So now I've thrown in a new word along with all the other painful words to define...
So many words... Yet no proper definitions.
Retirement, Semi retirement, Minimalism, Now Freegan.
All these words will come along with... Lazy, trash collector, no ambition... etc etc...
It's going to be such a pain...
From Retirement, Semi retirement...
Surely people will say...
He's not retired. He's living off his wife. He's too young to be retired. He still works part time. What an unsuccessful person...
And from Minimalism...
People will say...
Spends more than $XXXX per month, or owns more than 100 items, he's not a minimalist.
And now, the new term... Freegan
And comments will come...
Dumpster diver, eating other people's left overs, free loader, etc...
Somehow, people like hard definitions. Yes or no... there's little in between. And sometimes it gets... exasperating explaining all these.
And I've come to accept... that some people will get it... and some people won't... Some people might be new readers and in the future, they won't look through my old posts and find today's post. And so they will undoubtedly, jump to conclusions again... and cannot be I every few weeks/months, come up with a post or disclaimer to write what I did not say.
For example... I like drinking coffee. Doesn't mean I don't drink tea. I like coffee. That is a statement. It is not possible to infer that I don't drink tea from that statement.
I avoid weddings... doesn't mean I don't go to weddings. I avoid weddings cos, most of the time I'm called in as a filler and I don't want to pack a red packet for someone who treats me as a filler.
(A filler is someone who isn't on the main friend list of the person, but is invited cos the couple needs to invite sufficient people to make up the tables. If you don't contact the person at least once a year and they invite you, you're LIKELY a filler. <= even this I need to put disclaimer... LIKELY. Not 100% you are a filler. You may have extremely close friends whom you don't contact at least once a year. )
So for me... I'd like to associate myself with the words...
Semi retirement... But now, I rather just use, self employed or unemployed. It's soooo much easier to explain.
I'd like to call myself a minimalist. I have little desires. My home is packed neatly. I have a lot of stuff. But I know that they are unnecessary, many of them are spare stuff which are used for replacement or they are memories. They are packed nicely in a drawer. It does not clutter up my life. When my clothes are worn out, I will take one out from the drawer to replace it. I do not think about it or chase material wants.
For people who are minimalist, they understand what it's about. It's not about how much you spend or how many items you own. Rather, it's about decluttering your life. (Please go read up more about it first.) The idea is not let clutter stress you out. This could be in the form of material things, or mental things.
It is easier done with less material stuff, but that's not the entire idea of it.
So many words... Yet no proper definitions.
Retirement, Semi retirement, Minimalism, Now Freegan.
All these words will come along with... Lazy, trash collector, no ambition... etc etc...
It's going to be such a pain...
From Retirement, Semi retirement...
Surely people will say...
He's not retired. He's living off his wife. He's too young to be retired. He still works part time. What an unsuccessful person...
And from Minimalism...
People will say...
Spends more than $XXXX per month, or owns more than 100 items, he's not a minimalist.
And now, the new term... Freegan
And comments will come...
Dumpster diver, eating other people's left overs, free loader, etc...
Somehow, people like hard definitions. Yes or no... there's little in between. And sometimes it gets... exasperating explaining all these.
And I've come to accept... that some people will get it... and some people won't... Some people might be new readers and in the future, they won't look through my old posts and find today's post. And so they will undoubtedly, jump to conclusions again... and cannot be I every few weeks/months, come up with a post or disclaimer to write what I did not say.
For example... I like drinking coffee. Doesn't mean I don't drink tea. I like coffee. That is a statement. It is not possible to infer that I don't drink tea from that statement.
I avoid weddings... doesn't mean I don't go to weddings. I avoid weddings cos, most of the time I'm called in as a filler and I don't want to pack a red packet for someone who treats me as a filler.
(A filler is someone who isn't on the main friend list of the person, but is invited cos the couple needs to invite sufficient people to make up the tables. If you don't contact the person at least once a year and they invite you, you're LIKELY a filler. <= even this I need to put disclaimer... LIKELY. Not 100% you are a filler. You may have extremely close friends whom you don't contact at least once a year. )
So for me... I'd like to associate myself with the words...
Semi retirement... But now, I rather just use, self employed or unemployed. It's soooo much easier to explain.
I'd like to call myself a minimalist. I have little desires. My home is packed neatly. I have a lot of stuff. But I know that they are unnecessary, many of them are spare stuff which are used for replacement or they are memories. They are packed nicely in a drawer. It does not clutter up my life. When my clothes are worn out, I will take one out from the drawer to replace it. I do not think about it or chase material wants.
For people who are minimalist, they understand what it's about. It's not about how much you spend or how many items you own. Rather, it's about decluttering your life. (Please go read up more about it first.) The idea is not let clutter stress you out. This could be in the form of material things, or mental things.
It is easier done with less material stuff, but that's not the entire idea of it.
Many thanks to Tina who recommended this video.
They aren't the ones who created or started minimalism. They just live it.
At no point in their video did they mention about how much is spent or how much stuff they still have.
