A Vacation from Your Stuff

06.04.10

There are joys to having fewer choices, and sometimes life gives us an opportunity to experience this.  Last night at my Lighten Up! Decluttering meetup, a member was talking about how she had only a few things upacked from her recent move. ” What a releif,” she said, “to have only five blouses to choose from instead of my whole wardrobe! I actually enjoy getting dressed more and am making better outfits with my few choices that I was when I had many more things to choose from!” Another member is living in two places at once, with most of her stuff in the place she spends less time.  She said she actually prefers the atmosphere at the small room she is renting, where there are very few of her things. “I sometimes avoid going to the other place”, she said,” because I feel I have to deal with all that stuff.”

When we go on vacation, isn’t taking a vacation from our stuff part of what we enjoy?  Isn’t part of that light, free vacation feeing due to having fewer items under our responsibility? I always look forward to the week that I spend at a camp where I have one small closet, a shelf, and a table for my things.  Your summer home, if you’re lucky enough to have one, may be fun partly because it’s simpler than your regular home. Less stuff-more fun! is the moto of the Center for a New American Dream, a national organization for voluntary simplicity. I agree!

When you are travelling this summer, see if you can notice how it feels to have less stuff. (Is it more fun?) It could be an inspriation to carry into the rest of your life!

And come check out the meetup group - we are bound to have a stimulating conversation every month!