Simplicity

Wow! Almost 30 years of adulthood accumulating a life and what to show?

A leather couch, some nice antiques, and that 40” HDtv. Yep, I had a house of stuff, some used, some not but I can say, “yes I have a glue gun, a Coors pool table light and boxes of beanie babies that I refuse to giveaway because that collector’s market will definitely come back some day.” Hopefully I’ll still be alive for it.

Pack everything in pods and live solo in an efficiency apartment for 3+ months and you will get all kinds of perspective. Everything I cook has to be in a large non stick frying pan, a spaghetti pot or on a cookie sheet. I have 4 large plates, 4 small plates and 4 bowls which encourages me to do the dishes daily if not more. I have two wine glasses from which I drink Cabs, Chards and Sake and my mother’s spirit has not come down yet to haunt me!

I can take a potty break while cleaning out my cat’s litter box which, besides giving you TMI, shows how adaptable we can be when we have to be.

I sit on the loveseat watching the palms sway and doves pace the roof. I do this instead of watching tv however I’m sure not knowing the channel lineup on DirectTV spurs on this activity. I read and write daily not to mention walk and bike more as this kind of recreation is priceless when you are cooped up in a one-room apartment with 3 dogs and a bomb dropping cat. I’m sure the neighbors think I am just an exercise nut.

I have 3 houseplants and rotate between two sets of bedding. The shared laundry room is in the garage so I wake early Sunday mornings to complete my chore before the other residents awaken. The same smart logistics are applied to the backyard to keep the different units’ packs from meeting and having a postering contest accompanied with uncontrollable barking. Texts back and forth keep the rival gangs at bay. I have no heat and a window unit air conditioner that makes the back part of the apartment very cool but not so much the area the bed and couch are in. My closet is the size of two coat closets and I make every corner and ledge count. My kitchen table is my work table and my writing table and my junk table and the only place that doesn’t have dog hair on it so it’s my folding table. I don’t have an assigned parking spot and if company is visiting another unit, I park where I can and I don’t get mad about it. And I will not even start on how bad and overloaded the wi-fi is here but after enough endless buffering marathons, you learn to rely less on the internet. So I go out on the water and watch the fish jump and the clouds float while waiting for that perfect Kodak moment.

I am the mercy of others and my needs have to be met with what I have and none of this sucks. Living simply is not a novel idea but it’s one we’ve forgotten to enjoy. Our desire for excess that serves little purpose is controlling us and driven by the retailers. We need to break free and I hope I keep this mantra when I go back to the real world. I know I will try.