September 20, 2023: Not owning cutlery knives. And 15 instead of 16 coat hangers. No more small bags.
September 20, 2023. After my morning coffee at HanoMacke, I took photos of my bright yellow, conspicuous bicycle and listed it on classifieds.
In the cafeteria, around 11 AM, I ate without a knife for the first time. The menu included vegan meat-tomato roll, avocado dip, white bean salad, and baked chili potatoes. It worked surprisingly well, as the tomato roll could be easily cut with a fork.
Around 1 PM, I searched on Amazon for a more compact clothes rack that could be disassembled without tools. I found a so-called telescopic rack, made of clamping rods that are fixed between the floor and ceiling. I bought it and decided to replace my old clothes rack with it.
Around 2 PM, I sat outside on a bench, drinking coffee and watching a student in tight black leggings who was also sitting alone, enjoying an iced coffee. When we both returned our cups, she smiled at me. I met her shortly afterward in the library. We took the elevator together, accompanied by a construction worker, and both got off on the fourth floor. I got out first. When she got out after me, I turned and asked her if she would like to go out with me. She had a boyfriend. We went our separate ways.
In the evening, at 9 PM, the Downtime app activated, and I entered a phase of boredom. So, I practiced headstands. During this exercise, I found that I could clear my stuffy nose.
Then I practiced body awareness, which I had read about before 9 PM. I simply lay down and became aware of everything in my body—an ache here, a muscle twitch there. Through deliberate relaxation, I managed to feel my own pulse. I wondered if it was possible to sharpen inner awareness to the point where you could, for example, gauge a fever or other physical issues just through inner perception. But one thing was certain: through meditation and body awareness, I could perceive signals that I wouldn't notice in daily life.
Then I got bored again. During this boredom, I noticed that despite my nearsightedness, I could see peripherally clearly. When I looked directly at the star, I saw it very weak and blurry. With peripheral vision, when I didn't look directly at the star but at the ceiling, I saw it clearly and brightly.
While lying there doing nothing, more minimalist ideas came to me. I turned on the light and looked at my small bag, which contained condoms, my Russian passport, spare toothbrush heads, the charger for the trimmer, my health card, my ID card, my bank card, and my USB stick. I placed the charger and the spare toothbrush head in my bathroom bag, which was already there when I moved into the shared apartment and belonged to the apartment.
When I hung the hat, which was also stored in the bag, on the hook where my bag used to hang, I counted the hangers again and realized I could get rid of another one.
Then I decided to get rid of my Birkenstock shoes. If it got very hot, I would try to walk barefoot more often, otherwise, my Kami Black barefoot shoes would suffice in summer and spring.
Then I looked at the bank card. I decided to stop paying with my phone and use the bank card instead. My reasoning was that a physical bank card is more reliable because it works without power. Additionally, it was lighter and more compact. I didn't have to turn on my phone every time it was off and I wanted to pay. I linked the blue bank card to the "Food" account.
I renamed the savings account "Savings." I decided to delete the "Consumption" account and simply use the "Savings" account instead. This account was linked to my black bank card. This way, I saved myself the constant transfer of money when I wanted to make larger investments. Normally, I wouldn't do this if I weren't confident in managing money. But back then, I was convinced that I handled it well.
The condoms, health card, USB stick, and whatever else was in my bag, I packed into the empty shoe compartment of my backpack. So the bag was empty, and I could get rid of it too.
Learning: Through meditation, I have learned about inner awareness. I simply lie down and perceive the various signals from my body, such as heartbeat, muscle twitches, pains, temperature, and so on.
Microchanges:
- I no longer use table knives, only forks and spoons as eating utensils. This reduces the amount of washing up.
- I reduced the number of my hangers from 16 to 15.
- I have minimized my small bag and now only own a backpack and a cloth bag. The items that used to be in the small bag are now stored in the backpack.
- I no longer have Birkenstock summer shoes. My summer barefoot shoes are enough for me. I plan to walk barefoot more often in the summer.