For the past couple of months I have been participating in a "soul deepening" class at my church and have really been enjoying it. It has been opening my eyes, or my soul or heart or essence or whatever you want to call it, to new ideas about the world and spirituality and finding peace with oneself. We met again last night and discussed Transcendentalism and in particular Thoreau's work Walden, or Life in the Woods.
In the section that we were discussing, Thoreau described how he had shirked off the drudgery of daily life and work and asked why do we work to buy the things...not that he was lazy, but he felt, at the time of his writing, that toiling in the garden to grow his own food or to maintain his home was appropriate, but working "for the man", so to speak, was questionable and therefore he left society and went to live in the woods. The discussion soon turned to modern life and would it be possible to this and how much of our time is spent working at a job that we do not enjoy so that we can buy the "things".
I professed that I often times DO look at my own finances to figure out where I could cut expenses so that I could save up the money to quit the job that I don't enjoy so that I can find my "bliss", so to speak. I think we all know that if I could do this, that I would start a quilting business (or possibly a ceramics business...if I were any good at pottery). Perhaps it is, once again, time to start work on my business plan...my life manifesto....my dream to reality and figure out how I can make it work.
What can I do to simplify my life? I look around at all my "things" and think "how did I accumulate so much stuff?" And then I think "well, you have a house and in having this house you are required to fill it..."
Do I have to fill my house, though? Perhaps step one will be to empty out the closets where I have shoved the junk and take it to the Goodwill store and be done with it.
Perhaps...
In the section that we were discussing, Thoreau described how he had shirked off the drudgery of daily life and work and asked why do we work to buy the things...not that he was lazy, but he felt, at the time of his writing, that toiling in the garden to grow his own food or to maintain his home was appropriate, but working "for the man", so to speak, was questionable and therefore he left society and went to live in the woods. The discussion soon turned to modern life and would it be possible to this and how much of our time is spent working at a job that we do not enjoy so that we can buy the "things".
I professed that I often times DO look at my own finances to figure out where I could cut expenses so that I could save up the money to quit the job that I don't enjoy so that I can find my "bliss", so to speak. I think we all know that if I could do this, that I would start a quilting business (or possibly a ceramics business...if I were any good at pottery). Perhaps it is, once again, time to start work on my business plan...my life manifesto....my dream to reality and figure out how I can make it work.
What can I do to simplify my life? I look around at all my "things" and think "how did I accumulate so much stuff?" And then I think "well, you have a house and in having this house you are required to fill it..."
Do I have to fill my house, though? Perhaps step one will be to empty out the closets where I have shoved the junk and take it to the Goodwill store and be done with it.
Perhaps...
3 comments:
I know you have memories of living in a space the size of your current closet and reflecting on how you happily lived with that amount of "stuff." There is definitely something comforting about shedding the excess. I'm somehow going through that cycle yet again and am excited to live with less.
I like agent dragonflys last point. I try to cut my spending but I like stuff:)
Can I buy your shoes from the goodwill ?
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