SteveinMN:

You know what, I like you! You don't pull any punches and yet you remain totally tactful. Are you a therapist or counselor in real life? I am being serious, not flippant.

Also: The extreme minimalist thing would probably be a one or two year experiment (like not having a cell phone, that is a two year experiment after having two iPhones at once or like learning to dance, it is a one year thing I'll reassess next year).
I do a lot of lifestyle experiments for short periods of time -- "a weekend of silence" where I didn't talk or The 11 Hour Meditation Challenge (11 hours of meditation in 11 days!) or a year without Facebook. There are others, but you get the idea -- I like lifestyle experiments. haha