No coffee at home. No floor lamp. More compact office chair. Allergy to avocado?
May 8/9, 2023. The next day, my storage jars were picked up, and I dedicated the entire day to writing an article about minimalism, filled with many tips for people who also want to discover minimalism for themselves.
During dinner, I watched a documentary about Albert Einstein. It reminded me of my past goal of one day receiving a Nobel Prize and being as brilliant as Albert Einstein. This desire had long disappeared from my consciousness, but it still slumbered deep within me. For a brief moment, I imagined how the Phase-Independent-Fit method I developed in my master's thesis contributed to discovering many previously unknown phase transitions in quantum systems. Despite the simplicity of this method, it proved to be so valuable in research that I was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for it.
The next morning, I gave Hanna my cocoa. I originally used cocoa for my porridge. However, since I no longer ate porridge and couldn't find any other use for it, I decided to minimize and get rid of the cocoa. I also gave my coffee to Hanna, as I had decided not to drink coffee at home anymore. I was aware that I would drink it less often since I couldn't afford my current consumption of three to four cups a day in a café. But I hoped that I would enjoy the coffee much more and that a cup would become a special moment. From now on, I would use my French press exclusively for tea.
My thoughts on giving up coffee at home also had a societal dimension. I dreamed of a society that was more cohesive, one that felt like a big family. I believed it would be beneficial if people didn't enjoy their hot drinks alone at home but went out to cafés, where they could meet other people and enjoy a hot drink at a reasonable cost. I was convinced that it would be good for society not to consume coffee in isolation but in the company of "strangers." Leaving the house more often and recognizing that the world was much more beautiful and diverse than the personal internet bubble suggested.
After this morning's philosophical round of minimalism, I made my way to the library, to the second floor to my regular spot. Today, I began writing an eBook on minimalism. Occasionally, I got distracted by spontaneous ideas. The thought of simplifying my website logo crossed my mind. I interrupted my work and removed the lamp's base, so the logo only consisted of a ringed planet with a lightning bolt inside. I was very pleased with the result and immediately replaced the old logo with the new one on my entire website.
During lunch, I ate a vegan burger with some fries. I told the lady behind the counter that I didn't want too many fries to avoid waste. A student who was built similarly to me imitated me and smiled. I smiled back.
When I returned to the library, I started feeling slight stomach pains, most likely because the burger had an avocado spread. I had discovered through my own experimentation that my stomach was allergic to avocado. I don't know why I was so masochistic that day.
With the stomach pains, I couldn't focus on writing the eBook. Instead, I distracted myself with random YouTube videos on personal growth. Suddenly, I had the idea to replace my white fabric bag with a black one that had my new logo. So I quickly designed the black bag and ordered it from a printing provider.
Spontaneously, I decided to order an atom sticker for my MacBook to personalize it. My thought was: if I lost it, at least I could say my MacBook had the atom sticker around the Apple logo. I had a similar thought about my house key. Therefore, I ordered a keychain with my engraved phone number and name.
After leaving the library, I sat on a bench outside and ate an apple. On the bench opposite, I noticed Luisa, a German studies student I had met some time ago in the cafeteria. When our eyes met, we smiled, and she waved me over. She told me she was now working on her master's thesis. I shared my interest in minimalism with her and some principles I had developed to transform one's life into a minimalist one. We discussed it, but she didn't seem very enthusiastic about my ideas.
When I first approached her, I found her fascinating because she often sat alone in the cafeteria, looking out the window. She exuded a certain uniqueness, and when I first spoke to her, I immediately realized: she was a thousand times smarter than me. Her arguments were precise and convincing. I could learn a lot from her. Unfortunately, I could only imagine a friendly relationship with her because she had two cats, which, after my considerations about pets, was clearly a deal-breaker for me.
Afterwards, I went home briefly to take my floor lamp to Borsum. I had already installed a ceiling lamp that could be controlled via an app and was completely sufficient for me. I only used the floor lamp for dimmed light in the evenings, but my ceiling lamp could do that just as well. So, I decided to take it back to Borsum today.
There was coffee and apple cake with my family. I was very pleased that Mascha and Tobi had remembered my request and gifted me their padded kitchen chair. They were moving to a new apartment in Hildesheim and had sold their chairs, leaving one for me. This one was much more compact and lighter than my current office chair, which I wanted to replace before moving. The chair had only three legs and couldn't swivel or roll.
Before heading back home, I stored my iPhone's power adapter in the drawer under the TV cabinet. Recently, I had noticed that I only used the charging cable to charge my phone directly at the laptop's USB-C port.
I took the new chair back to Hanover after the coffee visit. People gave me strange looks as I sat in the crowded train's bicycle compartment on a chair, working on my laptop.
When I got home, I tried it out and was very satisfied with it. It probably weighed only half as much and, unlike my office chair, was easy to transport with one hand. I then listed the office chair for sale on eBay Classifieds.
Micro Changes:
- I no longer drink coffee at home. This reduces my consumption, which will surely improve my sleep, and I enjoy it more when I have it in a café or with my family. Additionally, I avoid packaging waste.
- I have no additional lighting in my room except for the ceiling lamp. This reduces cable clutter and dust collectors and saves energy. Fewer lighting fixtures also mean less hard-to-dispose waste.
- I have replaced my office chair with a much more compact chair that weighs only half as much and is half the size.
