Sunny Days

I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma last March. I'm not going to say it was the best thing that every happened to me. Honestly it was the worst, but it did make me realize that I have so many things I want to do before I die.

S. and I have been moving slowly, but diligently for the last nine years or so, to the point we're at now. Getting cancer just increased this path traveling by about 100% over the last 10 months.

We started as college consumers having been wonderful students of society and the traditional norms. Then we began to wake up a bit after finishing college, buying a house and getting "real" jobs. I started to look into being frugal so we had extra money for the things we wanted.

But what I really wanted was to not work. We were still stuck in the mindset that you needed a large house, two cars and things. So while I didn't work a nine to five job for about two years (just ran our small DJ business) S. was out working two jobs most days and three on weekends we DJed.

We were moving along waiting for a woman to retire so S. could go full time at the post office. We knew we would have it made with a full time government job. Well we kept waiting, and waiting, and three years longer we were both at bursting points. I felt guilty for "not working" and S. was depressed and angry a lot for having to work so much. We had the house and cars. What we didn't have was any savings or balance.

So I called him at work one day and said, "Let's sell this 3,100 sq. foot home with two garages that can hold five cars and move to a house with about 900 sq. feet but still has two garages." (one that we eventually turned into a studio for S's photography)

We sold the house after less than a year since the housing market hadn't crashed yet. And moved to Biron, population 915. We'll have been here six years come the beginning of July.

Our frugalism continued and started turning towards environmentalism as well. I think the two just go together naturally. I firmly stand that we were not suckered in by consumerism again to buy lightbulbs and energy efficient appliances! Living here was better, but we both knew something was/is still missing.

Then, Wham, came the cancer diagnosis. Things were blurry for me, but S. began more self reflection while I managed day to day with the treatments. S. came across minimalist blogs and something inside of him clicked. It wasn't/isn't the key, but it has helped us move one step closer.

We started getting rid of stuff. Compared to most people I know I thought we didn't have a lot of things. I've never been a knick knack collector or a clothes horse. I love books but get them from the library like a good frugalist. But we have given so many things away (mainly to the Family Center or on Freecycle).
There are still a few things I want to get rid of but we're keeping them as part of the staging for selling the house. Even after purging so much I still think our home feels cozy and not sparse.

Minimalism is not The answer, it's a step. And if you don't continue to take steps you become inactive and then you die.... is that too harsh? I think if you stop moving (physically or by not continuing to learn and become a better person) then what is the point. You are taking up space and the Earth should not have to support you if you are doing nothing for her or the people who are really trying.

The next step in our journey is to sell this house and move into (hopefully a smaller) house in town so we can go down to one vehicle and walk to most of the places we need to go in town. By the end of the year we want S. to be able to quit. I may have to work for awhile (mainly for insurance.... damn you cancer!!!) But it all depends on how our plans keep progressing. If we find ways to secure an income (besides the traditional 9 to 5 route) then I may be able to retire before I'm 40 (like I've been planning since I was 20.)

We have also been looking into house sitting so we can travel around the U.S. and even the world. Since we do have three cats it could be a bit tricky, but we can always get someone to house sit for us if we're off house sitting in Maine.

So the moral of today's story: You don't have to be perfect, just be better than you are today.