how we spend our days: February 2011

The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak. - Hans Hofmann

You don't have to live by their rules if you don't require their rewards. -Nathan Johnson

The more you have, the more you are occupied, the less you give.- Mother Teresa

The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it - Henry David Thoreau

Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful in your life - Unknown

I used to really like this book my mom had called Clutter's Last Stand by Don Aslett. I liked the illustrations. And I just liked books in general. And I liked reading his tips on how to eliminate clutter and how to put pictures directly on the wall instead of pictures on a shelf on a wall because it would trap less dust and be easier to clean (that tip might have come from one of his other books that my mom had that I also liked reading).

I guess I had a good foundation in getting rid of stuff. Mom would regularly send bags to goodwill and yard sales were usually at least a yearly event. When I was maybe 12 my friend Katie and I decided that we were going to de-clutter her decidedly cluttered bedroom one weekened. We had a trash box and would shout our mantra "Pitch it!!!!!" as we threw out old stuffed animals. Her brothers whined a lot and confiscated probably most of those stuffed animals.

The other week we were talking about travel and culture in my high level English classes. I was teaching the students what "travel light" and "live outside of a suitcase" mean. Traveling has introduced a new level of minimalism into my life and I'm passionately devoted to not owning stuff. I love not owning a car. I love not owning a house. I love not owning half the IKEA catalogue. I love that Ryan and I have spent more than a year living primarily out of backpacks. I love the way travelers pass around possessions as we need them/stop needing them. Things that we needed we were usually able to borrow or find for free or so cheap that we could just throw them out or pass them on when we were finished with them. Ryan's flip flops broke when we were working at the Bamboo School and he was able to replace them with a donated pair that were too big for any of the kids. He needed a scarf for when we got back to the bitter Korea winter and found that in the donations too. Yes....we get what we need from the refugees' and orphans' leftovers. But it works out!

I love not being responsible for repairing, storing, moving and protecting heaps of possessions. I love the free feeling.

When we were living in New Zealand we bought a kind of campervan that its previous owners had named Steve. We figured that even if we couldn't re-sell Steve he would still save us money because we could live out of him. And if we could re-sell him (which we were able to do) all the better. But even owning Steve for just a couple months reminded me of how much I love not owning things that can require a lot of repair. He had several quirks and a few problems we had checked out and I felt like I was regularly willing him to work well for just awhile longer. I was so relieved to sell him and go back to our car-less existence.

It's interesting how you really can do without things. When we first got to Korea three years ago and I had shut off my American cell phone I was in a panic to get a replacement. South Korea is ahead of the states in technology and gadgets and everyone is dependent on their phones. But for a few reasons we didn't get a phone right away and after a couple months we decided not to get one because we realized we didn't really need it like we thought we would (facebook and skype were usually good enough). We lived for almost a year and a half in Korea without a cell phone. I remember one night when I was lost and wandering around trying to find friends cursing myself for not having a phone. But generally you get used to it. I like the convenience of having a phone but I don't feel so dependent on it as I did when I lived in the states. When we did buy a phone, our friend helped us get a $15 phone off the street in Thailand and a $1 sim card with super cheap international phone calls. The last time I was in America it was a bit of culture shock to see everyone on their smart phones (at least that's what they call them in Korea....is that even what they're called back home?)

I was recently talking with my classes about advertising and marketing. We were talking about how advertisers use association, subliminal messages, product placement and color to create feelings of discontentedness. I used to work in marketing and I really love the creativity behind it. I still love going to the mall at Christmas time despite or maybe because of the commercialization of it all. But it's a lot more relaxing being in those environments when I don't feel the tension of whether I should get sucked into buying a certain product or not. Sure, it's a really good sale price. Sure, I really like it. But will it fit in the backpack? If not...let it go.

Below are some pictures from our travels that I associate with simplicity and minimalism. For me personally, a shopping therapy trip to the mall doesn't compare!