- Green Lifestyle
The courage to become independent. Part 1.
Kristin Oldenburg
Do I need this? Really?
We all probably ask ourselves this question every now and then. I actually raise it regularly when it comes to my closet. What am I wearing today? Where are my favorite jeans, and why are there so many more, which I never wear? Exactly. That is the problem. We all – or at least most of us – have too many things, which are actually not important. But since we “want to have” them, for whatever reason, we must pay for them, work for it – a lot – and then again, we compensate the lack of time with more consumption. And are sick of it. I quit. But how?
Let’s be honest.
To interrupt this cycle – which by the way is the same when it comes to your apartment, food, car, smartphone and so on – you need an inventory. An honest one. Do I need this big apartment? Do I need a tablet and a laptop? Do I need the newest smartphone? Or will I also be ok without it?
In my experience, to answer that question, it really helps to go tent camping. Or spend a vacation in a log cabin in the woods. Of course, a camper also works. But they have become quite expensive, not to mention the gas prices. My personal key experience was when I really had no problem spending some time in a 130 sq ft cabin in the Pyrenees, but really only as long as I got my coffee in the mornings. No milk worked for me, but not having a good espresso was not an option. (Does that surprise anyone)? Clothes were not an issue anymore. Look at that…
It is a question of happiness.
The queen of tidying, Marie Kondo, recommends a simple method: Put everything from one category (for example clothes) on a pile, then pick up each item and ask yourself, if it makes you happy. If it does, keep it. If not, give it away, sell it, donate it.
And it works similar for the independency-inventory. Does it really make me happy to have the newest smartphone with the bitten of apple – because of the camera or the always-on-display? Or the fancy e-bike? Or the amazing portafilter machine with this extremely good grinder?
Attention! This is not about sacrifice. It’s all about: What makes you happy. And fortunately, that varies from person to person. If you do not know what is really important to you, you cannot downsize, change things, become more independent. For example, when it comes to food. Which we will be dealing with in part 2 of our series: Food self-sufficiency.