The idea is pretty much decluttering their lives and removing unnecessary stress which doesn't give them much happiness.
I take it to mean that there is ABSOLUTELY nothing wrong with having an expensive hobby as long as it gives the individual sufficient happiness with no stress. Meaning... It's fine to buy a Ferrari. If the person earns enough money, they are ok with the loan, it makes them super happy and there is no stress for owning the toy.
Why? What's wrong? Rich people have rich people version of minimalist, commoners have commoners level of minimalist what.
Anyway, back to topic... I also want to incorporate freegan-ism into my life. Doesn't mean I'll make dumpster diving a habit or hobby, I'd likely give it a try someday, see if it works out, then decide from there. But rather, I have always been on the lookout for freebies. But now, I realize there's a whole community of these folks. And they share their freebies and they have organized ways to make these freebies more readily available. Now of course this is a community. It's not a trading post. So I have stuff which I don't know what I'm going to do with, I'll likely be giving some of my stuff away as well. I wanted to sell them, but I realized that it wastes time. I could just give it away, and make someone else happy, they in turn would also contribute to the community and someone might be giving away something that I want for myself. Or they may share a lobang to get free stuff... Freegan living doesn't naturally equate to dumpster diving. The idea is just... making a point to get some/all stuff for free. If you can get it for free, why pay for it.
So you see.... all these stuff aren't mutually exclusive...
Someone could be retired but financially NOT independent. Happens very often to many of the old folks in Singapore.
Someone could be financially independent but still working.
Or a minimalist and still working. Or a freegan and still working. Or a minimalist and a freegan. Or a millionaire, minimalist, freegan. Or a freegan dumpster diver who runs a business selling dumpster dived 2nd hand products.
Many many different combinations. It's like in school... last time we studied, physics, chemistry, biology, geography, literature, maths, A maths, etc etc... Doesn't mean study one thing means will naturally be poor in another subject.
Like I always say in this blog... keep an open mind and be open to many different perspectives. If you like the idea, you can find ways to incorporate some parts of it into your life. If you don't like it, nvm, just forget it, but what you think might be a bad idea might be considered a good idea for others. And also remember... it's not always black or white, there are many shades of grey. Different levels of retirement, different levels of minimalism and different types of freegans.
<<PREVIOUS POST // NEXT POST>>
Did you like this post? If so, could you "blanjah" me 1/4 cup of my morning coffee pls.
Many thanks for continuing to come to this blog to read my posts.
They aren't the ones who created or started minimalism. They just live it.
At no point in their video did they mention about how much is spent or how much stuff they still have.
The idea is pretty much decluttering their lives and removing unnecessary stress which doesn't give them much happiness.
I take it to mean that there is ABSOLUTELY nothing wrong with having an expensive hobby as long as it gives the individual sufficient happiness with no stress. Meaning... It's fine to buy a Ferrari. If the person earns enough money, they are ok with the loan, it makes them super happy and there is no stress for owning the toy.
Why? What's wrong? Rich people have rich people version of minimalist, commoners have commoners level of minimalist what.
Anyway, back to topic... I also want to incorporate freegan-ism into my life. Doesn't mean I'll make dumpster diving a habit or hobby, I'd likely give it a try someday, see if it works out, then decide from there. But rather, I have always been on the lookout for freebies. But now, I realize there's a whole community of these folks. And they share their freebies and they have organized ways to make these freebies more readily available. Now of course this is a community. It's not a trading post. So I have stuff which I don't know what I'm going to do with, I'll likely be giving some of my stuff away as well. I wanted to sell them, but I realized that it wastes time. I could just give it away, and make someone else happy, they in turn would also contribute to the community and someone might be giving away something that I want for myself. Or they may share a lobang to get free stuff... Freegan living doesn't naturally equate to dumpster diving. The idea is just... making a point to get some/all stuff for free. If you can get it for free, why pay for it.
So you see.... all these stuff aren't mutually exclusive...
Someone could be retired but financially NOT independent. Happens very often to many of the old folks in Singapore.
Someone could be financially independent but still working.
Or a minimalist and still working. Or a freegan and still working. Or a minimalist and a freegan. Or a millionaire, minimalist, freegan. Or a freegan dumpster diver who runs a business selling dumpster dived 2nd hand products.
Many many different combinations. It's like in school... last time we studied, physics, chemistry, biology, geography, literature, maths, A maths, etc etc... Doesn't mean study one thing means will naturally be poor in another subject.
Like I always say in this blog... keep an open mind and be open to many different perspectives. If you like the idea, you can find ways to incorporate some parts of it into your life. If you don't like it, nvm, just forget it, but what you think might be a bad idea might be considered a good idea for others. And also remember... it's not always black or white, there are many shades of grey. Different levels of retirement, different levels of minimalism and different types of freegans.
<<PREVIOUS POST // NEXT POST>>
Did you like this post? If so, could you "blanjah" me 1/4 cup of my morning coffee pls.
Many thanks for continuing to come to this blog to read my posts.
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