Decluttering for the next chapter

Spent pretty much the last two weeks tidying up my life and gosh I haven't felt so at peace with myself in awhile. 

On the physical side of things, I've cut out the usual weekend alcohol after falling ill this week and my mind is starting to feel more lucid and aware instead of the post-week numbness that it usually entertains as a result of a combination of draggy crap it's been saddled through work together with pints of Guinness or drams of whiskey. Have also cleared up the room and literally thrown out bags of trash, cleared out magazines, papers, articles, irrelevant letters from before, and the entire barrage of gifts that ex-girlfriends have sent my way. Somehow managed to put myself through a hard kettlebell workout despite being ill, and suddenly I'm beginning to feel more alive. 

On the softer side of things, I've decided to do a massive clear-out of "friends" on Facebook, the culmination of the last 10 years of acquaintances that I've crossed paths with. Reduced the "Friends" list by c. 70% and it certainly feels pretty good to have some form of control over that to reduce the amount of junk and clutter that you'll have to deal with on social media. I went with the rationale of if I ever saw you on the street and if I didn't have the intention to at least stop and say hi and ask about you for at least a couple of minutes, like a friend would show some concern, I don't think we'll be considered friends. Key word there is "intention". Most people would advise that one should attempt to expand their network and you'll never know when that would be good for your career. 

My thinking on that is to fuck that shit, maybe we should start talking about what it means to have a career instead. Career networking is such as bullshit thing and linking up with potential acquaintances just so they might be of some help in the future smells like such a careerism idea that it makes me gag. I believe in making friends with folks who have similar interests, and if you're interested for career reasons and not because of who I am, what I like and the areas my interests lie in, then yeah I don't think we should be friends. But wait a min, those career networking folks have similar interests - careerism. Oops... 

I guess I like to think of myself as a lone wolf moving through the pine forest in search of nirvana, and sometimes to meet with a pack of like-minded wolves once in a while to have some fun and to bond over some prey. Okay, going on an off tangential spiel now, so I'll end here. 

I've also started meditating a little. Check out this app called "Stop, Breathe, Think". It's pretty helpful for beginners and is a good platform to get started on. 

Boy I feel like a chapter of my life has now closed for a good and a new one is just beginning. Perhaps there is some veracity to the saying "Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of your life". I feel like an animal whose cage doors have just opened and I'm raring to go.