400

 Electronic burden

Electronic clutter is so much easier to ignore than physical objects. 

I've always had a minimalist approach to photos. Apart from the photos I use in my autoethnography, there are probably five or so personal pictures. But over the years, I've accumulated many electronic academic articles and books. I started to accumulate them in 2016 when I began working on my PhD. I've never printed them but they still felt like electronic burden. All of them are accessible through the library, so there was no need to keep them or the books. 

If I was to keep only two books, they would be Walden by H.D. Thoreau and Power of Gentleness: Meditations on the Risk of Living by the French philosopher Anne Dufourmantelle. After reading hundreds of books and articles on my academic journey and before, these two books are my favourite. 

I've deleted most articles and books from my computer. I've kept only a few books and articles on critical realism (the philosophy of science perspective that I use in my works), humanistic geography, deep ecology, and a few key reference works in my field. I've kept my own works too, to be able to send them to my fellow humans when they ask for them. 

On my desktop, I have only eights folders. 

• One contains my autoethnographic photos. I use them for this autoethnography and in teaching.
• One contains a few files for the course on which I'm teaching.
• One contains all of my own works.
• One contains all the books and papers that I've kept.
• One is entitled Everything. It contains a few pictures and a few electronic documents.
• One contains some ideas for the next steps on my academic journey.
• And two contain the projects that are in progress, a chapter for an edited volume and my book.

Living with so few files feels liberating somehow. 

399

 Sunscreen

When you live with less than 50 personal possessions (and not so many other objects), every new item stands out. I try to be intentional when I invite new objects into my life. Every item requires materials and energy, and very long supply chains, to come into being. Apart from this ecological reason, I also prefer to live with less. It feels light, liberating, and calming. 

My personal care for some months now has consisted of a toothbrush, toothpaste, and a shared shampoo. I stopped using soap on my face and body as an experiment. Washing with just water feels so wonderful and natural. My bathroom looks uncluttered. It's easy to clean and keep tidy. My skin looks good. Whenever I walk past the stores selling personal care and so-called beauty products, I feel free. I don't have to buy any of those things. 

I've lived without a sunscreen for years. Before I moved to northern Sweden, I lived in England where I used sunscreen occasionally. The sun felt very intense there, and I got sunburned a couple of times. Most of the time though, I relied on clothes for sun protection. I would use sunscreen constantly only when I went to southern France. I live with an autoimmune skin condition, and many products intended for personal care irritate my skin. Sunscreen often felt especially irritating. In northern Sweden, there is not much sun during winters. Summers are very short, but bright and warm. For sun protection, I relied on clothes again. After northern Sweden, I moved to southern Finland. I lived there from the end of December until October. The sun can be intense there in summer, but I still felt that clothes were enough to protect me from the sun. 

After Finland, I moved to Denmark. I didn't know what to expect, as the climate feels so different in different places. For example, before I moved to northern Sweden, I did not realise that the air there is incredibly dry. In England, hot days are suffocating, and cold days feel colder than in northern Sweden though the temperature is much higher. I was surprised that the sun felt so intense in Denmark. I was afraid of getting a sunburn. It took me a while to choose a sunscreen. When I invite a new object into my life, I want it to be made from natural materials, without plastic. It needs to feel good too. I found a zero-waste sunscreen with zinc oxide. Its packaging is made from paper. The sunscreen is a water-free balm, so it takes a bit of time to spread evenly. I try to live a slow life, so taking my time to apply sunscreen doesn't feel like a chore. It feels like a beautiful time that I can spend with my body.