Student testimonial

It's not often that teachers get to hear about how they have influenced their students. Even more rare is feedback on workshops or short presentations. Today I receieved a lovely email from someone who was in a workshop I offered over a year ago based on my "Voluntary Simplicity and Anti-consumerism" course. That class was essentially an introduction to the anti-consumption strands in American culture that have co-existed with materialism from the very beginning. It was not a how-to course in voluntary simplicity; it was part history and part cultural studies. But as nearly always with the material I teach, whether gender or consumption related, the discussion often veered to personal experiences and choices. This is what my student wrote:

It changed my life.

I had a series of very hard conversations with my loved ones about how I felt my family’s consumption patterns were actually lowering our quality of life. After a year of research and planning, we purged about 90 percent of our possessions (including almost my entire personal library) in order to move from a 3 br house with full finished basement to a 2 br apartment. The book donations alone were roughly 50 boxes. I feel almost deliriously unburdened.

Sometimes I berate myself for not being more of an activist, not being on the front lines. But working behind the scenes is not the same as standing on the sidelines, is it?

Preemptive downsizing

I am not about to retire, and we don't plan on selling our house for at least 5-10 years. But while everyone else seemed to be lugging new stuff into their homes, we've been dragging things to the curb for pick-up. So far, we've had two charity pick-ups and one Freecycle giveaway in the last three weeks, for a total of probably 40 cubic feet less stuff in the house, and we've acquired less than 5 cubic feet of new stuff. That doesn't count the old papers, calendars, craft supplies and other odds and ends that went out with the recycling or the trash.

Here's how I see it: when we do decide to move to a smaller place, I don't want to find myself trying to reduce our 8 rooms of belongings by half over a few harried months. (Not to mention the basement and garage. Eeek!).

Here's a simple way to start: If you buy something new, get rid of two old things. Or three. For more great ideas, check out Gretchen Rubin's Eight tips for preparing for a real (or virtual) move at The Happiness Project.