It's been a long time since I found anything to be captivating. Almost everything bores me. I wonder if it is because of availability of everything in excess. There is an overwhelming amount of information available on any given topic under the sun. There are articles, podcasts, movies, TV series, blogs, webinars to chose from. Life feels like a metro station map with umpteen stations to visit and colourful, crossing lines attempting to show us the routes available to our destination and in the process confusing us with overwhelming amount of details. How does one navigate such a web of information and content? How does one prioritise what to consume and in what order? Choices available to any individual, at any given point, is humongous. There are myriad options to dine, shop, play, chill, date etc etc. Obviously one needs to list out whats important to them, based on their own individualistic physiological and psychological needs. But how does one do the said prioritisation. One thing that immediately comes to mind is the Maslow hierarchy of needs (the famous pyramid). I don't want to dig into the marketing jargons and carve out a fancy framework. Instead, I want to pour out a stream of consciousness thought paper. By that i mean something that is not structured as a model/framework but works like a philosophical dive into the very concept of 'choice' and 'excesses'.Outwardly, 'Choice' implies 'options', 'variety' and 'availability'. But if we look inwardly it implies 'confusion' and 'a lack of clarity'. One who is clear of one's purpose doesn't seem to have a choice. There is an assuredness of direction and aim. So the whole argument then becomes about finding one's true purpose. Externally, when we have choices it is difficult to make up one's mind easily given the myriad options available. We rummage through to find what we need and in the process end up wasting, trying some or all of the things that apparently we didn't need. Other times if we are lucky we stumble upon something that ignites new passions in us. So 'choice' may or may not help us discover or re-discover our interests, desires or passions in ways. There are times where we begin with mere exploration of what's available to us and go on to discover our true selves in the process. So 'choice', given where we are in our journey of exploration, isn't all that bad. So when we start our journey it's good to not be restricted with our choices. Explore the different platforms, ideologies, formats etc and eventually one shall be able to narrow down their lists, somewhat. Although there is nothing wrong with being eclectic but not to end up consuming content which eventually goes into our memory bins is crucial too. So beginners can explore and eventually settle for a selective bunch. So one tries latte, cappuccino, mocha, frappe and then eventually decides that he/she prefers latte and frappe more than others. The more one explores the more one's preferences are revealed and the better their decisions can be. Choices could lead to further confusion if there is a lack of direction. One should have some idea of the destination before one begins to research the routes available to reach a specific destination. Extending the analogy to 'choices', one needs to have a purpose or goal in mind otherwise there is a chance of getting lost in the sea of options. So we understand that choices play a key role but there is a need of direction, purpose, motive in order for us to be productive with our choices. This implies that someone who is indecisive or is overwhelmed with choices apparently lacks purpose, or goal. A goal deprived path will only lead to further confusion and eventually misery. Yes we can't deny that we have an abundance of everything. Markets are increasingly catering to niche customers with very specific and individualistic demands. With people becoming more expressive we are understanding their needs to be as varied and specific. We need to first understand ourselves and use that as a guiding light towards what we consume. So we come to the age old saying 'Know thyself'. That will empower us to declutter and be minimalistic. Our awareness will be centred on who we are and and we will channel that to identify our core needs. Choices then wont be dictating because we will be sure of our needs and wants which will be deeply rooted in who we are!