It started in my late 30s. This yearning of wanting a simpler life. I no longer wanted to be in the corporate world. It did not feel authentic to me. It felt crazy busy always striving for more, more, more. I came home almost every day from my job complaining about one thing or another. I could not stand the politics. I wanted a simpler life.
It is not always easy living a simple life; yet when I bring myself back to it, I want more of it. I sometimes get caught up in the “expectations” of the world or thinking I should live more like the “Jones” next door. So yes, I am human, and though I know it is always about choices, I can sometimes lose my way. But the longer I live this simple life, the more I find myself feeling more comfortable in the choices I have made to have less and not more.
I imagine everyone defines a simple life in different ways. For me, it is about not having to go to a corporate job. It is about weekends spent at home grilling out, playing games with my hubby, hanging with my dogs, and putt-sing to my heart’s content around my house. It is about getting up each morning during the week without an alarm and finding my way out to my writing cottage. It is about having lunch with my mom or close friends in the middle of the week. It is about a walk with Frankie or Kylie when I need a break away from my computer and my work.
We do not take many vacations, and when we do, we drive and take time to enjoy all the beauty of the landscape. It means I shop at second hand shops for clothing and most household items. I still chuckle to myself as I think back to my 20s when I would not have been caught dead in a thrift store. Now I find complete joy and excitement when I “score” a cool new outfit, shoes or decor for my home, and pay nothing close to the original cost.
I wanted a simpler life, and though sometimes I struggle because of my ego… My heart is more often than not, guiding me on this path of simplicity and happiness.
How do you define a simpler life? I’d love to hear from you!
PS: For some reason some of my words are being hyper-linked, of which I did not do (like the word politics). Not sure why. Computers can sometimes cause me to not live a simple life when I can not figure out why it is doing something I do not want it to. Sigh.