came along with my ability to make cookies. :)
Bad: Too bad to mention here. I deserve to be happy by not writing it. :)

Malaysia Breakfast Day Run 2013 - MILO

This is my first medal after 2004...
I hope to get more for me to achieve of one my lists. Complete a MARATHON.
Malaysia Breakfast Run May 19, 2013 (Sunday) at UPM

Time management

"The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time"

 

When I answer 'I don't have time', please bear in mind that I wanted to say 'you are not worth enough of my precious time' in a nicer way. 70% possibility! Because I understand the same meaning when I got 'I don't have time' answer from someone. However, I do respect your priority and I am not offended.

Seriously, I don't believe in 'I don't have time statement'. Everyone is given 24/7. Decide wisely on what and who you want to spend the time with.

 

One more thing... I am not lazy. I just enjoy doing nothing. 

 

Busy or 'I don't have time' is nothing more than excuse and lies that you want to believe.

Minimalist accessories

Being a minimalist doesn't mean I have to forget about being fashionable and presentable.
So I chose three sets of minimalist accessories for my host.

Minimalist Accessories

[1]A set of diamond ring and earring. My host needs this for certain function that requires her to dress up GLAMOROUSLY. I wear the same accessories for every functions and when someone says:

"Hey, is that the same thing you wore last time?".

My answer is always the same too :

'Wow! You have such a good memory. I am amazed that you can remember what I wore and yea~ you noticed me.Thanks! See you around... bye!'. 

(It seems like this set came along with sarcastic reply)

[2]A set of laid back/vintage charms bracelets and necklace. I can wear these accessories for almost all of my clothes. My bracelet represents music, books, food, love, life and dragonfly.

[3]As for my daily attire, my simple silver watch is my only accessory. When I know I will be meeting guy clients, I will wear my silver sapphire ring. Sapphire is my birth stone. I can't recall where did I kept my fake gold necklace in the photo above and I don't feel like looking for it because I never have a lust towards gold. My friend forced me to buy and  wear something on my neck which sounds more like 'hey, hang something on your neck' to me. She said 'you are too plain!'. So I bought it just to make her happy.

• All of my accessories are mix and match.
• There is a strong reason behind every accessory I chose.
• I have 7 accessories in total.

My small room

My room now..

 

How I see my room in future...



"One can furnish a room very luxurious by taking out furniture rather than putting it in." Francis Jourdain 

10 facts about my HOST

Here's some info about my host. The body I am living.

1. Poultry is a no-no for this body.
2. This body can stay awake for more than 24 hours.
3. This body is restless.
4. Anemic and a Thalassemia carrier.
5. Her hand is full of scars.
6. Looks 5 years younger than her age.
7. Her eyes is +200 left, +100 right.
8. Weight 52kg (fat huh?)
9. Height 154cm
10. Laugh inappropriately VERY LOUD.

 

"I am going to make her lean and mean.
I am going to make her a minimalist "

Clothes list

11 Dresses
1 Baju Kurung
1 Baju Kadazan
1 Punjabi Dress1 Shawl
3 Cardigans (royal blue, turquoise and black)
1 Outdoor jacket1 Denim jacket
1 Vest
1 Black Shirt
1 Black Pants
1 Red Blouse
3 Jeans (Black, Blue and Seasoned)
1 Short Pants
3 Workout pants ( white, turquoise, black)
2 Beach pants
2 Sweat pants (long-white, short-green)
1 Zebra pants (will return back to my sister)
12 T-shirts (will return 1 to my sister)
4 Tank Tops
* Occasionally

TOTAL= 52 Clothes

I will make it less than 50!

Extreme minimalist would probably laugh at my list.
However, as for now my state of mind says that I don't want to be an extreme minimalist.
One of the thing that I FEAR in this life is commitment and any sort of restriction (I admitted this on 26 Nov 2012). I hate being attached to anything : almost all things. I did mention about this in my previous blog. No kidding.
Committing to having only 100 things sounds like a commitment to me.
I would stay away from anything that disturbing my peaceful mind.

"We go on multiplying our conveniences only to multiply our cares. We increase our possessions only to the enlargement of our anxieties." Anna C. Brackett

Towards a minimalist total body care products

My host has a wavy and very tiny like a baby's hair.
Prone to breakage! This host has a very sensitive skin too. I struggled a lot to make her look more presentable last time and I felt so sorry for this host because I didn't know that this body can't take poultry. I ruined this skin.

I do really hope that my host can tolerate the changes I am making.
For now, I still have so much of hair and skin products that I have to eliminate.
Minimalism is very personalized anyway...


