This week we had our first official Halloween 🎃. Technically, our firstborn went trick-or-treating at the age of two when we visited San Fransisco in 2016, but he can’t remember it anymore. It’s actually a fascinating subject - memories formed before age three can’t be accessed afterward because the brain transitions to an adult memory pattern. In other words, the memories are still there, but you can’t access them because their format is different 👶.

Anyway, on Monday evening, we went from door to door with firstborn and secondborn happily dressed in their costumes. I learned two things from this experience: First, we were told that knocking on closed doors isn’t acceptable anymore🚪, so we only approached houses where their tenants waited outside to welcome us. Second, we haven’t seen any tricks during our stroll, so the theme was more treat-or-treat 🍬. Now we need to find something to do with the massive pile of candy that our boys gathered. We are open to suggestions! (Eating them all is not an option)

Moving on to answer a popular question I get every week - no, we still don’t have a car 🚙. We thought all the paperwork was done, but then the RMV (=DMV) wanted us to sign a paper IN INK, and IN PERSON, before issuing us a Massachusetts license plate. I thought that Covid-19 had made all these procedures disappear in favor of electronic signatures, but inefficient processes are alive and kicking.

The temperatures dropped as expected, and coming nighttime, they hovered around 0-5 Celsius (32-40 the weird Fahrenheit scale). Getting out for a jog has become challenging, but as a “just do it” person, I don’t let it affect my routine.

Issue #11, let’s go!

Table of contents

1. Main Article - Minimalism

2. OMFS World

3. Stuff (Show, Gear)

“Failure can be a painful experience, but it doesn’t define you. It’s a problem to be faced, dealt with, and learned from.” - Carol S. Dweck, Mindset

Main Article - Minimalism

🖥️ In a world where we are constantly bombarded with advertisements, social media, materialism, and greed, it’s no wonder that more and more people are choosing to live a minimalist lifestyle.

👩🏻‍🌾 Minimalism is the philosophy of living with only the essentials. It’s about decluttering your life and removing the things that don’t bring you joy. It’s about simplifying so that you can focus on the things that are important to you.

👔 How often do you find yourself standing in front of the closet, having difficulty deciding what to wear? Not because there are so many viable alternatives, but because you don’t like 90% of what you have? And what about your cluttered desk, overflowing paper tray, and storage units filled with stuff you don’t use?

🗂️For many years, I had a bunch of drawers and cabinets that required serious organization. I had many clothes I hardly wear, appliances I never use, and other items lying around. On top of that, I didn’t have any incentive to give them away because I had ample space to store them. I believed that merely having them as unused possessions didn’t impact my well-being.

🙇🏻‍♂️It took me a while to realize that this is a common mistake. Even when you have enough room for all your possessions, and even if your mess is hidden away from sight, their existence will burden you. It only takes a quick browsing of your storage unit or a random I-can’t-find-it-let’s-open-all-the-cabinets to become overwhelmed by the clutter you accumulated. These sit in the back of your mind, constantly weighing you down, and you won’t realize it until you let them go.

🛕Don’t get me wrong. I’m not suggesting that everyone should live like monks, and I don’t ask you to get rid of, or even minimize, the number of gadgets you have and enjoy. I am referring to the things you know that you don’t need.

I like how Matt D'Avella explains Minimalism. He is the director of the movie about Minimalism I recommend under the “Stuff” section:

Letting go of these objects will lead to two significant (and immediate) advantages: Mental relief and the joy of giving.

🧠 First, mental relief - You’ll concentrate better if you will only have a lamp 🪔, a picture that you love 🐶 , and a computer (or stationary) 📝 on your desk. You will spend less time deciding what to wear when you have only clothes you love; You won’t stress about finding things around the house; And you will learn to appreciate the things you have even more.

🧳 For years, I planned on letting go of things I don’t use, but I kept procrastinating. Then came the fellowship, and we had to pack and move. The beautiful thing about this relocation was that we had to limit the volume and weight of our luggage, so every item we decided to take with us was essential. We ended up taking eight suitcases for four people. Everything else - we donated or recycled.

🇮🇱 I vividly remember my last night in Israel after dropping off a few small items at my parent’s house. I didn’t have a car anymore, and my entire possessions were inside two suitcases, a trolley, and a handbag. At that moment, I had a sensation of freedom I don’t remember ever having before. I felt lighter and calmer. Four and a half months after, I still have the same freeing sense of having just what I need. 

