“TRAVELING LIGHT“

Although I’ve never really been very attached to material things, I started actively purging “stuff” from my life several years ago upon leaving my marriage. X started unilaterally dictating what I could have, and when every request of mine was met a “no” (AND cost legal fees), I realized I had to let go. I can still remember how I felt when hearing another inexplicable notion coming from her lips – “all the family photos are mine” (it didn’t matter that I had snapped the shutter on ALL of them), and realized, I am not my stuff, even if they are mementos as precious as memories with my kids. X inadvertently triggered a shift within me, that continues to positively unfold in my life these many years later.

Not being attached to possessions, not accumulating many things (no matter how much I like “everything,” has been incredibly freeing, emotionally and physically. I travel light, I can move through life in different ways, with less stuff to even have to think about. I’ve lived in seven different places in San Miguel, none of which had my bed, or my photos on the wall, or my pots or dishes. Each one became my home, no matter how short was my stay there. I realize it’s not for everyone, I get why having a physical home, and beautiful things, are important to most people. No judgment here. And yes, I do envision a “real home” at some point down the road. This lighter, somewhat nomadic, style of life fits me now, where I am at this point on my journey. It’s all about The Match. I’m surely at the lightest I’ve ever been, emotionally/ mentally/spiritually, and this is reflected in a variety of ways that help me be in a flow state, in an allowing place, like never before. 

I look around and experience many people weighed down by stuff, and I’m often told I’m an inspiration. I’m surely not a guru, or a proselytizer (at least about this!). I’m just a mirror. It’s no accident that I am encountering people all over the place whose lives are now being (en)lightened by letting go – of objects, of wardrobes that haven’t been worn in years – as first steps on a path to free themselves up, outside and within, of the stuff that can get in our way. Capitalism surely seems to sell us on the vision that more stuff, different stuff, “better” stuff, will make us happy. It’s upon us to figure out whether that’s true for us or not.