January 23rd 2011, Boulder CO. 7:44am, Trident Coffee.

This is a confessional post. It’s one that I’ve been meaning to write as long as I’ve had this blog. It’s going to shock you, awe you, and perhaps even give you a little secret weapon that you can use against me in emergency situations.

Feel free to retweet it to all of your friends so they can feel my intense vulnerability here.

As Brene Brown says in her brilliant TED talk: courage and vulnerability go hand in hand. You can’t be courageous if you aren’t showing a side of you that your first instinct might be to protect.

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Alright. Deep breath. Let me tell you the secret that all of the people who’ve met me in person over the last year or so have noticed instantly.

Here it is:

All throughout my time writing about minimalism, I was wearing $200 Diesel jeans. Sometimes I had two pairs.

So, whenever you were reading posts back in the day about how I was living with 57 things (I no longer count things, but I do live out of a bag.) The “jeans” section was actually more like “$195 Italian designed but made in Indonesia 29″-32″ raw denim from the Diesel store.”

When I got into Boulder, CO (story for another day!) a few days ago, I realized that my 29″ pants were falling off again. I’d lost weight running around New York, or my pants had stretched a bit.

My bright turquoise American Apparel boxer briefs were showing from almost all directions.

As many of you know, I’m self-identifying as a cybernetic yogi (which I am, btw, dominating on google search results) right now, and part of being a cybernetic yogi is being able to do lotus pose anywhere in the world (and in virtual reality) –especially out on the street where people will look at me like I’m weird.

The only natural thing to do was to step into the Prana store on Pearl Street in Boulder and grab a pair of climbing pants ($54). They’re ultra-light, clean and dry easily, and also I can put my foot over my head if I want to in public places. Awesome!

Goodbye Diesel Jeans! Hello new world!

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I’m writing this as a confession, but I also want to make a point about money.

I do not feel ashamed about spending $200 on Diesel jeans for years. In fact, I love Diesel jeans, and will continue to. If I need a pair in the future, I will not hesitate to buy another pair.

This has never been, and will never be, a frugality blog.

In my experience, worrying about how you’re spending your money can be counter-productive in many respects.

Don’t worry about how much you spend on food, instead eat properly. Don’t worry about how much you’re spending on education, instead educate yourself smartly (this may not apply to college). Don’t worry about how much you’re spending on travel, instead see the world! You might just end up in unexpected places.

When you set limits on yourself, like: “all of my stuff will fit into a bag!” or “I will never buy a house and car in the suburbs” it’s hard to overspend on stuff you don’t need.

Instead, invest all of that energy/time on how you’re generating income with your second self.

If you want to wear expensive jeans, wear them. A good pair of jeans can do wonders for how people perceive you in the real world. I, however, finally got past the point where that was necessary to wear expensive jeans. Instead, I wanted pants with functionality — namely flexible functionality.

Let the Prana climbing-pants era begin! Asana everywhere! I feel like I’m not wearing pants sometimes.

Ev