Stuff, stuff, and more stuff… You know, I’ve never had a real attachment to worldly possessions. Don’t get me wrong, I like my jeep, I love my horse, and it’s nice to have a change of clothing. I find myself asking the questions “Do I actually need that?” more often than not. I also find myself peering into beautiful spacious houses and thinking about how much I miss my old kitchen.
A few years ago I learned about the minimalist lifestyle and the tiny home movement. I was like “Wait, there are other options then collecting a bunch of shit? You mean this is actually accepted?”. I’ve spent a lot of my life in oil town Calgary, Alberta, Canada with the exception of some short term moves and travel. This is a fairly wealthy province where the measure of success sometimes seemed to met through the size of your home, or even the sheer ridiculousness of the truck you drive. I have always struggled to find common ground with people here. Many of my friends lived far outside their means and felt the need to flaunt their “success”.
So this brought me to slowly liquidating most of my worldly possessions. At first it all went into storage and I couch surfed, rented rooms, and stayed with friends. It was in a transitional place in my life where I was living single, so I figured it was the perfect time to reinvent myself. The only constants were my day job as a Web Developer, my jeep, and my horse Troy. This lasted about a year before I felt the need to have my own space again.
In that year I lived in multiple places and had liquidated all but a computer, mattress, very little clothing, and minimal kitchen accessories. I went from having everything to having practically nothing and it was very humbling. The fear of losing everything all but disappeared because I knew I didn’t need all that shit to survive.
Finally, I moved into a loft from a very early building in Inglewood, Calgary. I’m pretty sure it’s less then 300 square feet, or at least very close to that. All that I’ve acquired since moving in there is a giant bean bag chair and two bar stools. I figured sitting and napping are still two very important elements in my life. Also, I love to collect plants.
Calgary isn’t a place I want to stay forever. When I do leave I want to do it at the right opportunity, and without the stress of having to sell or move an entire house. My future does have a tiny home in it.
The less that I have, the less that I want.