Welcome to Pardon My Lifestyle, the blog for people who want to live a minimalist life, but don’t know where to start. From my personal experience, I’ve found that living a fulfilling life is as simple as taking small steps toward minimalism every day.
My name is Jason Fosdick and I’m a cinematographer/photographer based in New York City. I graduated from the University of Colorado with a degree in Film Studies and have worked on several short films and music videos. In addition to working in film and photography, I’ve been actively pursuing minimalism since 2012.
The idea of a minimalist lifestyle has always appealed to me, but it wasn’t until 2012 that I started learning about what it really meant. After reading The Power of Less by Leo Babauta (which you should check out if you haven’t already), I became aware of how much my life was cluttered with stuff and how little time I actually had to do things that were important to me.
Since then, I’ve been committed to simplifying my life so that I can better focus on the things that really matter: family and friends, health, travel, adventure, creativity, learning new skills and helping others.
When it comes to packing for a trip, I’m a minimalist. When I travel, I try to pack as little as possible, because the less stuff you bring, the less there is to carry, lose, break or have stolen.
I generally try to pack just enough clothes and toiletries for the time period I’m going away and do laundry on the road. If my trip is under a week long, I never check baggage and only ever use a carry-on.
I love this picture. I took it in Kalamata, Greece, a few weeks ago, as we were watching the sunset from the balcony of our friend’s apartment. There was something about this scene that felt so perfect to me: the couple posing for a selfie, oblivious to the fact that there was a beautiful sunset behind them. And then I realized how perfectly this photo describes today’s world.
We are all constantly trying to get more Instagram followers by crafting a perfect online persona. We take pictures of ourselves at the Eiffel Tower and post them on Facebook with witty comments so that we can impress our friends. We update our LinkedIn profiles so that we seem like competent professionals, although we may not even know what our jobs will be like in five years. We share pictures of meals on Foodspotting and tell everyone how delicious they are, while in reality they taste just like any other meal.
We are obsessed with sharing every single aspect of our lives online but rarely take time to enjoy these moments without having to worry about how many likes or retweets we will get for them. It reminds me of another picture I saw last year somewhere on the Internet (unfortunately I can’t find it anymore). This guy is sitting in a restaurant with his laptop
I want to share with you what I’ve learned in my journey of self-development. I hope that you can use it as a tool to improve your life in whatever way you see fit.
My goal is to live every day with intention, consistently push my growth edge, and model the type of person that I’d like to see others become.
I’m not perfect, but I’m trying my best.
The content on this site is a combination of things that have helped me the most over the last few years, along with the personal development material I’m studying at any given time.
I was sitting on a plane next to the founders of a company I was advising. The company was going through some tough times, and we were trying to figure out how to help them. As I sat down, I noticed that one of the founders was wearing an expensive watch, probably worth more than my car.
I asked him why he had bought it. He didn’t have an answer. He said he just liked the watch.
In the next few months, I saw this founder make several large purchases: a new car, new furniture for his home and so on. But the company wasn’t doing well and he was running low on cash.
I asked him about this seeming contradiction. His response was always the same: “I deserve it.”
He had no reason for his purchases other than that he deserved them. This attitude is called “conspicuous consumption.” It’s when people buy things to make themselves feel better or more important instead of buying things they need or that bring value to their lives.
We are always too busy for our children; we never give them the time or interest they deserve. We lavish gifts upon them; but the most precious gift, our personal association, which means so much to them, we give grudgingly.
We tell them long stories but seldom take the time to listen to their tales of woe. The little things they want to say are unimportant to us, and so we ignore them when they try to talk to us.
I love you so much that I want to put your arms around me and hold you very tight… I want you to know that I think of you all the time, and miss you when you’re not here. I’m proud of you… and I’m happy just because you’re my child.
You mean more than anything in this world because you’re a part of me and I can’t give up any part of me without giving up a part of me.
The best way for a parent to love a child is to love someone else. Then you’ll understand what your child needs–because it’s what everyone needs–unconditional love.
Bella and Edward, the main protagonists in Twilight, have a lot of chemistry on screen. Did you ever wonder how the actors and actresses brought these characters to life?
The first thing we need to do is understand what all of these words mean.
Chemistry is the feeling of connection between two people. It’s that spark that makes people click and it’s what makes people want to be around each other more often.
Chemistry is also a very complex process and it can’t be faked. You either have it or you don’t. In Bella and Edward’s case, Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson definitely had some chemistry going on!
But how did they do it? How does chemistry happen between two actors? We’re going to take a deeper look at this question by examining the different ways in which actors can create chemistry with one another.
