July 21, 2004
There is so much to consider, when a person is thinking of ending their old way of life and embarking on a new one. The thought of selling our home and all our possessions is freeing. There is almost a kind of high that I feel when I imagine being that unencumbered and flexible. It's a Living-In-The-Moment Zen-kind of feeling. Then there are the moments when I'm cooking in my nice kitchen or working at my nice desk and I wonder what got ionto me, to give all this up. Being human means being fallible and emotional, among other things. That's me.
There is something inside me that is determined to leave the rat-maze, no matter what the personal cost. Our current societies are set up to separate people from their families and communities... there is expectation that we MUST go off to work somewhere and make enough money to have the same things that other people have (T.V., CD player, video player, DVD player, new furniture, a car for every adult, etc). The normal routine is to go into debt in order to buy these things. Then the interest keeps a person in debt for far longer than they had planned. And so it goes, on and on.
Gary and I are interested in a lifestyle where we need less, use less, crave less. We are not interested in austerity or poverty. Simplicity is more accurate.
Can we find such a lifestyle? We saw it when we were in New Zealand earlier this year. (www.nhne.com/specialreports/bw-newzealand) and were inspired by their examples. The question currently up for discussion is whether to get rid of everything and go to spend a few years in New Zealand, or stay in this country and try to create a non-materialistic lifestyle here.
Is there anyone else here who is interested in such a change? I'd love to hear your viewpoint.
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