Hair care products: Shampoo + Conditioner + Mask + Tonic + Serum= 5 Items
Facial care products: Facial cleanser + toner + moisturizer + oxy5 = 4 Items
Body: Body wash + body lotion + body powder = 3 items
Oral: Toothbrush + Toothpaste =2 Items
Others: Lip balm + Red Lipstick + Deep Cleanser + Deep Moisturizer + Mask = 5 items
* Falls under toiletries. category.

Grooming products
Mascara +Hair Cream + BB powder + Blusher + Eye shadow = 5 items
TOTAL = 25 Items
Once this host get used to low maintenance, I will reduce more...


p/s: People talk about owning only 100 things. I already have 25 items.. lol.. way to go Len!

Why I want to be a minimalist?

I have always been longing to have A Simple Happy Life...

Probably since 2004? My host was only 17 years old back then.

She was trapped in a typical cycle of life. Born-School-Work-Breed-Die.

I had a Friendster blog once but my blog died with the death of Friendster and I stopped for a while.

Then I move to BlogSpot in 2008.

In the entry, I did mention;

I am just an ordinary girl who loves shopping. However, I noticed that I have no more space in my house to keep them and hence I stopped buying. I thought of studying hard and become rich and buy a big house to fit all of my stuffs and waste my money buying lots of clothes. But I know I won’t wear most of the clothes. I would still wear my worn out attire out of comfort. Therefore, I better choose to be a moderate in my spending.   [Len 23 Nov 2008]

 

I know this is going to be a big move. A very big change and I don't know how my host's family would react to this changes.. at this point, I am still afraid to say and admit that I want to be a minimalist. Can I do it? Yes! I can and I am doing it! This is what you wanted for your entire life. Gosh!What took me so long to decide and take the step!?

 

Sometimes the smallest step in the right direction  

ends up being the biggest step of your life.

Tip toe of you just but take the step.

Can I be a minimalist in Malaysia?

Can I be a minimalist in Malaysia?

It should be easy if I were to live in the rural area (including the village of my host).
But how about my host's location now? Damansara.

I need car to move around, I need house and I need a job to pay for all of that.

Can I let go of the car? I am not ready for that yet.

Can I let go of all the fun of watching movies, karaoke, gym and delicious food? Not yet!

But I know, one day... I will let go of all of that (including my car)

I will figure out how to do all of that.. because if I were to travel around the world, I shouldn't have a car.

" Nothing is Impossible"

Superfluous breakfast consumption

Is there any real minimalist in Malaysia?
I don't know.

Most of Malaysians are MONSTER CONSUMER.
Including ME!

I do pack my food from the hawker almost every morning during weekdays.
Let say I do that for every weekdays.
I will consumer:
1 Plastic Bag  x 5days x 4 x 12 = 240 Plastic Bags/year
1 Plastic Spoon x 5days x 4 x 12 = 240 Plastic Spoons/year
1 Plastic Fork x 5days x 4 x 12 = 240 Plastic Forks/year
1 Tissue Paper x 5days x 4 x 12 = 240 Tissue Papers/year

Just for my breakfast, I will consumer 960 pieces of stuffs per year.

How about the rest?

Now I feel bad about my consumption.

What am I going to do with that?

111 clothes went to a Burma Refugee camp

After almost a month of looking for a place to send my surrendered clothes, finally...

All of these bags will go to a Burma refugee camp... once I emptied my closet, I noticed that I won't need a big luggage that occupy 10% of my room anymore. I am giving away my luggage too...

 

Good bye messiness and superfluous!

How could I surrender my clothes?

Some of the clothes I am throwing cost me more than RM150.00 which is considered as a big amount for moderate earner like me. I saved for some of the clothes!
How could I simply throw it away?

How?

• Think deep and hard. Is there any bad memory triggered by that piece of clothes? If there is one bad memory out of out of 100 beautiful memories, get rid of it!
• When was the last time you wore the dress? Took a while to remember? Get rid of it!

That was the main key I used to minus off 111 clothes from my closet.

Superfluous clothes

Clothes. I have too much. I am surprised for many times finding something 'new' in my closet.
I forgot that I have red laced dress, I forgot that I have black legging, purple legging and so many other craps in my closet.

All of them are so outdated and some of them never worn.
Some of them are 'too much skin uncovered'.
Some of them I can't even fit anymore.
Since I have the feeling of sick with all of the stuffs.
I have decided to get rid all of unnecessary clothes!

I surrendered 111 pieces of clothes on 19 April 2013.

 

I have to find a suitable charity organisation to give away the clothes...
To my surprise, I couldn't believe that I am so much happier to have lesser clothes now.

Sweetest Prank

Read Sweetest Prank.

Hope your enjoy it!