So Eric Hoefler tagged me for the Successful Life meme.  While I’m not sure many others would consider my life to be successful, I have to say that I’m pretty happy and definitely content.

A while ago, I wrote about things that helped get me through the day.  I stand by them still, and I think they are a major contributing factor to my success.  But there are a couple of more things, things which come to mind this morning.

Simplifying has helped me a lot.  See, I’m a bit of a pack rat–I spent enough time without being able to save money that I’m now inclined to hang on to anything and everything I buy.  I also keep papers from years ago (I just found a stash of electric bills from when I lived in another state), agendas from meetings, etc.  And I don’t just keep them–I shove them into file cabinet drawers and pretend they don’t exist.  It’s a pathaology, I’m sure.  But recently, with a move-out date looming, I’ve begun to appreciate the exquisite joy of contributing to the tons of garbage produced by Americans every year.  Boxes of old papers have been recycled; bags of clothes have gone to Goodwill, and my trunk is full of books to bring to the used book shop at the local library.  At work, too, my file cabinets full of extra copies of  handouts I’ll probably never use again have been turned into a shelf of binders.  It’s really great.

Taking the time to do things the old-fashioned way is another key for me.  I love convenience–I became a technolovangelist because I firmly believe that technology, deployed properly, can help us do things more easily–but there’s something to be said for putting that stuff on hold and just spending time doing things the way they used to be done.  I’m not talking about carding wool or churning butter, though those are, doubtless, fascinating, but I am talking about things like cooking my own dinner, rather than getting take-out.  I’ve found that I sleep better when I’ve eaten a meal that I’ve made myself.  I eat a lot, which is probably something I should cut back on, but when I cook, I use a ton of vegetables, organic meats, and fresh eggs–the fewer additives and synthetic chemicals the better.  I’ll probably never live on a farm, as I wouldn’t know the first thing about what to do, but eating in a less modern way has done wonders for my disposition.  Not to mention my wallet.

There might be more on this later–I love these memes–but in the meantime, I feel it’s my duty to tag some people:  Sarah Puglisi, Clay Burell,  Z. Moscow, and Kim Steinhorn, it’s on…