For years I lived with only the basics because my life was incredibly mobile. I moved from country to country and back and forth to, from and within Minneapolis, MN. I even started a "simplicity group" that met monthly to read/discuss a study called "Voluntary Simplicity". However, during my last 4 years in Minneapolis, I remained in one place; when it came time to move to DC for a new job, I marveled at the amount of stuff I had somehow collected. It wasn't extravagant stuff -- garage sales and thrift stores were the main feeding source, which of course was part of the justification process. I collected furniture, household items, books (tons of books!), personal effects, sports equipment, etc. I was living in the finished attic space of a good friend, and since most of my things were contained there, I really had little awareness of their quantity (in terms of moving truck size).
When I moved to DC, I decided I wanted to try and make my new place feel as much like home as possible, so my stuff needed to come with me. This greatly limited my housing options, in regards to sharing or moving in to an established place or small place, so I moved into what became an unhappy place. At the time I didn't make the connection that the stuff was the barrier to getting out of that situation, but that is what hindsight and self reflection are for.
Now I am facing the opportunity to choose a new place to live. I want to take what I have learned, and remember how I have lived in the past, as a basis for my conscious choices moving forward.
I have decided to keep a blog for at least the next 40 days, simply to hold myself accountable to reflecting on this process. I know intuitively that it is a spiritual practice, a spiritual freeing. I have significantly downsized two times prior in my life. How has the re-collecting started again? I am hoping that my commitment to being reflective and chronicling the process will reveal some lessons to me that will help prevent this again in the future.
I am not here to judge myself or others. I am aware of the culture we live in and the ease in which it becomes part of us. And, I do not believe "things" are in and of themselves bad. However, it is when they weigh on us, or when they prevent us from making choices and decisions that we would otherwise make, for the benefit of ourselves and the world, that "things" get in the way, or at least they've gotten in mine.
I am here to learn. I welcome any comments, questions, or insights you have along the way.
Wow, Kim! Lovelovelovelove... I am inspired by you. thank you! Today my goal is to count the items of clothing in my bedroom closet and decrease by 50%. I will let you know how successful I am... :)
ReplyDeletemy entire life still lives in the basement in Roseville. If I want to replace anything to have here with me in Oslo, I must pay way too much in shipping costs or pay three times as much for half the quality. I feel like my apartment here could be so much nicer if I only had the money or will (or talent to find treasures in thrift stores) to fill my space with nice things.
ReplyDeleteAnd yet, all I want to do is purge what I currently have because I completely agree with you- we benefit from living simply.
Ask me how often I miss all the things which sit in boxes in Minnesota? Almost never. Ask me how pleasantly surprised I am when I am there and go through the boxes to find things I had completely forgotten about. So happy! But I don't bring these things back with me to Norway. What does that tell you about my attachment to these things I once thought i couldn't live without?
Jen, believe me, I can relate. My perspective on why you feel so excited when you open the boxes in Minnesota is not actually for the things, it is for the memories and comfort they invoke. They remind you of a belonging you have here, during a time when you are still getting used to a life in Norway. But what do I know? :-)
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