Jane, Sharon, Teri...oh my!

Jane told me that people like to read shorter insertions in blogs. People want to come to the site, read and digest. Short installments.

I often listen to Jane. Yesterday I took this into consideration while posting. I have so much to say...yet wanted to keep it brief. Decided that I would write more often, less text.

Thank you Jane.

I wrote yesterday that the signs have been given to me for a long time. The signs of living with less....and loving it. I want to tell you about some of these signs.

I went to Japan to sing for the first time when I was 29 years old. I was going to be gone for several months. I packed soooooo much stuff that it was overwhelming to me. The amount of stuff that I wanted to take with me, that I thought I couldn't go without, was enormous. I packed it and took it all anyway. (The company that I was singing/working for was paying for it AND bringing so much on a plane was not as limited and charged for as it is now.)

When I was living in Japan, the thing that brought me the most peace? Was the amount of simplicity that I found. Everywhere. Peoples homes. The people. Temples. Shrines. Stores. Restaurants. Streets. Cars. All around me. Simplicity. I loved it. Even their flower arrangements, Ichibana, were simple. I felt so free. I could breathe.

Fast forward a few years. I was working in Grand Rapids for a short time showing model homes to potential clients who would want to build these homes. I worked all day long in this big, beautiful spec home. It was gorgeous. I loved going to work each day. What I loved the most? The peace that came from a home, though somewhat fake surroundings as no one actually lived in it, that was so uncluttered - maybe even under-decorated, was loud. How can peace be so loud I often wondered? But it was. It was simple. Uncluttered. Quiet. Easy. I felt so free. I could breathe.

My good friend Sharon, whom I only met a few months ago. (By the way, how can someone that you have only known for a short time feel so familiar and wonderful and truthful? Seems to be happening to me quite often these days!) When I first met Sharon, she told me how she often moves very simply. Gives away most of her things and takes what she can pack in her car. PACK IN HER CAR??!!?? I only imagined that her car was actually a bus, or a Mack truck...because I could see no other way that would ever be possible. When I went with her out to her car as she was leaving....I nearly fainted. Her car is small. I asked if THIS was the packing tool she was talking about. It was.

I went into the house, sat down on the couch and tried to imagine how that must feel. To be able to pack everything into your car and move to a new place. Across country. And be happy. While sitting on that couch, feeling those feelings, I felt so free. I could breathe.

We have a rental house next door to our own. There were some new neighbors that moved in last year. They had a little boy, Austin, that David and I fell in love with. We often wished that his parents could only realize how very special he was. He just seemed to be in their way. David and I often had conversations with him out in our driveway. He was 9. They moved into the rental house after a fire destroyed everything that they owned. The mother was devastated. She seemed very angry, bitter and unhappy...most of the time. The relationship between the parents was very strained, nothing to do with the fire I am certain.

When I heard that they had lost all in a fire, I felt very bad for them. This was at a time last year when I could only live on the first floor of our home for over 5 months due to "the foot thing". While lying on the bed in our den, I began to think how I would actually love it if all of my stuff burned. Taken by a fire. That the things that I loved and the dog and all of us, I could retrieve...and that the rest would go. Wow. What the hell was that? But it made me start to think that I wanted to let go of anything that was holding us down. Weighing us down. Keeping us from flying.

Austin said it best. "I just wish that my Mom and Dad would get it. That it was just stuff. We are all ok. I can get other toys. And they can get other stuff. I just wish that they would get happy."

I love that kid.

I just wanted to breathe.

So we made some decisions. David and I decided that we were going to live differently. We are evaluating ALL aspects of our lives. Stuff. Love. Partnership. Goals. Prayer. Forgiveness. Where we live. Money. Did I say stuff????

My friend Teri wrote to me yesterday that 7 years ago, they also had a house fire. Took nearly everything that they had. She simply wrote: "You are right Wendy, it is all just stuff". The thing about Teri is, I have known her for a couple of years now...this is the first I have heard of this seeming tragedy. Great hmmmm? She is so busy being positive and loving and living life, she failed to mention that before. I love it.

So now, my friends, my house is nearly empty....my heart is full...and I feel so free.

I can breathe.