Less can mean more

One lesson my wife and I took from our 6-month trip is that we can lead a very happy existence without all our material possessions.  For 6 months we basically lived out of a backpack and shoulder bag. Coming back to our home we have realized just how much stuff we’ve accumulated over the years.  Although we haven’t pro-actively done away with our extra wears this article may provide inspiration.

I came across this article online and thought it was interesting.  Here are a couple excerpts:

*“Nearly half of consumers, 47%, say they already have what they need, up from 34% in November 2006, according to the 2009 MetLife Study of the American Dream.”- I thought this was interesting because in November 2006 consumers were more likely to have greater financial resources than they do today.

*“Eric Dykstra, pastor of Crossing Church in Elk River, Minn….began encouraging members to reduce their personal possessions to 100 items…”– wow, sounds like a very freeing experience.

*“Enrollment in “voluntary simplicity” courses promoted by the non-profit Northwest Earth Institute in Portland, Ore., is up 50% in the past year.”– Here is a link to the NWEI website.