Before embarking on this venture, I must first acknowledge I am very lucky to have such a problem as having too much stuff.  And using that as a starting point, all the things I will be jettisoning from my life will be donated (unless they are broken or, for the sake of humanity, should be disposed of with extreme prejudice … such as decade old socks or underwear).

At the end of the month I will have “made available to the world” 496 of my possessions.  Some will be easy to part with, others more challenging, and I’m sure quite a few will cause separation anxiety.   But this isn’t an exercise in masochism or some kind of silly stunt.  I’m hoping by April 1^st my life will be less cluttered (physically and mentally), and that the process will lead to other positive changes.

Let’s get this thing rolling.

I’m going big with my first item, my HP 42-inch Plasma television.  While it would be cool/interesting to claim I’m quitting TV all-together, that isn’t the case.  Like most people, I have another one (according to Neilsen.com, 82% of American homes have at least two TVs).  But in the spirit of minimizing, at least the one I’m keeping is smaller.

It’s not like I really had a choice, since the TV I’m getting rid of doesn’t work properly. Sure, it will turn on and the picture still looks sharp, but for some reason it constantly changes channels all on its own.  When it first happened I thought it was the remote control, but taking the batteries out of it eliminated that as the source.  Then I figured it might be a Poltergeist situation, or perhaps a Menehune had climbed in there, but some Googling convinced me that was unlikely.  And while I can’t say I’ve diagnosed the problem for sure, what I found online led me to believe it was most likely the motherboard.

Since my electronic repair skills rate several notches below piss poor, I tried to fix it the only way I knew how.  I banged on the back of it several times.  And when that failed I turned it off and let it sit for a day.   Unfortunately when I plugged it back in, the thing still kept changing channels.   And since paying someone to fix it will probably cost more than a new TV, it’s been collecting dust in a corner for about six months.

Strange to think, but I actually have a lot of fond memories of that TV.  I won it in a raffle in April of 2007 at the Westin St. Francis. It was the first flat screen I ever owned, and I still remember being amazed at watching the Red Sox in High Definition when they were the Fox Game of the Week way back then.  It’s hard to remember the time before HD, but it was truly a revelation to clearly see not only the player’s faces but the fans behind home plate.

That TV traveled to three different cities with me, and also for thousands of miles across the ocean from California to Hawaii.   I watched a lot of great shows, films, and games on it.  And now it’s time to thank my TV and say aloha to it.

One more note before I end this post, my girlfriend J’Nell has joined in on the Minimalist Game. Since we live together, that means we’re doubling down on the decluttering process.

And for all of you who are reading, if you’ve decided to join in on the game I’d love to hear from you.  Who knows how this is all going to shake out.  Mahalo!

Onto day two …