“So much of our life is spent on autopilot - we move through the world as if someone else programmed our actions, and we don’t think nearly enough about how to spend our time and money.” - Bill Perkins, Die With Zero

🎁 Secondly, the joy of giving. It is a very different joy to be offered a present than to give one. Seeing someone happy because of something you did will bring you sustainable joy. A kind of joy you feel again and again whenever you think back to that moment. You will probably not be happy the same way if you think about a present you got in the past. Before leaving for Boston, we donated our children’s clothes to a great center my dear wife found, and spread the remaining toys in parks of low-income neighborhoods. I still remember the volunteer’s reaction at the donation center and the facial expression of surprised kids in the parks. We made a lot of people happy.

🤒To this day, I remember a person that came to our house when I was a kid. I opened the door to see a pale and anxious young lady who told me that she had just gotten word that her child had severe disease and was trying to gather some money. Her voice was trembling, and she was on the verge of crying. Without saying a word, I went to my room and gave her a large bill (a substantial amount for a kid). She stared at the bill for a few seconds, then broke into tears and thanked me repeatedly. I just told her that I wished them health and said goodbye. My mother wanted to pay me back the amount, but I refused. Instead, we compromised on splitting it so both of us could feel that we had helped her. More than 30 years have passed, and I still feel that same joy for what I did.

You can’t beat that. Period.

🥶 🦃 For those interested in becoming minimalists, there’s also the extreme cold turkey way. I’m referring to a method that includes packing everything you have in boxes (and I mean EVERYTHING), then gradually unpacking only the things you need, and only them. After a month (or two weeks, it’s up to you) - donate all the remaining contents in the boxes.

📦 This is, of course, a drastic method. I quickly gave that up in the past because I wasn’t keen on putting our lives in boxes. It just seemed extreme. But then we had to put our lives in suitcases and donate the rest. We could have stored everything until we returned, but we took this opportunity to declutter our lives. In our case, even cold turkey is an understatement because we immediately donated and never had the chance to allow a month to reconsider.

That’s it about minimalism. I haven’t touched the aspect of money that you save with minimalism. We’ll keep that for our discussion on money in future issues.

Intermission - Casey Neistat, an extremely talented YouTuber and moviemaker, with a beautiful video about parenthood: 

OMFS World

👩‍🎓For the student - many of you have asked me what they should get for the new academic year - a laptop 💻 or a tablet📱. Bottom line - if you only want one machine and you’re on a budget - the 2-years old MacBook Air M1 is the way to go. You might even find a used one for a great price. As a student, I’ve used many over the years: Android tablets, iPads, Windows laptops, MacBook laptop, and Linux laptop. Having a tablet as a student is nice, but it may limit you in the classroom and require you to purchase a keyboard. The MacBook Air M1 has excellent battery life, unbeatable value per money, and, very importantly, it will last many years.

🥼For the OMFS resident - 💉 Intravenous (IV) therapy is one of the essential skills a doctor should master. It may seem like a simple procedure, but it is not always and must be done correctly. MD students practice this throughout med school, but coming out of dentistry school, OMFS residents must master it quickly. When installing an IV gets complicated, the resident will be expected to save the day after the rest of the experienced staff is unsuccessful. My tips: 1. You must FEEL✋ the vein before introducing the needle. Merely seeing the vein is not enough, and it may mislead you. 2. Patients with past chemotherapy and IV drug use are the most challenging cases. Ask for help! 🙋‍♀️ Also, listen to these patients since they will often tell you which of their veins you should try. 3. Spend time with the emergency room nurses👨🏻‍⚕️- observe them and then ask them to watch you while you introduce IV lines. They will appreciate the break, and you will gain the best training possible.

🩺For the non-MD medical professionals - Suspect constitutional delay of growth in children with short stature who have a family history of late bloomers. It means their parents will tell you that they developed late as children but eventually reached a normal height. Your key to diagnosis is checking the bone age. If it’s delayed, a constitutional delay is very probable, and you should reassure the parents and continue with watchful waiting. Eventually, their child will likely reach a normal height as an adult.

Stuff

📺 Show I watched - Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things - An excellent documentary that takes you on a journey into the lives of minimalists from different professions and locations. If you Google the documentary’s name, you’ll find many sources to watch it online.

💡Gear I use - Ridge Wallet - This wallet is perfect for anyone who wants a stylish and functional wallet. It’s made from high-quality materials and has a slim design that makes it easy to carry in your pocket. I started using this wallet (money clip version) in 2019 and never looked back.

Epilogue

That’s it for this issue.

If you enjoyed this issue and haven’t subscribed yet, you can do so using the link below. Subscribing supports this newsletter, and it will be sent to your email every Friday (no spam!).

Please note: you should check your email (and spam folder) after subscribing and click “confirm subscription” in the confirmation email. Otherwise, you’re not subscribed!

Have a great weekend!

Shay