The 100 Thing Challenge

Dear Lord I am pairing my life down to 100 things… I am a little nervous about this, but I think this is the perfect time in my life to do it since I’m moving and can only take two or three bags to AmSam anyways. A man named Dave Bruno was fed up with how materialistic life is, and decided to pare down his personal possessions to 100 items. He make the rules for his life, so I am tweaking them a little to fit mine. My goal is to make the list, think about it, and tweak it for the next few weeks. I admit I am copping out a bit as I’m going to leave things in storage so I will technically still own it, but there are some sentimental things that I am keeping for now, and furniture that no one wants to borrow til I come back.

Rules:
1. “Personal Things” are things that are solely mine, so don’t include dishes, pans, furniture shared with roommates/family.

2. Things that are necessary in this American life don’t count. Copy of my lease, passport, checkbook, teacher certification, other documentation – do not count. Unless you live like a hermit these things are not really choice.

3. I’m counting many things as “kits” including my camera, so when I say camera I mean camera, SD card, cord to attach to computer, and bag. Anything that is necessary for common use of the item.

4. Books! I agree with Dave big time on this one, books are just too valuable to get rid of. Although I will add a supplementary 15 book addendum to my list for moving to AmSam, since I will only be able to take that many at most.

5. Since I am kind of cheating and leaving things with my parents, no quick changing items to fit my needs (aka. Trade in one skirt for another, and change back a week later). However, seasonal switches are ok. I’m not claiming that winter coat in June…


The List

1. Computer
2. Olympus E-500 Camera
3. Tiny Cannon Camera
4. Tripod
5. 2001 Ford Focus Wagon
6. Bike (and lock)
7. Bike rack for car
8. Backpack
9. Binoculars
10. Wristlet (with card holder)
11. Lunchbox
12. Cell phone
13. External hard drive
14. 4G flash drive
15. Printer
16. Computer speakers
17. Sleeping bag
18. MP3 player
19. Water bottle
20. Nylon carry-all bag
21. Small drawstring bookbag
22. “Class Stuff” ~ aka everything needed to not fail grad school
23. Winter Coat
24. Rain coat
25. Down vest
26. Black fleece
27. Blue hoodie
28. Camp fleece
29. Underwear/bras
30. Purple cami
31. White cami
32. Socks
33. Swimsuit
34. Old jeans
35. Dark jeans
36. Other jeans
37. Purple Skirt
38. Blue skirt
39. Canvas Belt
40. Athletic pants
41. Mesh shorts
42. Cotton Shorts
43. Cargo Shorts
44. PJs
45. Camp T-shirt
46. Blue Camp T-shirt
47. Light Blue Camp T-shirt
48. Long sleeve blue shirt
49. Long sleeve green-stripe
50. Short sleeve purple shirt
51. Long sleeve black shirt
52. Long sleeve maroon shirt
53. Nerdy Sweater
54. Blue tank
55. Green tank
56. Grey tank
57. Black dress pants
58. Black dress vest
59. Short sleeve dress shirt
60. Brown Crocs
61. Black flats
62. Blue flats
63. Brown sandals
64. Sneakers
65. Gloves
66. Wool hat
67. Blow-dryer
68. Alarm clock/radio
69. Set of hangers
70. Laundry basket
71. Dresser
72. Corner Cabinet
73. Tent
74. Shampoo & Conditioner
75. Soap
76. Face wash
77. Shower poufy thing
78. Toothbrush and paste
79. Glasses & contacts (spares too)
80. Face moisturizer
81. Chapstick
82. Lotion
83. Sunscreen
84. Bug spray
85. Camp Notre Dame Assistant Director Keys (soon to be bequeathed to my friend/ replacement!)
86. Headlamp
87. Line in-out cable to play my mp3 player in my car
88. 8 lb. weights
89. Pilates bands
90. Bulmer’s glass to collect change


That’s it for the moment. Tomorrow my roommate’s boyfriend is moving in with us, which I am excited about as he is a fun dude, and I will save money on bills. Currently I’ve vaguely paying attention in class while writing this, but all morning and afternoon before class I’ve been packing all my stuff up to switch bedrooms with Tricia as I have had the big room, and now her and Jason are going to share. It was great timing to run across this idea, because in my packing to switch rooms I have begun to make the purge of all but the things on my list.

I’ve left myself a decent buffer since I haven’t existed for many days yet on this list, and I am sure that I’m forgetting things. I’m really strangely exhilarated by this whole process, and with everything I placed in my decent sized garage sale pile, I feel more liberated. I’m hoping that this process will help to simplify and clarify the important things in my life, and I guess we’ll see. I’ll post an update in a week or so when I hammer it out.