The Ego Zero Challenge

It was amidst a productive and insightful conversation about consumerism that I put my own human ego in question.  I think the title of the top post was that Minimalists would save the world, or something like that, which was straight out of my own ego. I sometimes see my belief in minimalism as heroic, to which of course Renae called me out, brilliantly. Everyone has a little bit of narcissism in them.  We all want to look better, some more than others, but we all desire an attractive personal image.  Currently, our most prominent display of our image is in our digital footprints, which happens to come with fun little make believe tools, such as image enhancement, fake IQ quizzes, or numeric values added up for how much trouble, aka fun, we’ve gotten into in our lifetime.  

So, we were discussing the mythical earth healing that is marketed to our pride in green products, recycling, versus how not buying plastic in the first place is the real reduction of trash.  We talked about having less, buying less, and throwing out less, when Colleen said she plays a game to see how long she can go without spending and then Lisa suggested a Facebook challenge of “how long can you go”.  She might have been half joking, I can’t be sure.  But I liked it, and I am sure that with our own ego put on display daily in a new way we could make minimalism fun.  Some put the ego on display with emphasis on their dinner plate, some on their children, some on their daily victories, and some just cryptically complain about some mystery that we’re supposed to guess at.  And of course for some its their deep affection for cats, or coffee, or wine, and the imminent need of coffee, and wine, and cats.  By the way, just to set the record straight, my cat is totally the cutest cat in the world. My weak ego is currently my belief in minimalism and photos of what wilderness I've visited. Whatever it is, we share our best and most attention seeking parts of ourselves often, and never our mundane reality.  Nobody displays that they did laundry and a small white sock is missing somewhere (again). Likewise we don't share that we pared down our sock drawer to live smaller and more organized.  Its just not unique enough.  But Lisa’s suggestion of advertising our non wastefulness and making it public, as a badge of pride, is unique. I did nothing to contribute to the filth of consumerism and I'm damn proud!  69 days straight, dude! #EgoZero, #brokedownandboughtacake. or #EgoZero Going for 42 wish me luck. Thoughts and Prayers, please.

So I decided to consider it.  There needs to be parameters, because some things might prove to be a little too disruptive to make this an honest and fun game.  So I figure consistent needs can be set aside.  Rent/mortgage, utilities and debtors, gasoline and groceries.  I think its fair to omit each of those.  And I’m open to anyone who wants to contest my thought on this because the harder the challenge the better, but we have to start somewhere, so that’s why I’m eliminating the hardest things that can't be cut immediately, and ignoring the things that require deeper change. And you'll probably hate this, because I'm including social media posts about the self because that is what the psychology of marketing attacks, our biggest weakness, our ego, and I believe its a habit we need to work on in order to overcome the consumerism machine. Advertising provides an ocean of temptation, and I'd like us to prove to ourselves, again and again, that true fulfillment lies within, and is easily attainable, especially with a little help from a friend.

Maybe you can decide on your own list, so long as you challenge yourself, and of course its all on your honor.  I think it should be hard.  So here is my list:

• New selfies or social media posts about self at all  (look at me)
• What I cooked, what I ate, the promotion I got   (accomplishment sharing)
• An amazing night out with the bestest friends ever  (being so cool)
• A new shirt, kitchen utensil, or DVD  (any gift to the self)
• Concert tickets, and vacations  (or such  type of entertainment status)
• Coffee from a vendor and not from water I boiled at home  ($5 caffiene)
• Even a snack I didn’t pack to take with me  (we don't need candy store fats)

**Note these are my guidelines and they are self discretionary.  Eveyone's ego is different.  One must be self aware and include the weakness that feed their own ego.  Please invent your own, and share them with the hashtag #EgoZero if you think others might benefit from your challenge**

How long can we go before we break down and buy something that we didn’t plan for in advance?

 All of these are gifts to our ego and might just be spontaneous purchases, and while all of them are reasonable, they are not needed.  They are gifts to ourselves and they are frivolous.  I know.  I’m already arguing with myself that I need clothes, and that some snacks are healthy and give energy, and even that, every once in awhile, a night out, or patting oneself on the back is crucial to our well being.  Nevertheless, and only because its too easy to become carried away, and because these things don’t serve a survival need, I think the game is on. Just for the game. When we're not playing we can do whatever we want again. 

How long can you go?  Challenge a friend. Share on Twitter and Facebook. Play as often as you want. Do a test, or set a goal.  There are no explicit rules. Make a post, tag people, state your days, whether or not you set a goal, achieved one, came up short, or broke a personal record.  Always Include hashtag #EgoZero   BTW I’m currently at 1 day without.  I’m shooting for 7 days just to see what happens. And I plan on growing from there. Good luck. Share your results with me!