This is everything I own: A MacBook Pro, an iPad, an unlocked iPhone, seven shirts, two pairs of jeans, two jackets, one coat, one sweater, two pairs of shoes, a suitcase, a backpack, some gym shorts, bathroom stuff, socks and underwear. That’s it. Everything I own can be easily packed into a small suitcase and moved within 30 minutes. There is nothing that I want that I don’t already own. And this is despite owning a six-figure internet business. …
‘A man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let alone.’ ~Henry David Thoreau
… what would happen if I uncluttered my life.
A life uncluttered by most of the things people fill their lives with, and left with space for what really matters. A life that isn’t constant busy-ness and rushing, but contemplation and creation, connection with people I love and time for nature and activity.
That doesn’t mean I have zero clutter and zero complications: I’m a part of the world, not a secluded monk. I have possessions, electronics, distractions, and occasional busy-ness. I just would reduce it to make space for things of more importance. …
That’s from a Gymnastics friend of mine, Tony Retrosi.
He’s preaching to the converted in my case. 🙂
One point in that post hit home more than any other:
• Your attention is your most valuable possession. Give it as a gift to the people you love most, not a bunch of clowns on the Internet. Give it to the work that matters most, not distractions. …
The Supreme Court on Friday allowed same-sex marriages to proceed in Idaho, lifting a temporary stay issued two days earlier by Justice Anthony M. Kennedy.
The developments capped a busy week for gay rights. It started with the court’s refusal on Monday to hear appeals from decisions striking down same-sex marriage bans in Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin. The next day, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in San Francisco, struck down bans in Idaho and Nevada.
I’d say the battle for same sex marriage in the USA is pretty much decided.
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Here’s a list of prominent American opponents of same sex marriage. I’m looking forward to those politicians flip-flopping on the issue.
Cruz and Huckabee are two who will stay the course.
I’m stunned that the U.S. of A., normally so slow to change anything has changed so quickly. Where is the Tea Party of 10 years ago?
Where are the Christian Righteous?
Where is the Pope?
… Oh right. We have a reform Pope. A new report by a top-level Vatican panel on the family calls for a more positive view of homosexuals.
Congratulations to my Gay friends and advocates for the dramatic turnaround in American public opinion. I do feel it’s for the best.
On the other hand, I completely understand the argument by opponents that the word “marriage” has traditionally meant a legal contract between one man and one woman. That’s true.
Seems the definition of a word can change over time.
In addition, fewer adults in the USA are married than ever before. More people will never marry. Will decline in marriage result in a less stable society? I doubt it.
I met Mike online to hike the Manasulu Circuit in the Himalayas last year. A super trip.
He’s now “cycling the length of South America from Ushuaia, Argentina the southernmost city in the world to Catagena, Columbia the most northerly city in South America. A journey of 18,000kms.”
Respect.
Mike:
What I wanted wasn’t material wealth, the latest gadget, the latest status symbol. I wanted adventure. I wanted to see and explore these wild and remote places I had read about in books and seen on maps, the the stuff of boyhood dreams. …
My new life is a simple life. A life pared down and distilled in to only the things I am prepared to carry, to lumber over mountain passes or carry across a desert. Each item carefully considered, selected on its relative merits of form, function and mostly importantly weight. Vanity discarded for pragmatism, there are no luxury items …
… the accomplishments that most deserve commendation, we think, are path-breaking reforms that do not merely improve a single nation but, if emulated, might benefit the world.
Gay marriage is one such border-crossing policy, which has increased the global sum of human happiness at no financial cost. Several countries have implemented it in 2013—including Uruguay, which also, uniquely, passed a law to legalise and regulate the production, sale and consumption of cannabis. This is a change so obviously sensible, squeezing out the crooks and allowing the authorities to concentrate on graver crimes, that no other country has made it. If others followed suit, and other narcotics were included, the damage such drugs wreak on the world would be drastically reduced.
Better yet, the man at the top, President José Mujica, is admirably self-effacing. With unusual frankness for a politician, he referred to the new law as an experiment. He lives in a humble cottage, drives himself to work in a Volkswagen Beetle and flies economy class. Modest yet bold, liberal and fun-loving, Uruguay is our country of the year. ¡Felicitaciones!
Rick McCharles 