BB wrote: "Love it :-) i started with a fictious moving out cleaning yesterday....Just asked myself 'would I take this with me if I moved out to a new place ?' and as a result eliminated a lot of things :-) will continue with my simplifying act at home :-)
Thank you!"
CC wrote: "Now I understand that the modest way of living is not lack of means, it is my nature.
When I left my old home country I had to get rid of thirty years of my life. I was living in a big house for fifteen years, and you can imagine how much stuff had been gathered all over.
I started in September cleaning the house, selling everything on the net or on the fleemarkets, and the rest went to the garbage.
The worst thing was to throw away my son's things - boxes full of school stuff. I cried and threw away, cried and threw away...
The house was emptied in six months, I managed to pack thirty years of my life in a transporter for a new start.
That was the hardest lesson ever concerning reducing your life to a minimum. After that I have no problems to give up just anything.
Now I've become a true "minimalist". Living in a small apartment where I have to throw away old to buy new - no space for too much stuff.
My shopping centres consist of fleemarkets.
I don't spend any money on clothing, on luxurious things. I live very basic - basic food, basic clothing, basic cosmetics, basic enterntainment.
Just the basic things keeping you alive and going.
I live very peacefully. Due to the straining work I spend a lot of time at home being grateful for having it. Enjoying the greenness outside.
I love Silence and Peace, being out in the nature, feeling One with the Universe.
I love little concerts, many of them free. I love small happenings of art - classic music, ballet, art gallery visits. Where you feel your spirit being lifted to other athmospheres. But such events are rare here in the "province".
I love walks in the surrounding nature. Letting the wind clean my thoughts, the sun carress my face.
I love sitting at my sister's summer house, letting my eyes rest in the breath taking beautiful landscape.
I love my home to be simple and clean, I know each and every object there. I even know the pieces of clothing I have by heart.
You cannot buy Life. You can only feel it. Money is a reassuring thing to have but it is not the purpose for your existence.
It is good to have enough money to make you feel secured - it allows you to enjoy Life without it!
To feel content and at peace is a state of mind that has nothing to do with money."
DD wrote: "Can only agree with all the quotes and thoughts!"
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“Simplicity is owing very little in order to leave space for what’s indispensible and for the essentiality of things.”* Dominique Loreau: L’art de la simplicité
We live in a consumption based society, and not only do we fill our lives with far too many things, but also with far too many activities. There is a constant consumption going on, and – does it always nourish us...?So much time and energy is spent on buying things, taking care of them, and worrying about them. So much time and energy is spent on consuming experiences, be it music, films, games, or travels; in the end we only become overfed. And all the time we’re complaining about having too little time.Try to simplify your life. This is a two-fold process: cleaning out the material clutter and cleaning out the mental overload.I have gotten rid of a huge amount of things, (only in rare cases I’ve missed them afterwards) and I’ve stopped impulse purchases: I think more than twice before buying anything at all. Nowadays I am happy with few possessions and I take well care of each one of them.By cleaning out the mental overload I mean reducing the overflow of stimuli. Carefully choose what you spend your time on. Reducing your activities frees valuable time, and it also heightens the quality of your experiences.So what about a small spring cleanout? Look at something you do often, without really enjoying it, and try to diminish the time spent on it. Perhaps you can do it more efficiently? When it comes to your belongings: go through what you have lots of, like clothes, books, or CDs, using two basic rules by Dominique Loreau: “ Only keep what you really adore” and “If you haven’t used it for a year, out it goes”It would be great to know the result of your spring cleanout!
Have a good week! :-)
The Happiness Network
*“La simplicité, c’est posséder peu pour laisser la voie libre à l’essentiel et à la quintessence des choses.”
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