So What Is This All About?

I guess I will start at the beginning. A few years ago I left the world of high pressure environmental science that had raised my children and helped fund a middle class lifestyle. Why did I leave? There are so many reasons for my departure from that life and we will touch on many of those in this blog series, but for now know that I left for my sanity. I got a second divorce and moved from my little town in Western Michigan and began a new life in the much bigger Greater Seattle Area. I had my future in sight and was making the changes I needed to grow as a person after 44 years of living on the face of this earth. The move went smooth and my soul felt free for the first time in my memory, I was living a much more relaxed life, and I was growing. Then I met a man, my true soulmate, and settled into a new life. Yet here I am, feeling lost, overwhelmed, and overworked. I recently found that I have artistic abilities that laid dormant all of my life, and I am trying to actively pursue the life of an artist. I chose a low stress job, I am a grocery worker, and the pay is pretty good so between my and my husband’s pay we are in a good place: we own a home, a car (we choose to own only one), a precious dog, and need nothing we can’t buy. My husband is an amazing man and I am truly blessed to have him in my life, and everything seemed pretty awesome.

Then the BIG hit. You know the BIG: lives lost, friends and family separated, towns and cities shut down, stores and restaurants boarded up, parents and children stuck at home together to forge a way through it all. As I said, I am a grocery worker, I did not get to stay home, I did not get to stay safe (I contracted covid early), I did not get time to rethink my life and decide how to move forward every day. Some could say I was lucky because I didn’t lose my job or that at least my life didn’t change, I thought that as well for a while. The stress of going to the place that I got sick every day, wearing a mask for 8 hours a day, putting up with customers that are scared and angry, and listening to people tell you that it’s not really a thing, has worn me to the bone. I know everyone is feeling it as well so I am not asking for pity, I am just processing.

This last year has left me hoping for a different world when we come out of this: a world with less stress, less consumerism (which some say is the root cause), a less hectic day to day. Well, hoping has never produced results so now I am creating what I want. I am creating a life where I have the time for my art, my husband, my grandchildren, and time to just be. I now have two baby blogs to grow, a budding photography business, my painting/sketching, and a new hobby – getting rid of the shit in my life.

What shit? Everything that serves little purpose other than taking up space and blocking the free flow of energy in my life. I am a full time, expert consumer of goods, used goods, new goods, gadgets, goodies, the latest fad item, et al. If I go into a store I AM buying something, usually something cheap so I don’t feel guilty about spending too much money. I see the latest paint set and it ends up in my studio, that flashy MLM offering goes in my house (yes even my time as I signed up for one that I am currently paying for and not working), the dog surely needs a new toy or leash right, and the list goes on.

SO I made the decision to get off the consumer treadmill and take my life and future into my hands once more. I have not bought anything other than craft supplies and household needs, shoes, and socks, in the last 3 months. No new clothes, no new books (only e-books), no eye catching new items for the house, nothing. While it feels foreign not to go to the store and wander aimlessly through the aisles looking for that item that will fill your soul and make you smile, it is also rewarding to know that I am in control. I am making a choice to stop being a consumer and instead be a producer. I will produce beautiful paintings and photographs and I will produce interesting content to help others make the switch from being a world class consumer to a content liver of the simple life.

So join me on my journey to a slower, stress free, low consumer lifestyle. Learn tricks to decluttering and letting go. Learn strategies for staying on task to achieve your goals. Grow with confidence in yourself and the new world you want to live in.

What can I do today that can help you on this journey in your life? What do you want me to touch on moving forward?