Declutter to Get Started and Kaizen

I had a great meeting with my fellow Toastmasters on the morning of last Saturday, as always. It's a shame, though, that something came up and I had to excuse myself for our "second round": the lunch gathering that we, regardless of our varying age and background, all enjoy, as the like-minded people often do.

Still, the meeting is another invaluable experience of mine, during which I was able to learn from others' perspectives in relation to the meeting theme: Decluttering and Minimalist Lifestyle, a favorite topic of mine. After the meeting, I continued reflecting on it and my other related experiences, and felt compelled to record it on my blog.

Thanks to the ever-growing consumerism and technologies, we now live in a world of abundance, with almost unlimited access to tangible items like material goods and intangible things like information, experiences and relationships. But - there's always a but - while we have enjoyed the numerous benefits of the abundance, there're prices that we need to pay, too, among them is that there are simply too many choices that have overwhelmed us, to the extent that we end up missing the things that are most essential and meaningful for us.

That’s where decluttering comes into play. Meanwhile, the lifestyle that focuses on essential and meaningful things and simplicity of life was coined as the Minimalist Lifestyle, and has gained popularity of late, largely thanks to the introduction of certain Japanese decluttering methods that are based on their ancient philosophy (and religion) of zen and Shinto.

As many people do, when I was young I actually hated decluttering and always delayed it to the very last minute. Luckily, over the years I had the opportunity to learn related practices that were required in my work place, with the first being the 5S, a workplace organization method that uses a list of five Japanese words: seiri (整理), seiton (整頓), seisō (清掃), seiketsu (清潔), and shitsuke (躾).

The other one is the Kaizen (改善), another Japanese concept centered on continuously improving things, applicable to not just business functions and workplace activities, but also personal life. Thus, I learned my lesson and internalized that decluttering is the foundation of quality. While I still don't enjoy the process, I have declutterred regularly my living space, both physical and virtual, so I have "room for improvement" in my life going forward.

In my recent memories, my most impressive decluttering was done in the beginning of 2020, soon after COVID-19 was first reported. In an effort to tidy and reserve adequate space in my room I threw away hundreds of medals and trophies (award plaques) that I had won in my 20 years racing career as an amateur marathoner and an amateur triathlete. It's a difficult decision but in retrospect it has freed me physically and spiritually.

The second instance that still seems sureal to me now occurred on my last day at work: on the eve of my retirement two and a half years ago, I returned items to the company and disposed of things in my office, and finally I left with only a carton of personal belongings. Leaving the company that I had worked for 21 years with only a carton of personal items, I considered myself a practitioner of the Minimalist Lifestyle indeed.

The third instance is by far the most challenging of my decluttering experiences: I was lucky enough to purchase a flat when I was young, and there's a spare room that had remained uninhabited for years and occupied with items no longer needed, but I was too busy to declutter it. Finally, after I retired I hired a team to get the job done (including some home improvement work), with truckloads of items and trashes removed. The process took about 2 months and I was overwhelmed when the room appeared again as how it had looked to me 35 years ago.

Along the way I have declutterred regularly not just my physical space, but also my virtual space, which means the mental and spiritual dimension of my life. As mentioned in my earlier post titled "Reflecting on Father's Day", I got rid of my bad habits as a chain smoker, an immoderate whiskey drinker, an indulgent party goer and a glutton to improve the quality of my life. I even quit marathon racing, a habit generally considered hard earned and healthy, given the epiphany after experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic. Life is short and there are many things, apart from marathon racing, that are worth pursuing.  It's never too late, and it's never too early, but just get started!

Inevitably, some relationships would need to be decluttered, with that I lost contact with some acquaintances or friends, too. It's a shame but that's the fact of life: as we move on our individual, divergent paths, we need to part so we can find the like-minded people in our new journey ahead. 

To this end, yesterday I happened to watch a video in which my fellow toastmaster Hannah represented Taiwan District to participate in 2024 Toastmasters World Championship of Public Speaking, and won the second place. She shared her struggles in always being told to wait and to hold her attempt in new things until she would be ready, and concluded her speech, simply yet powerfully, with her invaluable life lesson learned :  "Don't wait. You'll never be ready. Just start and you'll find the way! "👍

What an inspiring speech, both well said and well done, indeed. In particular, I admire the decisiveness she demonstrated in one of the stories she shared, in which she gave up a seemingly attractive offer and huge promotion (to be a partner of a law firm where she worked for some time), and instead chose to go abroad to pursue her dream which people thought she "was not ready for" yet.

In reflection, when interested I also start doing new things without assuring my readiness, sometimes if not all the time. I think it's part of my character, so even now in my mid 60's I keep enjoying my first-times, no matter if I'm fully ready or not.

In my recent memories (again), my most impressive new experience, out of my love in the English language, is exploring and studying classic works of world literature in English. This is by no means an easy undertaking partly because English is only my second language, and partly because I didn't have academic training in literature whatsoever, though I am interested in it. 

Where there's a will, there's a way.  Immediately after I retired, I embarked on my self-learning journey of world literature in English, and to date I have read more than 30 classic works of world literature in English, meeting the greatest minds including Charles Dickens, Ernest Hemingway, Leo Tolstoy, Voltaire, James Joyce, Kafka, Cervantes, Dante Alighieri, to just name a few. 

Three months ago, my decades-long dream came true when I completed studying my first Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, and last week I already completed my 4th Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night's Dream. 

Elsewhere, earlier in the year I took an IELS test for the first time. I had no plan of studying or emigrating abroad, but I did it just out of my love in the language, and so to experience it as a present for my 65th birthday.

Last but not least, as part of my learning Pathways at Toastmasters, last month I started my personal blog, in English, and this is already my 13th post in just over a month time. I don't know how long it will last, but yes, I'm an English blogger now, a new role I had never dreamed of until last month.

Great mind wandering and this is it: declutter to get started and improve continuously. Sky is the limit no matter if you're in your 20s or 60s, like me.😊