The Kindle made me do it, AGAIN!

Have you ever started reading a book and you read something that makes you say out loud, “Oh, man, that’s so me right now?”  You are doing exactly what the author said you shouldn’t.

Okay, I admit it, I’m guilty.  Guilty as read.

Last week, I cranked up my Kindle, after I finished reading The Writer’s Process.  I was psyched to buy another book to keep my brain in gear.

What prompted me to turn the crank to buy a book I just heard about?  Pressure to conform?  Pressure to be a Minimalist?  Pressure to buy because I couldn’t find a book on my shelf to re-read?  As a Dubious Minimalist^TM, I’m intrigued by opportunities to challenge the premises of minimalism.

I had just listened to a podcast on Optimal Living Daily.  Episode 853:  Why You Should Write Daily (Even If You’re Not a Writer) by Anthony Ongaro of BreakTheTwitch (Consistency & Creativity).  It sounded like a perfect follow-up book and it incorporated Minimalism.  Double score, I MUST BUY IT…it was destiny.

On a side note, I love the brevity of Justin Malik’s daily Podcast, it’s minimally invasive in my routine and it fits into my yoga stretching well.  I tell ya, I love to multi-task.

Back to the book.

Intentionally practicing discomfort in a controlled way is a foundation of creativity.  – Anthony Ongaro

As I listened to the podcast, I connected to what the author stated.  I enjoyed the ideas he suggested about writing and creativity.  And, I appreciated his encouraging words to write every day, especially how he emphasized the importance of the revision process in being intentionally creative.

I felt in the groove and wanted to optimize my life.

I finished my yoga stretching, checked my Goodreads account and added the book to my wish list.  That’s when I discovered that I had finished my previous book and had no books on the shelf ready to read.  I had a twitch to buy something new, and this idea was fresh in my mind, so…

Yep, you guessed it, I bought it.

With one click of the screen, the book was downloaded to my library, and I was off to the treadmill to run and read my half-hour away.  As I set my Kindle on the treadmill, I glanced down at the purchased page screen and it said $9.99 – 57 pages.

WTH? 57 pages for $9.99 –

SUCKER…Hm…it better be one damned good book…and I clicked the start button on the treadmill.

It’s okay, you’ve made mistakes before, just sweat out the embarrassment.

As I began reading I discovered Anthony’s premise for the book came from the years he spent in addictive spending on Amazon, etc..  He realized that all of his one-click habits were physical Twitches instead of intentional actions.  The result of self-analysis produced a brief (minimalist-like) book describing how he overcame his Twitch.

Here I was, sweating and reading a book that described exactly what I had just done.

Sucker…

I twitched to buy a book on impulse instead of researching if I’d like it or not, or if it would be worth the $9.99 before I purchased it.  If I had been in the bookstore looking at the real deal, would I have purchased it?  I don’t know.  It’s not that it’s a bad book, I enjoyed it and he did make good points.

Duh…I’m living proof.

But, Anthony didn’t really state anything that I don’t already know.  Did it add value to my life, i.e., did it fit the premise of intentional living?

Reminds me of the Instagram post from The Minimalists this morning:

“Is what you’re doing right now adding value to your life?”

Every time I get an interruption post from The Minimalists (that I, of course, follow on social media) that says something like that, I say to myself, “Give me a fricken break, I’m reading your words, that you put there for me to read, are you trying to tell me that I’m not adding value or that I am?” 

I dubiously skim past their prompts and move on to a pretty picture that I like better.  As you know, then I’ll unintentionally get more followers and more photos in my feed that I can like…and the cycle continues and I find myself twitch and waste more time.

Oh, my, the guilt of it – the shame of it.  Maybe it’s not the winter blues after all?

No wonder we’re an unhappy society.  Reminds me of another post I read recently that did provoke me to think.   Visit it here:  The Unhappiest Generation in a Decade by Dr. B.  In the US, I’d say we’re not much different.

What do you think?  Are we doomed to be an addictive society – are we hooked on twitches, conveniences, blingy things, and the conveniences of one-click purchases? 

I think I’ll go fret a bit, as I sweat on the treadmill.  I just bought another book yesterday…and there’s no room for me to sit on the deck.