So, I haven't actually read this book yet, but I like the title. I've been pondering simplicity lately and I like the idea of simplifying my life in this world in ways that I have control of. I'm trying to avoid biggering and biggering (in the words of Dr. Suess's "The Lorax"). America is the land of plenty and many Christians fall right into the ways of keeping up with Joneses. Think about how many TVs the average American family has in their home. I googled it and on average there are more TVs per household than people! why? We have one TV in our house and NO cable! Most people cannot believe this and automatically crinkle their noses and ask WHY? I haven't had cable in about 5 years. I'm not trying to sound self-righteous here. I'm just as guilty as the next person for getting sucked in to the TV. I spent several hours a day on vacation addicted to HGTV! and I like LOST just as much as the next person. But I don't know why anyone needs a TV in the bathroom!
Since the 1950's the average home size has increased from about 1100 square feet to double that! Why do we need bigger homes? Because we have more stuff! In the past five years, I've moved 4 times. You never realize how much stuff/junk you have until you go to move it. And we've downsized every time. But there's always some new junk to replace the old. My parents have lived in the same house for 30 years. I would HATE to help them move!
The house we live in (rent) now is approximately 1100 square feet, built in the fifties. It has two bedrooms, 2 baths, a kitchen, dining room, and living room. It even has a "bonus" room dedicated to what else, but STUFF! We rarely go in there. We've been throwing our money away renting for the past...well forever, so we've decided to venture into becoming homeowners. Now, most people when they decide to buy a house, they upgrade. Bigger and better. Well, like i said, my goal is to simplify. We've spent so much money in rent, it's been hard to save enough to buy a house. So my goal in buying a house has been to reduce my monthly payments. So, how do you do that? You downsize. And you have to move further away from the city. We found a quaint little house with 3 tiny bedrooms and ONE bathroom. yes, one bathroom! I said I'd never live in a house with one bathroom. Well, never say never, right? So, we'll actually cut our rent in HALF! in HALF! yes, HALF!!! good grief! and the house is even smaller than the one we live in now, so we'll be cutting our stuff in half, too!
I said SIMPLIFY! Less is more! I'm not saying I'll never buy a bigger home. But for now, we are going to cuddle up and get cozy in this 50 year old, 900 sq. ft., one bathroom, dishwasherless, dining roomless home.
It's going to be an adventure, but my hope is that it is a humbling experience. I just want to sit still for a minute, appreciate life, appreciate my family, raise my son with good values, and hope that he'd rather read a book than watch SpongeBob! I'm going to read the book, "Will Jesus Buy Me a Double Wide ('Cause I Need More Room for My Plasma TV)" by Karen Spears Zacharias (a Christian author), be thankful for what I have and blog about our small space living experience.
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