Up to Speed

I started this blog last year with the intent of overhauling my lifestyle and going back to a simpler way of living. Over-consumption offends me, yet my hippie-leaning husband and I had somehow been swept into the undertow of American consumerism at its worst. Granted, we've never been extravagant people, preferring a nice hike and a good dinner over techy gadgets and clothes, but we ceased being mindful. And mindfulness is what we've striven for ever since we awakened to such a concept. We're mindful of what we eat, how we move our bodies, what we throw away, but still, our lives feel heavy.

My inspiration for simple living came along in a book called The Freedom Manifesto, a brilliant tome by the rebel thinker/liver Tom Hodgkinson. Since reading it over a year ago, I dedicated myself to this philosophy. Then, shortly after starting this blog, tragedy struck our family as Bryan's dad died and we spent 2010 trying to come to terms with even bigger ideas of life. Simplicity and freedom imply one thing in the context of consumerism but quite another when contemplating one's entire existence.

It would be misleading to say that we've come to any sort of conclusions as to the pesky existence question. But in the midst of our sorrows and soul-searching, one idea stayed intact: we must travel lightly. Life is already complicated enough that it is a mistake to surround yourself with things and situations that complicate it more. Well, duh, I hear you saying, but stay with me. It's not so simple as all that. The trick is identifying precisely what makes your life more complicated, which is much more difficult than it seems since a majority of our possessions and time are seemingly devoted to making our lives easier. Ironically, most of these things actually complicate our lives more. My aunt, for example, recently let her assistant go after five years. She realized that she spent much more time preparing tasks for her assistant and keeping tabs on her than doing the things she needed to do. Her assistant was wearing her out. Bad assistant? Maybe. Maybe not. How many food gadgets does the average American buy to speed up his or her kitchen experience... only to have a cabinet full of gadgets (such as the "corn stripper"???) and be unable to locate the measuring cups? Let's eat out!

Bottom line: When you have too much, you can't be mindful. You can't fully appreciate what you have. You can't come to know the essence of any one thing, much less this crazy life. If we're ever to know what this life is about, we have to rid ourselves of any distractions, any excess. We have to take the time to really know the things that are around us and serve us. That's where we think Life is. Bryan and I are ready to get back to the details. We're ready to find the joy in life again.

Step 1: I quit my job.