The past few months have been a time of transition for my family and transformation for me personally. We decided to pursue a simpler lifestyle, which involves changing habits and letting go of behaviors and possessions that don’t serve our values.
Our plan is essentially this:
- Move to a smaller house.
- Have a lower mortgage payment.
- Pay off our mortgage much sooner.
- Reduce utility costs.
- Let go of our extraneous possessions.
- Free up physical and mental space.
- Stop the unfettered flow of products into our home.
- Reduce the waste our household produces.
- Spend less time acquiring, maintaining, organizing, cleaning, and otherwise processing consumer goods in our home.
- Spend more time enjoying each other, pursuing interests, being in nature, creating, and learning together.
For me, this comes down to a choice of where to put my energy.
I believe that our time and energy are our truest assets (for more on this idea, read the amazing Your Money or Your Life by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez), and we trade these for money, which we can transform into security (ie, money in the bank) or possessions. And possessions can mean very different things to different people. For most of us, though, possessions promise us something, very often more than they deliver.
So I am shifting my focus away from my stuff and am excited about what can grow in the fertile spaces of time and energy freed up by doing so. We have done some downsizing already, and will continue to let go of more, while also breaking the cycle of incoming stuff. I honestly have been surprised and frankly quite embarrassed at the amount we have accumulated even though I don’t consider myself a “shopper.”
I have realized, though, that I do indeed have gazingus pins.
“A gazingus pin is any item that you just can’t pass by without buying. Everybody has them. They run the gamut from pocket calculators and tiny screwdrivers to pens and chocolate kisses.” (From Your Money or Your Life)
While I wouldn’t say, I couldn’t “pass by without buying,” I certainly have weak spots—I have spent lots of time researching and considering purchases in these areas, and ultimately I have overbought. And the time expense doesn’t end at the purchase—we also spend (too much) time maintaining, organizing, cleaning, and discarding what we buy.
The biggies are books, children’s items (mainly toys and manipulatives), and craft supplies.
The process of purging these areas called some deep issues into question, issues of identity, purpose, meaning, and limitations.
I am excited to explore these areas more in future posts to share some ideas and experiences getting “unstuck.”
And I am excited for a life of less.
What are your gazingus pins?
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