Category Archives: Minessententionalism

What Personal Belongings Do You Hold Most Dear and Minessententionalism?

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Daily writing prompt
What personal belongings do you hold most dear?
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This is a great question for me to answer as a Minessententionalist because I don’t own that much stuff, but the belongings I do own mean a lot to me.

Think about things differently. Differently is upside down.
Photo by Ivan Bertolazzi on Pexels.com

I’d say that the most valuable things I own are practical things that I use every day, and they are all kept in my car or on me at all times.

Here’s the list:

  1. 6 pairs of dance shoes (tap shoes, dance sneakers with suede bottoms from Supadance, dance sneakers from Fuego that I can wear to dance on other surfaces, 2 pairs of International Dance practice shoes – one leather and one mesh pair, ballet slippers)
  2. Sketch book with Micron pens
  3. JBL Bluetooth Speaker
  4. Rode video microphone with tripod vlogger kit
  5. iPhone (currently iPhone 13ProMax
  6. Apple Watch Ultra
  7. iPadPro with Apple Pencil
  8. Nikon D7200 (DSLR) with 2 lenses for photography, one for unclose and one telephoto lens
  9. Hiking boots with wool socks
  10. My car (2012 Prius C)
  11. MacBook Pro
  12. Plant collection for The Rare Plant Haus and my personal collection of Orchids and Aroids
  13. Art collection that decorates my house of art that I’ve done over the years
  14. 3 ballgowns that I cannot seem to bring myself to let go of because they are works of art.
  15. My hybrid bike (Cannondale) and my road bike (Trek Lexa SC)
  16. 3 pairs of NoBull sneakers (they are like works of art and are my favorite sneakers)
  17. YouTube subscription
  18. Apple One subscription

That’s it. Those are the possessions or things I have in my life that I hold dear to me. If there was ever a fire, these are the things I would save or try to hold onto. It’s not that much stuff at all. Pretty compact and minimal and all keys to things I enjoy doing.

Minessententionalism isn’t about owning nothing. It’s about owning what you need (essential) with great intent in what you do own (intentionalism) without owning a ton of stuff (Minimalism). It’s where the three ideas of Essentialism, Intentionalism and Minimalism cross.

Reviewing the list, you will notice the activities that I enjoy go into the businesses that I run and they all kind of feed one another. If I was reviewing the list, and made an assessment about myself, I’d say I’m a person who is into photography, shooting photos and video for social media and personal projects, who loves the outdoors, loves dance and loves to listen to music and nerd out on tech, and is very likely some kind of endurance athlete. I’d say I’m a person who loves to be in nature and likes to travel around town but also loves to walk around. I’d say I love plants and art.

Yes, I do own other items, but these are the items that are most dear to me at this time. This list is in constant flux as well. The meaning of the items I chose today has a lot to do with what is going on in my life at the moment. If I’d made this list 3 months ago, I wouldn’t have had the dance shoes to put on this list, and I would’ve forgotten about the ballgowns because they are in the back of my closet and I haven’t thought about them in years. I’ve recently gotten back into dancing and coaching dancing again, so the dance shoes are very recent additions to the list.

I’ve intertwined my loves and passions, the stuff I do care for and my life and businesses. They all go together. They all define me. I believe in doing whatever it is you’re passionate about so you never have to feel like you’re working a day in your life. Monetize your life if you can. There’s truth in phrase “do what you love” because why not if you are fortunate enough to do it? It takes time to build up to doing what you love as a full-time gig. Trust me, it’s taken me 20 years to get to the point I’m at in my life where I can just do what I love. That’s not something I take for granted. I remember the years I worked in corporate and taught dance as a side gig just so I could keep doing what I loved to do. I remember the day I left corporate on August 17, 2021 and the only thing I knew to be true was that I’d NEVER go back to corporate America because I couldn’t stand it anymore.

Live a life you’re passionate about, and the personal items you have will reflect the passions in our life. What items do you have in your life that mean the world to you? Do personal items and business items overlap for you like they do for me? Email me at sarathlete@hotmail.com and let me know. I’d love to hear your story!

