Sometimes I second guess myself, wondering if I made a wrong choice in my life, but when I reflect, I realize that I was wiser than what I give myself credit for and made the right choice after all. It’s the imperfections in my memory that create this uncertainty. I need to trust the clarity of the decisions I make in the moments they are made.
Jack Tramiel was a man whom I never met, and yet he was a huge influence in my life. For those who are unaware of who he is, Jack Tramiel is the man who started Commodore Business Machines; the company that made the world’s most popular computer of all time, the Commodore 64. What is remarkable is that Commodore was one of the pioneers of the home computer revolution, right in step with Apple and others, and that this company was started in Toronto, Ontario, Canada – a true Canadian computer company. Consider that the Commodore 64 was the single best selling computer of all time (between 12.7 and 17 million units), it’s clear that Jack Tramiel made a huge impact on the industry and on people’s lives. I wrote this blog post as a reflection on the impact he made in my life.
As a minimalist, I’m aware of the finite amount of time I have in a given day. Money does not equal time, because no matter how much money I have, I cannot purchase more hours in a day. What I have been doing is discovering ways to compress the things I want to do into the hours I’m doing something I don’t want to do.
One of the easiest ways I’ve found to reclaim more time for me is with audiobooks. These are audio recordings of a person reading a book. There are so many great books I want to read, but the act of reading them requires more time than I could otherwise afford to commit. Audiobooks allow me to “Read” while performing another otherwise mindless task, such as commuting back and forth to my job or performing household cleaning tasks. My mind is engaged by the often pleasing sound of a professional reading a compelling book while my body is autonomously performing whatever mundane task is necessary. Continue reading
I’ve always been fascinated with the concept of minimalism. In the world of art, Donald Judd defined Minimalism as “getting rid of the things that people used to think were essential to art.” It was the urge of the modern artist to reduce art to its basics that lead to Minimalism. The result has been some stunning architecture, sculptures, and modern web site design in today’s culture.
When it comes to applying minimalist principles to one’s life, it often creates confusion to those not familiar with the concept. Continue reading
This is the second part to my two-part blog on my life with photography. You can read the first part here.
I credit my father for introducing me to the art of photography with my first SLR, and he is also responsible for bringing me into the world of digital photography. In 2001, I was shooting exclusively with my Pentax SLR, until that Christmas when my dad gave me a Fuji Finepix A201; my first ever digital camera.
