Personal Downsizing

With the economic picture still continuing to present challenges to many of us, I began thinking about the idea of downsizing and how it relates to me personally. Downsizing is often used when the circumstances have forced it, like a company that must lay off employees to avoid going out of business or a couple that must move from their home to avoid foreclosure. The idea of downsizing always seems to have a negative connotation to it and I started thinking about how that could change if we started proactively downsizing, starting with our personal lives. Do I really need three TVs in the house? What about two cars to drive? Could Christy and I manage our lives with one car to share? Would we be able to handle the planning and and forethought that might have to occur, no more jumping in a car at a moment's notice to run to the store or grab a bite to eat? I started a mental inventory of all the places where personal downsizing could happen in my life and what the net impact would be. I started thinking about how much nicer it might be to open a closet or drawer and not feel it precariously stuffed and filled, with a single wrong move possibly bringing the whole thing down. Would it really bother me to wear the same several tops to work meetings? Would anyone I work with even notice? (Disclaimer: I do work with mostly men on a regular basis! So, I began the process of assessing what we could downsize.

Decision One: company car. I am no longer driving enough miles to warrant a company car, which meant we would have to buy another car or live with one?

Decision: downsize, one car.

Decision Two: what can we live without? This is a longer process, going through closets, noticing items that have not been used in months, streamlining our home life. We did accomplish a big part of this when we moved, but the accumulation seemed to start all over in the new house. Do we need all this stuff? I took a first step in this area when I chose to check out the public library and discovered that it is a great resource for books (and much easier on the budget too!) but now it is time to go to the next level with it.

Decision: room to streamline, finding motivation to do it.

Decision Three: keep chaos at bay. I find that when organization fails, accumulation starts. So, the motivation will have to reach beyond cleaning and purging and lead all the way to implementing a new process for organization.

Decision: organization at home is coming...

So, that is the start of my personal downsizing - it also includes some lifestyle downsizing, trimming the excess and finding the fun and value in simplicity. I think that this idea of personal downsizing is going to be an adventure, challenging me to think about my choices and to keep asking myself, need or want? And, while there will still be some indulging the wants, I think that being thoughtful about them will make me appreciate them even more. Now, off to work on organizing and cleaning (and hopefully purging!) in the house...

A Nation of Sound Bytes

Sound bytes. Those simple little quotes, meant to capture the overall intent of someone's thoughts or message, seem to be our new way of getting news and determining the value of something as complex and challenging as health care. It seems as though every time I have a conversation with someone, they repeat the sound bytes they heard on CNN, Fox, MSNBC or talk radio as though they are absolute fact, not commentary or opinion, which they have become more and more frequently. It does not matter which side of the argument you sit on, we have lost our sense of real debate and replaced it with our side's key talking points, forgetting to learn as much as we can and really talk about the issues in front of us, preferring to cite short snippets that create a divide and limit our ability to have honest, open conversations.

Just recently, I noticed an exchange on Facebook that was a great example of how the debate has become centered around talking points ands sound bytes, not real facts:

original post:

Its official! Sarah "the quitter" Palin is nuts! She actually seems to be equating health care reform with eugenics when she writes in this note: "The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama’s 'death panel' so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their 'level of productivity in society,' whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil."

Response to post:

Well, to quote Obama... "Maybe you're better off not having the surgery, but taking the painkiller."
-President Obama (healthcare town hall meeting, June 24, 2009.

If it's gonna be that way for old people, why not Downs Syndrome kids? Is it that big a stretch?

Response to response:

Yes, that is a giant stretch. And for the record here's the FULL quote from Obama at the town hall meeting you referenced: "End-of-life care is one of the most difficult, sensitive decisions we're going to have to make. I don't want bureaucracies making those decisions. But understand that those decisions are already being made in one way or another. If they're not being made under Medicare and Medicaid, they're being made by private insurers. We don't always make those decisions explicitly. We often make those decisions by just letting people run out of money or making the deductibles too high or the out-of-pocket expenses so onerous that they just can't afford the care.

And all we're suggesting -- and we're not going to solve every difficult problem in terms of end-of-life care; a lot of that is going to have to be we as a culture and as a society starting to make better decisions within our own families and for ourselves. But what we can do is make sure that at least some of the waste that exists in the system that's not making anybody's mom better, that is loading up on additional tests or additional drugs that the evidence shows is not necessarily going to improve care, that at least we can let doctors know, and your mom know, that you know what, maybe this isn't going to help, maybe you're better off not having the surgery, but taking the painkiller.

And those kinds of decisions between doctors and patients, and making sure that our incentives are not preventing those good decisions and that the doctors and hospitals all are aligned for patient care -- that's something we can achieve. We're not going to solve every single one of these very difficult decisions at end of life, and ultimately that's going to be between physicians and patients. But we can make real progress on this front if we work a little bit harder."

As you can see, the sound byte that was lifted from this long conversation became the talking point for one side of the argument and doesn't even really represent the whole point of the original conversation. This is just one small example of how talking points and sound bytes are defining our conversation and determining how we debate issues. As we continue to be a society of convenience and quick fixes, the sound bytes have become our way of learning and communicating news, which is not a good thing from my perspective. Gone seem to be meaningful, respectful debates and in their place we regurgitate the latest talking points from TV "news" hosts as though they are fact, when they are really opinions, perspectives and the concept of real reporting and news has escaped many people on TV and radio today. I am ready for the return to real differences and honest debate, not partisan, political sound bytes that don't do anyone justice.

I have challenged myself to learn more about the complex issues and stop relying on sound bytes and talking points - if I can have a real, honest debate with someone, that is one less conversation that is based in commentary and one more step toward a return to smart, thoughtful conversation.