On Aug. 15, 2025, I gave away my TV. I was growing tired of this rat race during my workweek. Every evening and weekend, I would come home, sit on my couch and binge-watch content to decompress. During these times, I often pondered why my time passed by quickly, why I felt so physically fatigued and why I didn’t feel fulfilled during my time off. It was time to banish the TV from my apartment.
I realized that being deeply emotionally invested in television shows was detrimental to my mental health. As a minimalist, I wanted to challenge myself by giving up my TV to allow more productivity during my time off. My goal was to spend more time outside my apartment, but little did I know that I would become a cooler version of myself. I sought to discover what Seattle has to offer by trying something new.
I began my journey by exploring meetup groups. I looked at various online and in-person meetups, and I wanted to flex my conversation skills with strangers. I visited art museums in Seattle, skated for the first time at Southgate Roller Rink, attended karaoke nights at various pubs and celebrated Halloween at the Void in West Seattle. I discovered a niche water sport and joined the WAM Dragonboat Club at the Renton Rowing Center, where I dove paddle-deep into preparation on Lake Washington for national and international races. As I became more physically fit, I gained the confidence to start martial arts, where balintawak (Filipino stick fighting) and Muay Thai awed me at The Ruffhouse in downtown Renton. I even walk outside more, and my favorite weekend pastime is to visit new parks in King County — most recently, I wandered through the Washington Park Arboretum on Thanksgiving.
I experienced things that I would not have fathomed at the start of 2025: That feeling of sitting on the calm waters of Lake Washington after an intense paddling session while listening to the sound of heavy breathing from my teammates; the joy of harmonizing off-key with friends at Dino’s Pub in Renton and the Rock Box in Capitol Hill; humorously analyzing phallic interpretations of lawn equipment at the Frye Art Museum (courtesy of Jamie Wyeth); the shock of being smacked hard in the leg for the first time in Muay Thai; the embarrassment of friends holding my hand on my way around the roller rink to prevent me from falling on my face; and the satisfaction that I did something fulfilling in my free time has helped my confidence grow this past year.
However, I am not perfect. When I get home from a long day at work, I will often open the YouTube app on my phone and listen to my favorite creators, filling that inevitable void of silence. Sometimes — on bad days — I will lie in bed and consume content on my laptop, just to shut down my brain for a while. But with this in mind, I have become physically stronger, mentally resilient and increased my sense of community in Renton and Seattle.
If only I had known sooner how much my TV was holding me back from living fully, oh, I would have parted with that heavy screen long ago. Letting go of it opened my world in unimaginable ways, proving that sometimes, the biggest growth comes from the smallest changes. Maybe my next transformation will come from decluttering my smartphone? The minimalist journey continues.
