Let us all take a collective deep breath in…and out as we usher in a new era for this country. If you’re like me, the last 5-6 days have been nerve racking not knowing who the next POTUS was going to be. I think collectively as a country you could safely say that we had a bad night of sleep on Tuesday seeing how close the race was going to be. Although I’m not completely on the Biden train (I wanted to feel the Bern), I’m on your side president and vice president elect and look forward to having an articulate, caring, and ‘for the people’ team back in office. Not to get ahead of ourselves but I also can’t wait for Kamala to run for president in 4 years. There’s just something about her that I’m really drawn to, maybe because she’s from California or her no nonsense attitude that she portrays. As we make the (hopeful) cordial transition of the presidency, I can’t help but think of the addition we made by subtraction. Subtracting one of the most divisive, unstable, and delusional presidents in the history of our country can only lead to a net positive, regardless of who is taking his place. This transfer of power coincides with the concept of ‘addition by subtraction’ that I’ve been reflecting on lately.

Osoji is a concept in Japanese culture where one cleans out their home to usher in the new year. Many of us here in the states call it ‘spring cleaning’ which usually involves getting rid of things that have accumulated through the months and are no longer needed. If you’ve ever done a thorough cleaning of your house, you know that feeling when you’re done and see all that extra space and organization. I’ll be exploring other aspects of life that I’m working on the ‘addition by subtraction’ or ‘less is more’ principle.   

News & Social Media

The election took center stage this past week, for good reason, as we could NOT f’d this up again and expect things to be okay. Just thinking about another 4 years of the orange man in office brings a sense of dread that I don’t think most of wanted to think abot. Since this week was a special case, my news and social media consumption was higher than usual. Another thing that was higher than usual was my stress and anxiety. After logging into social media and entering the infinite scroll hole, I was reminded of why I decided to take a social media break as my new year’s resolution. Subtracting most of my social media consumption this year has added so much to my life, including dropping my tendency for comparison and adding a sense of equanimity that I haven’t experienced, maybe ever.

Financially

This one might be a little controversial since you’re probably thinking, how can you add something by subtraction, in terms of money? Most of us think that more is better when it comes to money and that only if I had or made more money, it would solve my problems. Problems are going to be with us as long as we’re breathing, more money isn’t going to make them go away, it’ll just create more expensive problems. In line with the whole house cleaning concept, what expenses or spending habits can you get rid that will put more money in your pocket? Going back to school this year has forced me take a hard look at my spending habits to see where I can add money by subtraction. ‘A dollar saved is a dollar earned.’

So what things in your life can you add by subtraction? If you take some time to think about it, I’m sure there are a number of other aspects where this holds true.  

QOTP: “When things aren’t adding up in your life, start subtracting.” – unknown