Check out the full notes for “Stillness Is the Key” by Ryan Holiday
One of my favorite chapter titles in all of Ryan Holiday’s books is “Get Rid of Your Stuff” in “Stillness is the Key”. Grab a bag, fill it up with stuff you don’t need, and get it out of the house.
A good lesson from living in New York was that I didn’t need all that much space. There were certainly times when I could’ve used more space. But my now-wife and I got by fine.
In California, I’m starting to feel some of what Ryan Holiday calls comfort creep. From “Stillness is the Key“.
There is also what we can term “comfort creep.” We get so used to a certain level of convenience and luxury that it becomes almost inconceivable that we used to live without it. As wealth grows, so does our sense of “normal.” But just a few years ago we were fine without this bounty. We had no problem eating ramen or squeezing into a small apartment. But now that we have more, our mind begins to lie to us. You need this. Be anxious that you might lose it. Protect it. Don’t share.
Sometimes I love the comfort and convenience of owning a car. Other times I very much miss the careless life in New York.
(But as I write this, I got a flashback of rainy, cold subway commutes. Maybe some comfort creep is okay…)