Houston H. Haynes

I was recently telling someone about some of the changes I was making, and I was surprised by the reaction. First, the rundown:

1. My current apartment lease is up in a few months, so I’m working ahead a bit to break down some of my studio and put it on eBay and Craigslist. The idea is to sell the bulkier items off so I wouldn’t have to move them. It’s not so much about the money as it is about not having so much dead weight around when I relocate.
2. I also realized that my Playstation 3 had been collecting dust for several months. So I packed it up and sent it off to my ex-wife in order to use it as a Blu Ray disc player (as well as catch up on some games that she had bought but hadn’t finished before we split). The last time I had used it was to prep for an audition with a group that does music for video games. Now that’s done the unit has gone dark, and any other games I’ve picked up for study I have run on my studio PC.
3. When I move, it will definitely be to a smaller place. I’ve been at the same apartment for nearly three years now, and it’s definitely more than I need now that the occupancy is “1″. Even if the per-square-foot price is higher, I know I’ll be paying less rent.
4. I was hit on my motorcycle last year, and hadn’t bought a replacement vehicle yet. Since I was working freelance out of the studio, I didn’t need a car for a commute – and most of the amenities (grocery, restaurant, shops) are within walking distance of where I live. But now that I’m venturing out a bit again (though my current commute is by Metro rail) I’m looking at buying a car. I had rented several cars during my vehicle-free stint, and the VW Passat has a clear lead in my book. But I’m still looking around and will find something that’s environmentally and economically reasonable and physically comfortable.
5. My birthday is Saturday, and for now the plan is to catch either “Alice in Wonderland” or “Green Zone” in the theater, and the rest of the weekend is to be spent packing up the apartment and catching up on some reading (see my post about John Gardner on this blog). Boring, but true.

The reaction was “if you’re going to have a mid-life crisis you need to spice things up a bit. So far, you’ve gotten it all wrong.” And when I thought about it – giving away toys, going from a motorcycle to a sensible car, selling off half my studio, moving into a cheaper place – it’s all exactly the opposite of what someone should do for a well-executed mid-life meltdown.

It reminds me of the joke about the country song when played backwards – your dog comes back, your truck gets fixed and your girlfriend becomes faithful again.

I just realized – I’m not *just* 40 years old – I’m 20/20 – with just enough life experience to have some usable hindsight bias, and still young enough to do something useful with it.