100 thing challenge, pt. 3

Ready for the packing list?

I should go on and say, I haven't put things in suitcases yet. I'm having trouble--a lot of trouble--looking at eight pairs of shoes and thinking they'll be enough. But I'm getting closer. This list is what I have decided I will need. It's possible that my suitcase will have slightly different contents, but hopefully not to the point of having more... things.
I also want to note that this is the packing list for the year in Mexico. In Guatemala, I'm a lot less concerned with looking like a tourist and/or a bum. I will most definitely be taking more casual clothes (and less of them!) and hardly any accessories.

1. socks
2. undies
3. casual skirt
4. casual skirt
5. dressy dress
6. dressy dress
7. 1 pair shorts
   
8. jeans
9. jeans
10. jeans
11. 1 pair khakis
12. 1 pair capris
    
13. 1 nice pant/skirt
14. 1 nice top
15. tank top
16. tank top
17. long sleeve tee
18. long sleeve tee
19. 1 sweatshirt
20. 1 sweater
21. nice tee
22. nice tee
23. nice tee
24. nice tee
25. light jacket
26. light jacket
27. 1 pair sweatpants
28. 1 lounge pant
29. pj shirt
30. pj shirt
    
31. workout top
32. workout top
33. workout pant
34. workout pant
35. bummin around shirt
36. rain jacket
37. bathing suit
38. 1 backpack
39. 1 nice purse
40. casual purse (small)
    
41. casual purse (large)
42. 1 tote bag
43. 1 light scarf
44. 1 medium scarf
45. 1 warm scarf
46. 1 belt
47. wallet
48. watch
49. umbrella
    
50. mascara (1)
    
51. eyeliner (1)
52. concealer
    
53. lipstick
54. lipstick
55. chap stick (1)
56. eyeshadow (1)
57. hand salve
    
58. sunscreen
59. lotion
60. brush
61. comb
62. hair elastics
63. bobby pins
64. shampoo
65. face wash
66. deodorant
67. tweezers
68. hiking boots
69. running shoes
70. casual shoes
    
71. casual shoes
72. nice sandals
73. casual sandals
74. dress shoes
75. house shoes
    
76. iPod
77. stationery (1 set)
78. photos of home
79. jewelry (1 box)
80. sunglasses
81. füller
82. pen
83. pencil
84. sharpie
85. knitting needles
86. crochet hooks
87. yarn (1 small tote)
88. camera
89. computer
90. external hard drive
91. journal
92. cell phone (to be purchased in Mexico)
93. books (2 for fun, Span/Eng dictionary, Mexico guidebook, Bible)
    
94. sleeping bag
95. pocket knife
96. alarm clock
97. dvds (1 zip up case - 12 disks)
98. day planner
99. measuring cups
100. reusable water bottle
     

The Essentials & Incidentals List:

1. toothbrush & toothpaste
2. contact lenses, case, & solution
3. glasses
4. prescriptions
5. soap
6. hand sanitizer
7. small first aid kit (anti-histamine, motion sickness prevention, & ibuprofen)
   
8. suitcase
9. ticket & passport
   

100 thing challenge, pt. 2

So, here's the list of "rules" I've developed for myself so far. A lot of this, honestly, looks just like Guy Named Dave's. What can I say? The man knew what he was doing. Final packing list comes on Wednesday at the latest.

Philosophical Goal: to reduce my need to keep impractical items, and my impulse to acquire new things.
Tangible Goal: to live with only 100 personal items for a year. "Personal items" are things that are entirely or mostly mine and cannot be defined as "absolute essentials."
• I will be honest with myself about what "absolute essentials" are. This list will be small, and fixed. It includes my toothbrush, contact lenses and glasses, and soap. "Absolute essentials" is not synonymous with "personal hygiene items." In short, "absolute essentials" are those items which would impair my bodily well-being if I didn't have access to them on any given day. For example, this category does not include a razor, makeup, or any clothing, although the general category of "clothing" is, in my opinion, essential; if I could go three days without it, it's not essential. It does not include anything that has emotional value.
• I will count some things as groups. In order to be eligible for grouping, the members of that group must be interchangeable. For example, underwear and socks are okay, but not shirts that need to be matched.

My library counts as one item out of necessity (it would be out of control to count them all), but I will sort through the books I've been hanging on to and get rid of those I have actually read all the way through, but haven't re-read. I will allow myself access to the books I already own (my parents have agreed to ship me books throughout the year), but I can only have access to five at a time, while the others should be given away or put back in storage. 

