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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

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Do You Have Any Collections?

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Do you have any collections?

Yes! Two! Plants and Art.

This is a tough question for Minimalist me to answer. I don’t believe in collecting stuff. That’s how I define collecting is stuff. I am not a sentimentalist for the most part. That being said, what I do personally own means the world to me.

The first collection I want to talk about is my plant collection, which is also one of my businesses. http://www.therareplanthaus.com I stated collecting plants during the 2019 COVID 19 pandemic. Plants helped me rebuild my life. They still do to this day. Sometimes I get frustrated with this business because of some negative memories I have that are associated with starting the business and building it entirely on my own from scratch with no help. Talk about feeling like I was walking in the dark. Plants and my love for them got me through. Specifically, I’d have to say it’s my love for orchids. My personal collection to this day contains mostly orchids. There are a few other Aroids in my collection, but orchids are one of my passions. They are notoriously hard to grow with a bad reputation of being difficult to care for, and nothing could be further from the truth. They grow slowly and take time and patience. With the right care, they will flourish given time.

The other collection I have is my own art collection. When I say my own art, I mean art I’ve produced and hung on my walls in my house. I have decorated my own house with my own art collection. Is every piece brilliant? Nope. But I love having pieces hanging pieces and visual memories of my life hanging on my walls from so many different moments in time.

The two collections I do have mean so much to me because they represent vision and growth in my life. They also represent decoration. In some moments the two intertwine. A lot of my art has plants in it, many of which are inspired from plants and orchid flowers that I grow. What an amazing opportunity to view such beauty every day!

What do you collect, and more importantly what does it mean to you? What is your WHY behind what you collect? Tell me the story behind it. Email me at sarathlete@hotmail.com and share your story with me. I’d love to hear from you!

Sarathlete