Sarathlete

5 Items I’ve Brought Into My Life Recently As A Minimalist/Essentialist/Intentionalist: A Minessententionalist

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A Minessententionalist is a hybrid word I made up for someone who identifies as a cross between a minimalist, essentialist and intentionalist. 

I even Googled the word I made up just for fun to see if it existed because Google must validate everything, right? Well, it kind of does.

Check out my four screen shots for Minessententionality, Minessententionalism, Minessententionalist  and Minessententional showing zero results in Google.

Where the lines draw out for me  when it comes to what I chose to bring into my life, is someplace between minimalism, essentialism and intentionalism. So, I get Minessententionalism. Hard to spell and say: Min-essen-tention-al-ism! But hey, the word Sarathlete is hard for other people to spell and say, too.

Minessententionalism: the minimal things I own or bring into my life with intention behind them which are essential to my me, life and my views.

What are some things (people, places, items, experiences) that are minessententionial to you?

Here’s my list of 5 items/experiences I’ve recently brought into my life, and how they are intentional, essential and minimal to me:

  1. Apple Watch Ultra:
  • How it is Intentional: Getting back on track for my fitness goals as a come back from an injury and rebuild my body. I want to be very intentional with my training. A watch that will last me on long runs that can track my sleep and get me where I need to go without having to be tethered to a phone is exactly what I need. 
  • How it is Essential: Movement is essential to me and an extremely important part of my life before, during and after recovery.
  • How it is Minimal:  One watch. Simple. No more distractions from my phone. One device that can do it all and not leave me dependent on a potentially distracting device. 
  1. Heated blanket: 
  • How it is Intentional: I needed a heating pad because my old one broke. I’m always cold. I found a heated throw and decided to try it as an alternative to a heating pad. Now I’m always warm when I’m under it, helps increase blood flow for my entire body which aids in muscle recovery for athletic performance, and it takes the place of having a heating pad. 
  • How it is Minimal: Solves two problems for me as one item.
  • How it is Essential: When it’s that time of the month, a heating pad is essential for pain management. The last heating pad that I had broke, and I needed to buy a new one for myself. 
  1. Steam mop with reusable steam mop heads:
  • How it is Intentional: I wanted a way to lessen my carbon footprint. I wanted to throw less stuff away. I want to do my part to saving the environment. Previously, I was using products that were one-time use and then throw them away for cleaning my floors.
  • How it is Minimal: Less waste is coming in and going out overall.
  • How it is Essential: To me, having a clean house essential to living. My house needs to be clean. When I say “my house”, I say it collectively and am referring my house as my body, mind and spirit. However, for the sake of this blog post, let’s roll with the physical house I live in. Clean floors are apart of having a clean house. Bonus: I get a deep clean with steam, without the nasty cleaning product smell that I had before. This change was a win for both the environment and a win for my health.
  1. Show tickets to see Don Carlos at Lyric Opera and A Christmas Carol at The Goodman:
  • How it is Intentional: I have something to look forward to doing. It feeds my mind and soul, shows me new things and I learn a lot.
  • How it is Minimal: I am gifting myself experiences and not stuff. Experiences keep me going. They feed my soul.
  • How it is Essential:  Live cultural experiences like dance, plays, musicals, operas, symphonies or even movies are essential to my mental health and well-being because they bring me to a place of peace and bring me so much joy. The joy of what is to come gives me something to look forward to, I find peace at the event and there’s peace and meaning and feeling after the event is over.
  1. YouTube fireplaces and other winter scenes to watch and listen to while I write
  • How it is Intentional: I want to create a space that I can write in that is cozy and makes me want to write for both my work and my life. I want to create Hygge in my home.
  • How it is Minimal: It’s on my TV. It’s ad free because I can’t stand YouTube ads. It takes up no space beyond the TV I have and internet connection I use.
  • How it is Essential: The fireplace creates a cozy space for me to write. Writing is part of my work and life. We all need a space.

Final Thoughts:

I thought it would be fun to exemplify some of the overlaps between the three components of Minesssententionalism. There’s a lot of overlap between the three categories of intentionalism, minimalism and essentialism.

And just for fun, we have a new word mashup along the way. You know, Straight No Chaser is coming to the area in December. That would align with Minessententionalism and me! Who doesn’t love A capella music and a good mashup?

Have a good minessententional day!

Sarathlete