Steve Madsen – Page 2

365 Less Things every year – Our Ongoing Minimalist Project

Love & Clutter Two years ago my wife, Colleen, decided to start reducing the amount of stuff in our home. Rather than race through the house and getting rid of everything at once, she chose to simply remove one item every day for a year. To document her journey she started a blog, 365 Less Things, and today has a close community of people who want to reduce the clutter in their lives. While Colleen shies away from the minimalist tag, I think we have embraced a minimalist approach to our lives and it allows us to be who we want to be. We are not on a minimalist quest to see who can live with the fewest possessions, rather we pare away the excess and waste to reveal the best part of our life. Starting slow and following the one thing a day principle made the difference for our success because it allowed us the time to understand our stuff.

My Epiphany

As I agonised over every item I started to see these common themes in my possessions:

items bought to have ready for a future need,
collectables that represented a phase in my life or
happiness either through a memory or continued use.

I learned that unless an item brings me happiness then it does not belong in my life but it took time for the message to get through to me. Last week I finally broke through a barrier and started questioning how much stuff I still have sitting around home. I credit the The Minimalists for this finalÂ epiphany, when I read this article something clicked in my brain.

If the best movies are instantly available online when I want to watch them, why do I have drawers full of DVDs?

I started reading 45 years ago and I rarely read a book twice, so why do I have a library of read books?

Why is a box of baseball cards tucked away in the garage more important than watching my local team play a game?

If I want to own wonderful art, why have I filled the walls with cheap and uninspiring art?

The answer is simple because filling my life with this stuff is easier than doing something I dream of doing but seems to hard to achieve, the impossible. Well it is time to get moving, start doing and stop collecting stuff.

A Rapid Transit to Minimalism

So after two years of slowly reducing my stuff, I am on a mission to reach my minimalist vision as quickly as possible, this year for certain but within weeks if I do the impossible. Some stuff is already boxed for charity, and the box of books is listed on Fishpond, for someone else to read now I have finished with them. The DVDs are next, the baseball clutter is close behind and the garage needs preparation for a future project. Right now I need to attack the clutter and stop thinking, stop agonising over every item and just do it. But reducing my stuff is not the goal, only one element of a broader project to live a fulfilled life so I am not on a mission to have the fewest possessions. That is just a Bizarro World version of keeping up with the Joneses. My minimalist dream is a home containing the things that give us great pleasure or help us realise our dreams. The number of items is irrelevant, so long as there is room for my life.

Making Room for my Life by doing the Impossible

The goal is simple, strip away the unnecessary, the excess and the unused items so that there is room for my life. A life where I spend more time with my family and friends, rediscover the winding roads that my motorcycle is made to cherish and start to do the impossible. Write my memoir, travel more, read and develop new skills. Once I am surrounded by only those things that inspire me, give me happiness or serve a purpose in my life then I will have the room I need to live it. Just writing this down gives me chills, I am planning to change my way of life and do the impossible, and it is a little scary but I’m determined to do it because I need the room to live.

Lightroom Sleeping – Self-Portrait 1

Most people tell you start with something simple, yet for some reason I felt my first self portrait needed to be taken using only the light of the computer screen. The eight second exposure meant I needed to keep very still and despite my best impressions of a statue every photograph blurred with movement. Tired and ready for a good night’s rest I put my head down and finally got a shot that I could use. Maybe something using natural light next week?

8.0sec exposure at f22.0 using a Canon 20D DSLR and 50mm f1.8 lens, ISO 200.

Writing a Memoir – Project Plan

For nearly a decade I have harbored the desire to write a memoir, and my computer is littered with documents that form a minor monument to my failure to deliver on this goal. This is the year of action, my memoir project began on January 1st and will be completed in early 2013 when I self-publish my stories. My original project plan included publishing each installment on this blog but during these early weeks the main milestones are to get the words flowing, and editing needs to be left until latter in the year. So what is my plan?

Project Goal

The Memoir Project goal is to self-publish a 50000+ word memoir by March 31st, 2013.

Project Start Date

The Memoir Project starts on January 1st, 2012.

Project Milestones

The project plan is relatively simple for the Memoir Project:

Write at least 1000 words each week in 2012.
Every three months revise and edit the copy produced during the preceding quarter.
Publish a selected story on South Bank Projects every three months.
Final revision and editing in January 2013.
Design the book layout by 14 Feb 12.
Select a publisher by 28 February 2013.
Publish the book by 31 Mar 13.

