One couple share how they revamped their life by cutting WAY back.
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A friend of mine leaned across the table at a get together and proceeded to ask me various fear based questions. From the look in her eyes I could see puzzlement, concern and abject terror all at once. Living without certain things in our culture is just unfathomable for some. Of course billions of people all over the globe live “without” all the time. This isn’t by choice. This is daily life for many on our planet.
My wife and I have made certain choices. In many cases they are very privileged choices. These choices have changed our lives. They have made our lives fuller. We decided to move towards the exit of our conventional mainstream privileged existence and towards a life of that includes simplicity and greater liberation.
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Over the past five years or so we’ve made some changes that many would never consider let alone actually act upon. We have killed our credit score (cue the lawyers). We have no insurance (cue the worriers). We have sold our cars. We have left the comforts of a modern home. We live in what most would consider a tent (a Mongolian Ger).
We have abandoned the American Dream. We don’t vote (cue the indoctrinated). We are unemployed (cue the critics). We don’t have any real assets to speak of (hey lawyers … where are you going?). We have no desire to own property. We still use stores, cars, planes, phones, and computers. We eat potluck dinners. We meet friends for BYO coffee. We ride bikes. We go for walks. We shit in a bucket (it has a toilet seat). We wear second hand clothes. We believe the education system is broke beyond repair. We support local artists.
We have been criticized for “not contributing” to society. We are learning to harvest medicinal plants (take it easy, just dandelion so far). We know that climate will change everything. We garden when we can. We criticize the government. We eat like grazers. We love our family and friends. We house sit. We work for food and shelter. We admire our community.
We try and be present often. We are not fearful people. We love the journey. We understand it is our journey. We realize you have a journey as well. We are completely aware that none of this will change the world. We are privileged. We are fortunate. We are complicit. We are learning. We are in love. We are loved.
We wish you were here.
It’s so cool.
BTW, I am from the “commune” era and as a matter of fact, when I was at the Art Inst of Chicago, I designed one in my environmental design class.
Sounds great but aren’t they breaking the law by not having insurance? And in the event either or both of them get ill, who is paying the bill?
I admire their cutting back but I’d say it’s more like changing their life style. “Cutting back” gives the impression that they have given something up whereas they are probably richer then when they had the “things.” I envy their more simple life Good for them!
Breaking the law is the whole point of living this way. The problem as I see it is we are following the laws which just happen to limit our experience while simultaneously devouring the planet.