The magic of simplicity

Today I would like to invite you to reflect on what your life would be like if you tried to simplify it.

Imagine you had to restart your life with just one suitcase.

What would you put into that suitcase? What do you believe you need in your life?

What are the things that you feel you would miss most if you had to give them up? Would you really miss them? Have you just gotten used to having them?

Where would you want to live? 

I have moved so many times in my life, sometimes with just one suitcase and other times with a giant container.

I often felt I could have started a toy store with the amount of toys my children owned. Yet they played with very few of them. 

For years I had a lot of things in storage. When those things came out of storage, I wondered why I owned so much stuff I did not need. 

I had completely forgotten about all those things as they were packed in boxes. Although I have given away tons, I am still faced with boxes from my "old life". 

The last years were certainly a journey back to simplicity. Maybe that is an advantage of moving more often. 

We all have dreams when we are young and maybe also when we get older, especially if we feel our dreams have not come true. 

What happens when we have achieved our dreams? 

Life has certainly taught me what matters most to me and humbled me through many different experiences.

I did not find happiness in a big house or a big car, a job title, expensive schools, expensive clothes or luxurious travel. 

We could enter the most amazing house and it feels cold. We could enter a one-room apartment and it feels warm and vice versa.

I love walking through the streets at night and seeing the lights on in homes. It somehow feels like people are home and those buildings and houses become more alive with a warmth and cosiness that is lacking during the day. 

No doubt. It is nice to have a beautiful home and travel the world. It is part of many wonderful experiences in our lives.

However, a house only comes to life, when people live in it. How much, are we valuing the experiences instead of just "owning and having stuf"? 

I have always been fascinated by old buildings. Their walls hold so many memories. They been witness to countless changes, just like trees.

I know that everything I own will be left behind when I return to my true home. That simple.

We arrive with nothing and we leave with nothing. 

So, what do I want to leave behind? Stuff? Why? A legacy? For who? 

I exist in this moment in time and maybe I am important for some people in this life. Yet, when I cease to exist, life still continues without me.

Maybe I have changed some lives or maybe contributed in other ways but so have others and more will follow.

I admit, over time I started to understand the bigger and smaller picture of my existence. I started to enjoy life much more because I did not have to be "somebody" or achieve "something". I could just simply be myself and experience the depth of every moment. 

It was a rather bumpy journey without a seat belt and a few major crashes along the way. I don't know, who I would be without those "crashes". I do know they have been very transformative on my journey. 

One suitcase offers so many opportunities. However, it does make a difference whether we choose to start again with only one suitcase or life throws us into such circumstances. 

I feel when we remember the magic of simplicity, we realize that we have accumulated so much in our lives that we don't need. 

The small things start to matter again in a good way. It has been a very liberating experience to return to a much more simple yet very rewarding life. So, what would you pack into one suitcase? Or maybe you would even chose just a backpack? 

Coming up next: The magic of a "dancing giraffe". So, stay tuned...

Have a magical week!

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