Minimalism, Fun, and Finding a Connection

posted 26th September 2010    Written by: Lindsey    CATEGORY: All Posts, Life Lesson, Lindsey, Season 3, Spirituality, Travel, What I've Learned

“Ah, life is a gate, a way, a path to Paradise anyway, why not live for fun and joy and love…” - Big Sur by Jack Kerouac

Autumn fell quickly in Oklahoma and the shack we were living in didn’t have a bathroom. Once the frost set in, using a shovel in great outdoors as a toilet wasn’t very appealing. We were on a trip, “West” the only destination, so it only made sense to head that way.

I was broke and without work. My worldly possessions were stored in Montana, where I had last lived. I planned to sell it all and make some cash. So we set out on the highway, across great vast sweeping plains through Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming. Only the Suburu on the road, and a semi truck, every now and then.

When we got to Montana, I discovered that everything I had stored was gone. Everything I had planned to use, or sell.

I was frustrated. And pissed. And broke. And broken.

I called my friend, blearily teary, heading west on Interstate 90, apologizing for not saying my farewells, but that I simply couldn’t stay any longer. Not after everything was gone.

He said to me, “Lindsey, do you know how many times I’ve lost everything?”
“No,” I sniffed.
He paused and said, emphatically, “Seven.”

And I did the only thing that made sense: I laughed. I realized that everything wasn’t really everything. I didn’t need my clothes or my skis or my DVD collection to be myself. In fact, I had just lived 6 months without any of that stuff and it only made me feel more free to live how I wanted.

This realization is one of my great revelations of traveling.

Since then, I’ve been living with way less things than I ever have before, and getting pretty good at it. Do you need a delicious meal prepared using only a saucepan (without a handle), a kitchen towel, and a questionable thrift store wooden spoon? I got you! (You don’t mind eating out of a mason jar, do you?) How about a new winter wardrobe with $50. Yeah, I can do that.

This is the story of how I inadvertently became a wannabe minimalist.

Minimalism

I’m dramatic. Most people don’t leave everything they own with someone that could potentially go to jail/turn many things into nothing so this story might be a bit irrelevant to anyone who is stable/sane. I believe that living with less is an awesome way to live life but I definitely couldn’t have gotten to this point without having everything taken. I’m a hoarder at heart. Funny how life works out sometimes, the worst possible situations turning into a completely beneficial lifestyle change.

When I was forced into living with nothing, I realized the simple pleasures in life and reconnected with some old passions.

I found personal productivity through living simply. Not buying, or being a typical consumer helps me have a small footprint. I’m an idealist and a hippie and hold firm to the belief that living lighter is one of the best things humans can do for the planet.

Also because I’m poor, having a reason to NOT buy more Things sure helps keep this waitress afloat.

Living the Fun, Alternatively

For someone with few things and no ability to waste money, the word “fun” takes on a new definition. It isn’t about going out to dinners and movies and the bar anymore. Because, at one point in my life, entertainment and fun were synonymous. I’ve since redefined how to have fun.

Fun is pursuing something awesome, with good people.

A few weeks ago, several friends took a sailboat out into Lake Michigan at midnight. Out in the lake, under a bright starry sky, we pulled out instruments. A banjo, a guitar, a ukulele and voices rang out. I played around with some nighttime photography. We taught each other about sailing and astronomy and how to avoid seasickness.

The breeze kissed my face and my heart glowed to be in the moment of natural beauty, creativity, adventure and love. It was really fun.

Fun is a Part of Every Day

If you want it to be. That’s the great thing about life – you can choose to have fun.

Smalltown Michigan summer is over, people are gone, and I feel more alone than ever. I’ve been using my isolation to practice meditation. I read The Dharma Bums at the beginning of summer and I related with Jack Kerouac when goes home and spends the winter meditating under a tree.

Everyone thought he was a big waste, just sitting out under a tree. But he found something within himself that season, that he took with him back into his travels and life.

Granted, I didn’t spend the whole summer under a tree. I wrote and hung out with new friends but mostly on my own, trying to be still, and present, and understand myself. I spent time outdoors, I read, I learned, and I grew. I’m not quite sure where the line gets drawn between fun and growth anymore. Not such a bad thing.

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Comments (6)

6 Responses to “Minimalism, Fun, and Finding a Connection”

  • Doniree Says:
    September 26th, 2010 at 8:35 am

    Sometimes I wish I would be forced into the same kind of minimalism as you, but I'm trying to do it myself. Asking what's important, really, and what I'm attached to but probably don't need. Also, you are a beautiful writer :)

  • Beth Says:
    September 26th, 2010 at 11:36 am

    I am 31, recently divorced with 2 kids and found my self completely starting from scratch in my life. A year ago my ex-husband informed me that he had started cheating on me 8 weeks into our 9 year marriage. I immediately moved in with my parents, and then 6 months later found myself looking for a place to live. I had nothing. At first I was angry that my ex refused to let me have anything from our lives together, but then I came to realize that I didn't want it anyway. Attached to all those "things" were the memories of a broken marriage and betrayal. So I started over and have learned to live with the bare minimum. I'm loving it. Nothing in my home is a reminder of him, but instead is a promise of newness and a testimony to my own strength and resourcefulness. I'm proud of myself for learning to live without all the stuff I thought I couldn't live without.

  • Lindsey Says:
    September 27th, 2010 at 4:06 pm

    Wow, what a huge way to start anew. Props to you, Beth, finding hope in such emotionally draining situations is a testament to your ability to succeed. Go girl!

  • Lindsey Says:
    September 27th, 2010 at 4:07 pm

    Aww thanks so much for the compliment Doni! You're a doll!
    Its still hard to let go of things… always… but finding the freedom of cleaning out closets – literally or figuratively – is intensely awesome.

  • Alisha Says:
    September 27th, 2010 at 6:29 pm

    Minimalism has become more and more appealing to me over the past year. Though I am sentimental, I've never had a hard time parting with things. The realization that it's my stuff that keeps me stuck was profound, though. And I am constantly trying to release my possessions in order to make room for more meaning in my life. (Okay. It's also because I'm broke too. But I'm glad that I am because I appreciated the little things a lot more.) It's hard though trying to convert now as a married person with children. Our culture teaches us that more is more is more and BETTER. Really, 5 years from now when I'm (hopefully) debt free, I hope to live in a tiny little bungalow and do my living out in the world.

  • nikkiklecha Says:
    September 27th, 2010 at 7:29 pm

    I. LOVE. YOU. Seriously. You inspire me. And so does Kerouac – I strive for Satori. Sometimes you have to lose everything to gain anything. xx

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