09/02/2025
It’s almost midnight and I am packing some unused things or things I don’t use anymore. I feel like my apartment is too cramped and, I want to give away the things like rice cookers, plates, shoes, and pants that I ordered on Shopee and Lazada that were not the way they looked on the online shopping lists (what a disappointment) to someone who can use them. Anyway, I have stopped ordering online except for Indian spices.
I don’t practice minimalism, but I am a pretty minimalistic person, and I think it’s a habit that’s coming from living as a monk for fifteen years.
When we move into a new apartment it is neat and tidy, and it seems like we have plenty of space to add up things. We start buying and ordering online but before we know it becomes filled with things.
This has a depressive effect. I am not talking about the hoarders who live in “garbage mansions” but I think we all have more than a little experience of this.
Dana means giving, and in Zen Buddhism, they called it Kisha which means gladly giving something, without regret.
If you don’t use the things anymore, give them to the needy people. It’s a great help and one of the most meritorious deeds.
But there are also things that we cannot give to others. When we hold them in our hands the memories start flashing in our minds like the movie flashes on the projector and our hearts become warm.
Do you have something like that? Do you have something that reminds you of something or someone? Do you have something that warms your heart?
Mine is Michael Swan’s grammatical book Practical English Usage, which I got from my English teacher. It is a big book, and I have been carrying it everywhere I have traveled and lived. I just cannot give it away. There are so many good grammar books, but when I read this one, I feel understood, relieved, and invigorated.
See! This has nothing to do with the monetary value.
There are some things worth keeping, no matter how old, tattered, and even broken they are. These items are much more than simply “things.’’ They are just so intimately connected with us and our lives.
Try to open a very long-time unopened box and I am sure you will find something that is so connected with your soul and that will take you to beautiful memories and warm your heart. It might also bring tears to your eyes or maybe make you smile; make you feel relieved and invigorated.
It’s midnight now. Good night, everyone. Have a sweet dream.
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