Item #1 on the Personal Manifesto I have been slowly building is the following:
Travel as light as possible. Get rid of uneeded items. Carry only what you need to have.
In that spirit, I have been thinking about how to reduce the number of items I carry with me. For instance, do I really need all of the keys I own on my chain or should I have a chain just for my car and house keys and leave the rest on a separate chain or chains at home? Do I really need all of the items I carry in my Timbuk2 Messenger Bag? Do I really need a bag that size and does the fact that I have the room simply encourage me to carry more? If I have a smaller bag will it force me to be more selective about what I chose to carry?
A number of the items on my manifesto are things just like this. Things I believe in and try to strive for. I am not always successful but from time to time, I revisit the list just to do a check of how I am doing. Today, I came across an article at Celsius1414 called Zen Pockets and it has inspired me. I am really going to “get real” about this one.
I am starting small, with my key chain. Here are the only keys I need on a regular basis:
1) Car
2) House
3) Office
4) Bethany’s House
Four keys. That is all I am going to carry from now on. I have taken all other keys from my keychain and have put them on a separate ring which I will keep at my house and only take when needed.
There. I feel better already.