Cultivating Contentment

I've been thinking a lot lately about what it really means to cultivate contentment. Today, I heard song lyrics that said something to the effect of "happiness isn't getting what you want, it's wanting what you've got".

So often we get trapped in the idea of "I'll be happy when I have/am/do xyz". We make this thing or that thing a condition of contentment, of happiness.

Why is advertising so effective? Because they tell us that this product or that thing will make our lives complete, full, perfect, that what's being advertised is the thing we've been looking for all along. But, out of the very nature of human beings, after we've bought it and taken it home, it begins to lose the "shiny newness", the thrill of that purchase subsides, and we're searching for the next thing to fulfill us.

What we have to realize is that contentment will NEVER come from stuff. Stress, debt, consumption of our free time, clutter in our homes, even depression and extra weight come from stuff. Contentment can only be found when we're satisfied with what we already have and shift our focus from acquiring more to living more.

It's my Veganniversary!

Yes! It is! Today is one year since I made the commitment and went vegan. Happy veggiversary to me! :D The first four months or so, I effortlessly lost 20 lbs. I don't look different, I don't think, but I can chalk that up to being something of a junk food vegan. My goal this year is to cut back on soda (vanilla Coke, I'm looking at you!) and highly processed foods (Tofurkey Italian sausages... Daiya cheese... Boca burgers...) and incorporate a deliberate, fresh food approach.

And to learn to cook. I'm almost 30. I should know how to cook by now. lol

On Being a Slack-tastic Blogger

Okay, when I said this was going to be a minimalist blog, I didn't intend for it to be a blog in which I wrote only a handful of posts in a year. LOL My apologies for that. I'm sorry this blog was covered in a layer of dust several months thick. I hope to have more to post in the upcoming year. Given that I have downsized a great deal of my possessions, that I'm unemployed at the moment so even my bank account is a minimalist, LOL (though I have an interview on Tuesday, please keep me in your du'a/prayers/cross your fingers for me), there's not a lot for me to say.

I have a lot coming up in this next year, inshAllah, and hope to have lots more to blog about. I'll be moving into my camper trailer (still VERY much a work in progress at this point), moving to a new city, getting a new job, and going back to college. All inshAllah, of course, but that's a lot of change coming down the pipe. I'm excited for it. If I thought the last couple of years were a stagnating time for me, the last six months were really a monotonous blaaaaah of sameness.

In other news, I've discovered Book Mooch. This could be a bad thing, considering my addiction to books - but I have to give some away to get some, so I think it will balance out.

Also, I've been vegan for nearly a year now. No problems. No cravings or desire to eat meat or dairy. (Except during Ramadan, when I'm hungry and would, in theory, eat just about anything, lol)

How have all of you been?

New Project!

So, if anyone still reads this blog, remember that little project I mentioned a few days ago? Well, I'll be starting it soon. Here it is:

This is where I plan to live when I return to school: in a 1970 Yellowstone camper. It needs some work, but it's gonna be amazing -- and once school is done, it'll be the truly mobile home I've always wanted! It'll be travel time, inshAllah!

ARGHHHHHH!

The stuff, it's taking over!

That's what happens when pretty much everything you own is in one small room. LOL

Keep your eyes peeling for an exciting new project I'll be undertaking in the near future, inshAllah!

More Living, Less Collecting.

I saw a lovely photo on Facebook today, courtesy of www.becomingminimalist.com.



This is what I've been trying to do all along, but my recent move halfway across the country really pushed me to get rid of more. Moving is a pain, and the more stuff you have, the bigger of a pain it is.

My standard is something that I once read. It goes something like "If you were offered a great job/opportunity and had three days to move across the country, could you do it?"

If the answer is "yes", then I'm in my ideal place.

If the answer is "no", then I have more work to do.

I was able to box everything up, get it loaded, and ready to go in 3 days. I still, however, feel like I have too much.

Time to reevaluate again. :)

Moving.

About three weeks ago I packed up my life and moved halfway across the country, from Texas to the East Coast.

In the process, I got rid of more and more stuff.

In the end, I had 9 boxes, a mattress, two chairs, two small tables, and a two-shelf bookshelf in the U-Haul.

My current situation is temporary - only a year, then it's time to move again. I plan to reduce what I own by at least a third again before then.

I'm already considering tossing out one of the chairs.

My goal in the next year? To purchase a 16 foot Scamp trailer to live in for the next 4-5 years, maybe longer.



Which means more simplifying. I'm good with that. :)Nothing is worth more than freedom.