Less can mean more
One lesson my wife and I took from our 6-month trip is that we can lead a very happy existence without all our material possessions. For 6 months we basically lived out of a backpack and shoulder bag. Coming back to our home we have realized just how much stuff we’ve accumulated over the years. Although we haven’t pro-actively done away with our extra wears this article may provide inspiration.
I came across this article online and thought it was interesting. Here are a couple excerpts:
*“Nearly half of consumers, 47%, say they already have what they need, up from 34% in November 2006, according to the 2009 MetLife Study of the American Dream.”- I thought this was interesting because in November 2006 consumers were more likely to have greater financial resources than they do today.
*“Eric Dykstra, pastor of Crossing Church in Elk River, Minn….began encouraging members to reduce their personal possessions to 100 items…”- wow, sounds like a very freeing experience.
*“Enrollment in “voluntary simplicity” courses promoted by the non-profit Northwest Earth Institute in Portland, Ore., is up 50% in the past year.”- Here is a link to the NWEI website.
Posted: July 13th, 2009 under Miscellaneous.
Tags: consumption, simple living, simplify
Comment from Kelly Dykstra
Time July 14, 2009 at 8:09 am
Evan, going down to 100 personal items was VERY freeing for Eric and I. It was part of our initiative to S.H.E.D. (based on Julie Morgenstern’s book, SHED Your Stuff, Change Your Life). You can watch the 3 talks about SHED at
http://www.crossing-church.com/live/Video.aspx