On Living Less

Have you read the story of Carmella and her family at Assortment? When their world fell apart during the recession, they moved into a 665 sq. ft. cabin. Her blog is the chronicle of their life "On Living Less". My mom and I discovered her several months ago and we have savored every word. For us, it is very timely. Though we have not been forced to downsize so dramatically, our living space is about halved from our previous home. And we certainly identify with Carmella on uncertain economics issues and major life changes.

Today, Carmella posted on savoring the small triumphs of life and remembering to find the opportunity in waiting. To realize that our life doesn't have to be perfect, our To-Do list complete or all our dreams come true to be able to enjoy life's opportunities. Even though we may be waiting for an important decision to be made, a better job found, or a house to be completely finished, we can savor perfect moments and find opportunities of enjoyment.

It reminds me of last summer when it was so chaotic. When we were living in an upper apartment with a dorm room sized refrigerator. When every waking moment was spent hurrying to work so we could hurry  home to work on the house. But it didn't matter if we didn't go anywhere or do anything fun. It didn't matter if we didn't have running water or working light switches. That wasn't going to stop us from having our family parties. We would all sit around the table in my half-finished house on an odd assortment of chairs, stools and benches, usually in our sweaty work clothes, and talk and laugh about the next project, the next dream.