Jewelry will also be included in this category initially, but I will try to be honest with myself about why it is I am still keeping the jewelry I have--because I actually wear it, because it has sentimental value, or just because--and gradually weed that collection out.
• I will not acquire new things, except as replacements for something old or broken. I will think carefully about purchases before I make them. If I get new things, I have to throw something away before I can have/use it.

BUT THERE'S MORE! The real danger I face every time I move somewhere is not even the things I take with me. Worse still are all the things I've left in storage for years and years. So, I'm working on leaving fewer things here. Helping with that is that my parents are redecorating the room I usually leave my things in. So here are the plans for what I'll leave behind:
• I can keep one bin of clothes that still fit, but I won't be taking to Mexico.
• I can keep one bin of clothes that don't fit. If these clothes don't fit when I return in August, I will give them away. If I don't wear them by six months from then, I will give them away.
• I cannot keep any toiletries or cosmetics in storage. If I don't need it for a year, I don't want it ever.
• I can keep one bin of books. Yes: This is going to be hard. Yes: It will be a big bin.
• I can keep one bin of items with emotional value.
• I can keep three bins of craft supplies.
• I can keep two bins of housewares (dishes, bedding, towels, etc).
• I can keep one bin of miscellaneous items/kitsch/decroations.

Okay, so these were awesome goals, until I realized that there was a black hole in my parents' closet where my stuff was stored. The rules above do apply to the things that are in my apartment currently, but if I don't have time to sort everything that is already in storage bins, it's okay. Or rather, I would prefer to put it in storage and spend my time with the people I love instead of looking at things that I'll probably end up throwing out, so I'm not going to be as strict with myself as I might've hoped to be.
I have already done a marvelous job, imho, of putting things in the "get rid of it" pile, however. It's possible that I won't have a lot more than this, even if I'm not trashing the things that were at my parents' house. The biggest thing is the box of junk I kept from high school, and I have a sneaking suspicion I'm not emotionally ready to sort through that box anyway.

100 thing challenge

I think I may have posted about the 100 Thing Challenge on here before, but I hope you'll forgive me for repeating myself. If you haven't heard about it, here's a summary from the Guy Named Dave website:

The goal of the 100 Thing Challenge is to break free from the confining habits of American-style consumerism. A lot people around the world feel "stuck in stuff." They feel like their closets and garages are too full of things that don't really make their lives much better. But how to get unstuck?
Reduce (get rid of some of your stuff)
Refuse (to get more new stuff)
Rejigger (your priorities)
I totally believe that living without abundance of personal possessions for an extended period of time is the first step we ought to take in order to realize that we don't need ever-more stuff. If you do this -- if you will give up your stuff for a while -- I am sure you'll never go back. You'll spend the rest of your life creating a more valuable life, instead of wasting your money and time on stuff. You will be glad. And best of all, the people around you will be blessed by your efforts to prioritize more meaningful pursuits.
Goal: I will live with only 100 personal things for one full year.
Rules: Remember, this is my 100 Thing Challenge. I get to set the rules and decide when a rule can be stretched or outright broken. Basically I'm going by the spirit of the challenge not the letter of the challenge.

My preoccupation with keeping things has become somewhat of a joke among my family members--although one look at my grandmother's house or my mother's "sewing room" proves I come by it honestly. And while I do struggle every day to throw even the least important things away (movie tickets from first dates of ill-fated relationships, receipts from groceries long ago consumed, class notes from courses dropped mid-semester, and the list goes on), I also realize how much having these things hinders my ability to live my life the way I'd like to.

I move a lot. I usually end up moving back to Clemson. And every time I come back to Clemson, I pull all of my things out of the closet and out of the boxes and I look at all those things that I haven't looked at in a long time. I can't throw them away. I usually either put them back in a different box, or they sit on the shelf and I still don't use them. It's pointless. So, I'm going to use this year to force myself to change. This move isn't like moving to Las Cruces. I've got to fly internationally and I've got to move in with a complete family I don't know. So, I'm going to pare down.

I just got my recommended packing list from GM this morning. I'm taking today to continue packing things I know I won't be taking to Mexico. In the remainder of the week I'm going to compare their packing list with the "1ooTC" list I had developed for myself, and figure out what parts of my rules are realistic and where I need to give a little. This weekend I'm going to actually put things into suitcases to see how they fit, and at that point I will be posting another post with my rules and my list, if you're interested.

Hot Dogs!

Just wanted to remind everyone who lives in/near Clemson that there will be hot dogs available at University Lutheran Church after both services this Sunday. Heather and I will both have little booths set up with information about our placements and it'll be a great time to visit with everyone.
I know it's also Father's Day. While you're more than welcome to take a seat in the fellowship hall and eat your lunch with your family, to-go orders will also be available for those who'd like to go on home. Either way, we hope you'll stop by for a little bit, even if only to say hello.