Resources

My principle resource for writing are the books of William Zinsser, his classic On Writing Well taught me the basic literary skills that underpin my writing style.

Self-publishing companies like Lulu and Blurb provide resources for book layouts and design but this is an area that requires further research on my part.

In writing a memoir, family and friends are an invaluable resource to remember dates, gather alternate perspectives or confirm the facts as you know them.

My notes and writings that will form the basis for this memoir.

A Christmas Carol: A perfect Yuletide Read

Charles Dickens wrote the classic novels of Victorian England, and his tale of Scrooge’s Christmas redemption is universally known in the Western World. Dickens’ story of a miserly businessman scared into philanthropy by three ghostly visitations on the eve of Christmas is a cautionary tale for our increasingly cost-conscious businessman today. Cost reductions, savings and profits ahead of all else are all mantras practiced by our stingiest companies from low fare airlines to importers of cheap goods, we consumers have developed a taste for low cost that increasingly turns good businesses to the ways of Ebenezer Scrooge.

While I expected the story to resonate with our current financial woes, the story is remarkably unchanged in all the modern adaptations save Blackadders’ Christmas Carol, which irreverently turns kindly Ebenezer into the hated but successful Scrooge. Dickens’ Scrooge is visited by three spirits who show him the pain that brought him to this sad point in his life, and the pitiless end that awaits him if he continues to covet wealth over his family and friends. But for me, the real lesson is given by his deceased business partner, Jacob Marley whose chains are formed from the very things that consumed his own sad life, cash-boxes, keys, ledgers, padlocks and heavy purses bound and weighed upon Marley’s soul. When Ebenezer looks out on to the street to see the thousands of souls eternally walking the Earth they were all similarly bound by their earthly weaknesses.

I think Dickens saw it as a metaphor for his times where men pursued ever more profit through industrialisation whilst blinded to the plight of men, women and children in their factories and workhouses. Today we willing bind ourselves with debt, possessions and expectations while oblivious to the pain and suffering our happiness-I use the word cautiously because we seem to find little happiness in our wealth-brings to communities toiling in factories or evicted from their land to satisfy our want for stuff.

Before you plunge out into the shopping madness for next Christmas, take a moment, read A Christmas Carol and consider Dickens’ message of real fulfillment versus greed then check your list twice and find the true spirit of Christmas.

What do you plan to achieve in 2012?

It is New Year’s Eve, my thoughts have turned to 2012 and I have set my goals for a year of achievement in both my professional and personal life. This blog deals with the latter and I will document my progress here throughout the year but what about you, do you have a plan?

Projects versus New Year Resolutions

Almost everyone will make some half-hearted resolution today to loose weight, stop smoking or stop gambling away their wealth but only a few of those resolutions will survive past February. Why? Some fail because they did not really want to change their behaviour or it is too hard but every failure is likely to have one common cause, the person did not have a plan, only an idea. Projects require a plan, requirements, milestones and rewards for success, and while a project does not guarantee success, failure can be assessed against the plan to find out why you did not achieve the goals. So I have no resolutions for 2012 but three year long projects to complete and a number of smaller projects that will be completed in shorter periods during the year.

My three major projects are:

Read the books on my Must Read in 2012 list.
Create a self-portrait every week.
Write a memoir.

Project for the Soul

Reading expands our horizons and allows the mind to create a vision from the simple words on the page. I read voraciously before television and computing became all consuming, and I believe IÂ am poorer for the loss of books from my life. My Must Read in 2012 list contains classics like Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, and more contemporary tales like The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Each book selected to expand my world view or challenge my preconceptions on genre and writing style but more importantly I want to read these books. Through them I will renew my love of the printed word, and open my mind to the possible.

Developing a Skill

Photograph has always been a passion in my life but I have lacked direction to develop my skills beyond the basic level. To remedy this sad situation, my second project is to create 52 self-portraits in 2012, one a week, using different techniques and styles to expand my photographic skills. This one should be fun, and be the first of many photographic projects.

Writing a Memoir

My last major project is to write a memoir, and self-publish it early in 2013. I have played with this goal for a decade but never develop a plan to achieve it. So I have a simple plan to write at least 1000 words every week to document my life, and tell my unique story.

What do you Plan to Achieve?

That is my plan, what do you plan to achieve in 2012? Determine your goals, develop a project plan, get on with it and be awesome! You will enjoy the process, reap the benefits and inspire the people around you to achieve rather than wish for a better life. Cool huh.

