Looking back on a year of Discardia

As I wind down to the end of my post-a-day on Discardian goal, I'm thinking about what turned out to be the most valuable habit to start.

Surprisingly, perhaps, it is one of the smallest and most simple: whenever you're using something (a room in your house, your purse or backpack, your computer) regularly ask "what doesn't belong here?" and then do something about it.

Why is my home more pleasant than it used to be? It's not setting out to clean house more often. Rather, it's the accumulation of lots and lots of almost unnoticed moments of tidying up. Carrying an empty glass back to the kitchen, hanging up the wool skirt I wore yesterday, throwing out that downloaded install file I'm done with that's sitting on my computer desktop, clearing the small coins out of my backpack pocket, moving those pants that aren't flattering from the floor where I rejected them out into a Goodwill bag, swirling water with my hand around the sink after brushing my teeth to clear away the toothpaste residue, wiping down the top of the stove with a wet paper towel while I wait for something to heat in the microwave...

I guess that's the big message of Discardian: the little changes add up.

Keep steadily leaning your life in the direction of the life you want to be living. Every now and then you'll suddenly stop and notice how much gradual progress you've made without huge efforts.

Comments

[Sibille]

Discarding comments?

[Dennis]

Thank you for the year+ of excellent Discardian tips. Your commitment to simplification (and enjoyment) of life has helped so many.

[Tally]

Congratulation on your 1-year-anniversary! I started to read your blog in December with changing regularity, but everytime I do so, I found exactly the though of my day.

Thanks for your engagement
Tally

[martina]

Yup, Dinah, that is what I have learned from Discardia too! A discardian's work is never done. Thanks for the great information throughout the year.

[Val]

Thank you, and congratulations! I've been following along for almost a year now, and the tip about putting in a CD and cleaning as long as it runs has a permanent place on my desktop.

[Katie]

The RSS feed of your daily Discardian tips has been my favorite one to read every morning. Thanks!

[mary hawkins]

Are you going to stop? Please don't! I really enjoy reading these, even when they aren't something I need to fix...