The thrill of the new or the comfort of the well-worn-in?

I’m starting to feel like I am giving up a lot to live this vision. While there is an incredible sense of 'fresh-start' going on in my apartment from a severe lack of ‘stuff’ (a result of purging nearly everything I own), I am feeling a tad 'empty' as my apartment gets more and more physically empty.

I got to thinking about what actually drives me to have so much stuff, and not just commit to having one of something.  So I brought my friend Google in for some help. And you know what he said? This:

“ Drs. Gjedde and Moller were quoted as saying that the measurement of dopamine revealed the test subjects who had the strongest urge to seek out new and thrilling experiences had both more dopamine in the brain and more areas in the brain where dopamine was active.”

It’s a drug. My urge to buy new things, find new people, go new places…is a drug in my brain. But it makes sense, right? It’s a high when you buy something new, go on a first date, or experience a new place. Imagine the thrill of going on a first date in a new outfit at a new place? That’s one hell of a habit to break- and one that most perpetually single people like myself are naturally drawn to (for now-obvious reasons).

This leads me to think this experience of living a new life, a new vision, might be a lot like breaking an addiction.

So now where do I start? Keep cleaning, I guess. And maybe obsess a little about how to break addictions by reading stuff on the internet. Maybe.