Be like the Naked Cowboy and live your Dreams.

Everyone has a dream but for me a dream is an unrealised goal and those dreams become a testament to your inaction of the years. You can live in your dreams, millions do that every day, but if you act to achieve your goals then dream becomes reality. Trust me, reality is a much nicer place to live.

Robert Burch dreamed of being famous, if you don’t recognise the name I’m sure you’ve heard of his alter ego the Naked Cowboy, currently Time Square’s most famous cowboy. While the path to his goal is unconventional, the methods he applied are simple and each of you can use them to attain your dream.

Declare your goals openly. Telling someone about your goals strengthens your commitment to them, and may open the door to opportunities you could not find by yourself. In the Legend of the Naked Cowboy, Robert wrote:

Anyway, we were pool side and Sid, who sympathizes with my long range goals for Stardom leaned over towards me on his raft and said, â€œRobert, have you ever considered taking some singing lessons to develop your speaking voice?â€

The change in direction eventually led Robert to Times Square and to stardom.

Plan your success. Dividing your dream into a series of small projects spends you to success much faster than trusting your life to chance. Review the plan regularly, and take advantage of new opportunities that emerge from your endevours. Remember, fate is the future you make for yourself.

Commitment. Without commitment, the Naked Cowboy is just some guy standing around in his underpants but it took courage to keep working towards his dream of stardom. To live your dreams requires total commitment, remove the distractions and concentrate on the prize.

Can you be like the Naked Cowboy?

Five Slogans to Live by.

Advertisers strive to make slogans a part of our lives, why not twist their aim for your own purposes. Here are five of my favorites:

1. Just do it. (Nike) Stop procrastinating, get out there and try something new.

2. Think different. (Apple) Your thoughts got you this far, did you enjoy the journey? No, time to think differently and change the road you are on.

3. Even your best friends won’t tell you. (Listerine Mouthwash) It’s true, you have to make the change and decide the course your life should take from here.

4. Be all that you can be. (United States Army) You do not have to join the Army to be all you can be, just answer the door for opportunity and then keep inviting him over each week.

5. Can’t Beat the Feeling. (Coca Cola) Self-improvement is greatest feeling you can experience, don’t you deserve the best?

What slogan would you adopt to inspire your life?

Publish your Book

Books; we read them, cherish them, collect them and many of us want to write one but the process overwhelms us like waves crashing into a beach, it knocks us off our feet. The relentless parade of editors, publishers and agents poking and prodding your work into a marketable product can be frustrating, almost intimidating for some people. Until recently, the only alternative was an expensive vanity publication that fills your garage but graces few bookshelves but print on demand technology is opening new doors.

Using print on demand, a writer can produce a work for an intimate audience without the waste of a large print run. It can also provide an avenue into the market for writers who could not find the right agent or publisher to help their dream into print. While most of these titles lie unknown except to the author’s inner circle, occasionally one leaps into the mainstream like A Weird And Wonderful Guide To Barcelona by Le Cool, as reported by Lee Atkinson (Sydney Morning Herald).

Now all you have to do is write it.

Lulu

thefridayproject

ljbook

blogprinting.com

digitalprintaustralia.com

Momento

Secrets to successful overseas travel with teenagers

Travelling with teenagers can be frustrating for many parents but if you follow a these simple guidelines they become your vacation partners:

1. Plan the itinerary together.

2. Let them decide what to Pack.

3. Maintaining Contact with Friends.

4. Provide entertainment opportunities.

5. Give them as much freedom as possible.

The complete article is posted on Helium.

Happy travellers in Berlin, 2005.

Better Travel with Basic Language Skills

Do they speak English there?

This must be the most asked travel question in the English speaking world but rarely do we ask:

How can I learn enough French to better experience my vacation in France?

My wife and I attended a free ‘Simple French for Travel’ class today at Rick Steves’ Europe Through the Back Door headquarters in Edmond, Washington. Josette Hendrix, Northwest Language Academy, instructed us in basic pronunciation and a few simple sentences in just 90 minutes. Enough to whet our appetite to improve our language skills further or at least to pronounce the phrase book sentences correctly.

Basic language skills enhance your travel experience by bringing you into better contact with your foreign hosts. The simple act of greeting someone in their own language can open the door to a wonderful cultural exchange, and perhaps lasting friendships. As a traveller, it is these social interactions that make your trip memorable. Make the effort and obtain the knowledge that will make your trip about the people as much as the sights.

Worst food in Berlin? Embrace the local language before your trip.

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