No. 51 - Sunday Dispatch

Kayaking with cows, almost no spending month, lots of projects

Water Cows

Last week, we took our kayaks out for the first time this year. While we were out, we met some cows in the water, henceforth referred to as water cows.

This kayaking trip was especially significant, not just because we saw the water cows, but because we finally named our kayaks. Matthew named his kayak The Obey after the famous Shepard Fairey piece featuring Andre the Giant.

My Inlet Oru kayak, The Towanda. If you don’t know “Towanda” is a feminist battle cry, then you have obviously missed out on some of the best Kathy Bates acting in history. Go watch Fried Green Tomatoes now, and come back to this later. It’s important.

Consciously Not Spending

In other news, you may or may not remember reading my post talking about how I was laid off and was doing contract work. Since that post, I've gotten a full-time job. It pays a lot less than what I was making, and there are no benefits. But money is coming in, which is a better direction than going out.

In an effort to maintain the money coming in instead of going out, I made a conscious decision not to spend frivolously all month.

I never thought of myself as a frivolous spender, until I looked at my bank account and realized how much money was going out on things that I just wanted and not necessarily needed.

Alarmingly, the first two weeks of this month were really difficult for me. I found myself wanting to just buy things on a whim whenever I thought about them. I'm embarrassed by the number of times I've picked up my phone and opened the Amazon app.

To counter these impulses, I removed every shopping app from my phone, except my grocery store app.

Lots of Projects

As I was doing this no-spend month, I found myself getting a lot of creative ideas, because the dopamine rush of buying something immediately, when I thought about it, was gone. I was seeking excitement and adventure in other ways, ways that are better for me.

I've got one project that I think will be done by the end of the month, and I am starting another project that's probably going to take a couple of years to finish. I'm aiming for one year.

If you can't tell, this project is a book. I'll share more details about this once I get a little further along. I'm only part of the way out of the idea phase and into the “testing the validity of the idea” phase.

Well, there you go. A bunch of random stuff in your inbox on a Sunday. Thanks for hanging out, and until next time, be excellent to each other. - B.A.

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