This post is inspired by my broken sunglasses. I woke up this morning and found them on the ground, smashed. It may seem silly but this would have probably ruined my day a year ago. Instead, (OK, OK I pouted for a minute) I checked myself and continued on with a lovely morning, sans sunglasses.
Before coming to Little Corn I was inundated by "stuff". It was an enormous source of anxiety for me, losing stuff, needing more stuff, transporting stuff, being unable to part with stuff... I grew up in the same house, until trekking off to college with multiple car loads of said "stuff". After I finished school I lugged it all to New York City, accumulated more of it, hauled it back to Connecticut, then shipped it across the country to Colorado. At this point, I knew something had to change for my next move, but when I decided to move back to the East Coast, I still found myself moving in a rush, shoving my belongings into boxes and bags in disarray without much discernment. I told myself the purge would take place when I unpacked. It didn't, and I didn't even know what was important to me anymore.
When I decided to start my travel plans in Nicaragua and be away from home for the foreseeable future, I knew I couldn't take this burden with me. I was excited to embrace an opportunity to free myself from my weighted cycle of accumulation. I decided I'd only bring a backpack. Choosing what to pack was undoubtedly a process, but after living with just the essentials for 8 months, it turns out, for me, "the stuff" isn't so important anymore.
This concept of lightening the load we carry doesn't mean just the physical. What about all of the extra baggage we worry about? Can we shed some of that too? This clutter can cloud our judgement, water down our experience and suck us right out of the moment. Can we focus on the core of who we really are, what we are doing and what we actually need, so what's important can really shine? I read a quote recently that said "When things aren't adding up in your life, start subtracting". Freeing myself from the excess helped me to simplify my life and showed me that less is more. Less judgement, less comparison, less multitasking, less regret, less resentment, less worry. Thinking this way has freed up space for me to find more value and appreciation in even the tiniest gifts life has to offer. It took me some time to find joy in letting go, but it doesn't need to be all at once. Start small, try donating a few things, practice focusing on one objective for your day instead of over complicating, surround yourself with only things that you truly need and only people that truly bring you joy. And hey, if your sunglasses break, it's one less thing to carry. <3