Simplifying, downsizing, minimising — the journey into travelling lighter and owning less is a unfolding, a discovery, full of surprises.
People who live simply — monastics, nomads, minimalists — often make the point, when they're writing or making videos, that jettisoning possessions is no good as an end it itself — it has to be a subsidiary aspect to a different central purpose. So, for instance, a person might take their possessions right down in order to travel, or to fit into a very small dwelling so as to save money, or as a component of espousing a spiritual path (like becoming a nun).
I'm not sure what I think about that, because my own personal experience (it might be different for you) has been that I couldn't have foreseen what a journey into simplicity would expose in me, what it would reveal about others, where it would take me, what the result would be. It has had so many new vistas with every bend in the road. And nothing to regret and all of it good. It has made so much possible and brought such ease and peace.
But if there's one central purpose to it, I'd say it's how it facilities doing what you love, which is what this short video explores.
Did you like that? I found it so happy and inspiring.
Today, I am moving on something I have hung on to just because I like it a lot. I absolutely never use it (which is why it's going, but I think it's sooo sweet that it's take me a long time to let it go.
It's a nifty little bento box, with two compartments for food and a third for a dear little cutlery set, then a soft stretchy band going round to hold it all together.
I rarely travel, and when I do I tend to look forward to trying out food for sale on the journey rather than taking food from home — it's part of the fun. But for someone going to school or work every day, a bento box is probably vital.
So that's one thing. What else?
A water bottle.
I had three of these (this small one and two larger ones). Why? I'm not sure. I think maybe I thought this little one would be good to take with me on a journey or if I went to the theatre or something. But if I go out to the cinema or theatre, in fact I usually enjoy having a cold or hot (depending on season) drink as part of the outing. The utilitarian thing of saving money by taking water with you isn't really what I'm doing if I go out — I do so rarely, but like to make a special occasion of it.
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