I was asked how I started on my quest to live simply. Here’s how it began…
One person had a big influence. She was in my life, often in the background, from the time I was in kindergarten. She had a very kind and loving nature, and a beautiful sense of joy surrounded her and everything she did. When I was in my teens, I heard that she was dying, and I visited her in hospital. That was when my journey to living simply started.
During my visit she told me that she had already given away the few possessions she had. She showed me two photographs of her family overseas and said, “These are the only two possessions I have left”. They were obviously highly valued memories that she hung on to till the very last. She also told me she had found the right people to give them to and had organised to pass them on. The next week she was gone.
That last visit with her taught me to think carefully about possessions I acquired, as I now realised that I was totally responsible for each one of them – right down to photographs. If I acquired something, then I needed to have a plan to use it and a plan to pass it on, recycle, or upcycle it, (make something new out of it,) when I no longer had use for it.
I also realised there are enough things to do in life, without acquiring and being responsible for possessions that sit on a shelf or in a box and clutter up the place and my life. This does not have to be only about material possessions. It would also be about taking on projects or activities and not being able to devote adequate time to them.
Whilst I don’t believe I would ever live as simply as that wonderful soul who influenced me so much, I’m very grateful to have learnt to value the simple things in life. It could be better for the planet too!
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