Living with Less

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted on here. Mainly due to being busy: working, traveling, looking for jobs, interviewing, finishing projects, packing, moving, unpacking…. which leads me here.

So, I’m back home in Atlanta! Absolutely love living here and hope to thrive! It’s been a crazy past year. While looking for my new place to call home, I knew I needed affordable, safe, and comfortable, but wanted amenities, convenience, location, and an awesome kitchen. I was able to get it all and more!

This past weekend, I finished moving all my belongings in to my condo. The furniture is placed, and everything else is slowly getting organized. Now it’s time to hang my artwork on the walls…. the fun part…decorating and personalizing. My most favorite piece of art is a photo that was taken in South Africa during my mission trip from the summer of 2004. My college friend, Chris Williams, an artist drew that photo with charcoal on large paper. It’s awesome; he’s such a great artist!  Check him out: http://artbychriswilliams.com/home.html

I framed his drawing and have loved it for years now! It’s a reminder of my time in South Africa. My heart immediately broke for the poor and lost people and homeless children of that land. This photo of a woman carrying a bucket on her head while walking back to her shack of a home in a local township, usually reminds me of South Africa. Now, this photo, this art that hangs on my wall, breaks my heart. Literally, breaks me, my heart. I feel like a hypocrite. Here, I am in a hotspot of Atlanta in a really nice home with all these “things.” And, I wonder what’s next.   I have worked hard for my things and have come along way. And graciously, people and friends have helped and given me things along the way. But, this township woman from Alexandria, South Africa…has the few clothes on her, a bucket of water, and who knows what awaits her in her shanty…children perhaps, a few dishes, a dirt floor, tin walls and a roof with holes, no heat, no A/C, etc. The total opposite from my granite counter tops and tiled floored condo with electricity, Wi-Fi and the latest technology. She carries a bucket of water on her head, while I have an Atlanta Braves cap on mine. I’m humbled. Sickening.

As I continued unpacking old boxes, I found some of my journals from college years. I scanned some of them. There was this one entry from 2002, I was writing about a part-time job I had over college break. My boss was very wealthy and had everything and more it seemed. I was assisting her with projects around the house. Here’s a tidbit from that journal entry… While working with this woman, she made this comment to me, “People who have a lot need a lot.” This comment made me want to reverse it to, “People that don’t have a lot, don’t need a lot.”

I want to learn to live with less and not shop just because I “want” something.

Your thoughts?