If you’ve read any of our journal entries you may know we try to live a light-duty life. You might even call us minimalists, but we don’t like labels — that one doesn’t fit anyway because its imagery doesn’t go far enough.

At first getting rid of things just made sense. Five years ago when our reductions started we just wanted to squeeze all our stuff into one moving truck that was easy to drive and cheap to fuel, but the more we scrutinized what we kept, the more obvious their burden became. So, we continued cycling through everything to weigh the cost of holding on. There were easy targets like furniture, appliances, and clothes — but as we realized the power of separation, emotions, memories, and relationships became the logical next focus.

I don’t know exactly what made us really start to review our lives and purge harmful attachments, but I suspect our detailed conversations on life and family naturally triggered the process. Maybe age or death or whatever meta-aspect you associate with played a role in our growth — who knows. The only thing I’m sure of is that I can’t be sure of anything, so why hang on to anything.

The last few weeks have been a time of reflection and gratitude for whatever life presents, so it seems appropriate to keep this honest and simple. Besides, it often doesn’t matter what we focus on because, if we try, we can find the beauty in anything. It doesn’t have to be any more complicated than that.