YAGM in the News

"I have always felt a deep inclination to serve others," said Doidge, a member of St. James Lutheran Church, Portland. "I want to do something more hands-on, engage in a more fulfilling task. I feel that it's time. Going abroad with YAGM focuses on leading a life of purpose, finding a place in the world.
"Living in a city like Portland I've encountered homelessness, mental illness and other social problems. I'm interested in experiencing how the church works to combat social problems," said Doidge. "There are people who have basic needs to be fulfilled, like finding shelter. That is starting to become more important in my mind than identifying a new paint color," she said. "I want to work with people and hear their stories."

Here's a link to a story from ELCA News about YAGM, including some comments from my co-missionaries, if you're interested.

Unpacking My Job Title

or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the... Church.

I had a couple interesting conversations at work last night, and I figure the topic warrants a blog post. I should probably say, for those that aren't aware, that although South Carolina law says there's no such thing as a bar in our state, I work in a bar. Lucky for me, it's a beer bar--which means, thanks to prohibitive cost & a limited availability of things that taste suspiciously like water, we don't get a lot of undergrads--but we're frequented by professors and undergrads, and not a lot of church goers.

I'd also like to preface this post by saying that these reflections are representative of my personal experiences and feelings, and they're not intended to offend in any way. I welcome your comments and feedback as long as they're presented respectfully. Please remember that we can have different and yet equally valid viewpoints.

I'm not unlike a lot of PKs (Pastor's Kids) in that I have tried my darnedest to run, not walk, away from the Church. Admittedly, not all of my dissatisfaction was because of my parents' careers, but that's a subject for another time. The point is, I don't think I've told anyone "I'm a Christian" since I was in high school. I'm someone who is comfortable talking about things I don't understand, as long as they're related to facts. I'm not comfortable with talking about things like faith, or prayer, or, especially, calling. I'm really not comfortable talking about salvation. Most of the relationships I've formed as a young adult are reflective of this aversion. I know a lot of scientists, a lot of activists, and very few tithers. So, when I signed up to be a missionary, I had to think about how to tell people that.

Back to the bar. We had a fundraiser last week, and it was incredibly well attended, but there's no telling if people wanted to support my year in Mexico or if they just wanted to drink some beer. Last night, a couple of our regulars who know me fairly well were asking whether I had any new news. Another guy (who I can call by name, but I know essentially nothing else about him) was standing near by, and asked, "Wait, what're you going to do in Mexico?"
Because I was in the middle of a sentence, I just said, "I'm going to be a Missionary."
He gave me a really surprised look. An anxious look. I said, "Not the converting-the-heathens kind. The providing-social-service kind."
Later, he asked me again, "You're sure you won't go running around proselytizing?" Only after many promises did he hand me a donation.

A lot of things happened at the YAGM discernment event to help me feel more comfortable with calling myself a "missionary" for a year. Not least of which was the discussion we had on accompaniment, the model for mission currently in use by the ELCA. In brief, I remember Rev. Rafael Malpica Padilla using the parable of the lost sheep as an illustration. The traditional model for mission (think of The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver or The Mission starring Robert DeNiro and Jeremy Irons) essentially says, "God is on my side, and you are the lost sheep. You are the one crying for help, and God has sent me here to bring you back to the flock." Accompaniment, in contrast, says that it is only when we understand that God is in all of us and all of us are of God can our experience of the Holy be complete (this, by the way, is very similar to the Quaker principle of the Light Within). There are not two separate relationships we're seeking to maintain, but rather three balanced parts of one relationship: you, me, and God.

Rev. Rafael Malpica Padilla reminded us that we are not shepherds. It is not our responsibility to seek out the lost lamb. We are the 99 sheep who are actively listening for the voice of the Shepherd and trying to follow him. We are less than whole when our brothers and sisters aren't walking in partnership with us and God.

On the one hand, I don't blame the guy from the bar. I wouldn't give someone money if I thought it was going to be used so they could stand on street corners and scream the truth of the Lord Almighty when their message flies in the face of people's real experience. But I also don't understand why we, who are believers of one sort or another, have such little patience with different expressions of belief. I mean, I really don't think throwing Bibles in people's faces or embarrassing them is the best way to share faith, but I don't believe the world would be better if we were all faithless. I am still struggling with being labeled "missionary." I still worry about what assumptions people will make if I call myself a "Christian." But for now, all I can do is walk in the hopes that someone will walk up beside me and hold my hand.