Living Simply & Sustainably

As I go along in life, I appreciate more and more, the value of living simply. Just now, I’m sitting in a very small 2 bedroom holiday cabin with my family of six. All four children are sleeping in one room and we have just the bare essentials with us: just enough clothes, just enough crockery, just enough food…just enough of everything. It’s wonderful!

Earlier today, in the chill of the afternoon, my husband and I sat outside on the cabin balcony with a hot drink in hand. We looked out at the refection of the trees in the river and listened to our children ride their scooters on the quiet road below us. You know those moments when just being alive feels good? This was one of them.

I said to my husband, “I like living simply like this.”

And he said, “So do I.”

Deep conversation, I know. {Insert sarcasm here}

Me: “We have too much stuff at home. Do you think we could seriously simplify things when we get home. Like get rid of a heap of stuff?”

Him: “Yes. We can.”

Now, I know very well that I’m romanticising “the simple life”, and in reality, things are not always what they seem (or easy to achieve). I also know what makes holiday life special, is that it is different to the every day challenges at home. However, experiencing life simply gives me an insight into what I value for my family. And it’s not stuff. Or wealth. Or keeping up with the Joneses.

It’s about finding purpose in the small things.

It’s about enjoying moments.

It’s about being concious about choices.

It’s about living life, not doing things.

I see these things coming to fruition in two parts:

1. Making life more simple

2. Living more sustainability

Making Life More Simple

• The first thing I need to do is cull everything in the home our family doesn’t really need.
• The second thing is to find ways to make sure we don’t accumulate stuff again.

I’ll explore these things in another post (when, and if I work it out — HA!).

Living More Sustainability

I recently wrote a series for KleenexMums about sustainable living. I love writing articles like this because it forces me to thinking deeply about the issues I tend to put in the too-hard basket. If you’re interested, you can read them below:

Save the Environment from Home

A guide to living environmentally friendly from your home.

Recycling from Home

All about making the most of recycling in the home.

Sustainability Shopping Tips

Making good choices about what you buy.

Recycling Tips

The ins and outs of recycling in Australia.

Putting it Together

Acting on these sort of enlightenments happen over time and can’t be rushed. I do know, however, that I want to simplify and unclutter our family life so the important things are not lost. How that plays out will be interesting. We’ll see.

What about you? Do you sometimes feel like you have too much “stuff”?

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