Thoughtful Contemplation

Thanks to Kimbopolo's blog I discovered the Miss Minimalist blog and find myself contemplating my navel, so to speak.  I'd like to start this post with a quote from verse 80 of the Tao Te Ching that someone sent Miss Minimalist:

"People enjoy their food,

take pleasure in being with their families,

spend weekends working in their gardens,

delight in the doings of the neighborhood.

And even though the next country is so close

that people can hear its roosters crowing and its dogs barking,

they are content to die of old age

without ever having gone to see it."

I feel quite impacted by this verse.  I think it addresses the struggle I'm going through now about whether I buy an RV or buy a house in Tucson.  Do I choose to be stuck with possessions (buying a house) or be free to take off and visit other cities, states or countries (in an RV with few possessions)?

What struck me is how I spent a good portion of my Thanksgiving day.  I spent hours on the internet looking at 1700-2000 sq ft houses, with a pool, in Tucson.  What I finally realized is that most of the houses I'm looking at are too big, especially for one person.  I currently live in a lovely house I inherited from my dad that contains three bedrooms, a formal living room and dining room, a family room and a two car garage located on 1/3 of an acre.  I spend most of my time in the kitchen/family room or my office, unless it's warm, then I'm in the back yard.  I figured out a long time ago that I don't need this much room so why I'm looking for another house the same size is beyond me.  Then there's an RV, which is essentially one long room.  It has minimal storage so downsizing is imperative and freeing, and it's mobile.  Again, there's size consideration from a Class B to an extremely long fifth wheel.

Miss Minimalist is all about getting rid of stuff.  I've been doing that since I inherited the house, but sometimes I get stuck just from the sheer enormity of the task.  Forty years of someone else's accumulation can be overwhelming and I'm taking it a bit at a time.  On Thanksgiving I went through kitchen drawers and boxed items I've never used to take to Goodwill.  When I cook, which is rare, I contemplate all the many pots and pans my mom accumulated and have figured out that I probably just need two.  I was thinking about what would fit in an RV and that made it easy to choose.

I've asked myself if buying a house in Tucson is so that I can hang onto my possessions and a part of me says a resounding "yes."  That was a shocking eye opener (remember the buffet blog).  Then there's the question...Why would I buy a house in Tucson when I have a perfectly good house in Seattle?  Answer...Weather, weather, weather. What about the weather in Tucson that's not so great, i.e., months of hot, hot, hot??? because I honestly don't like hot.  What I like and feel drawn to, are the blogs where the writer is on a beach, because I'm drawn to water.  I go to water to heal. Where's the water in Tucson besides the pool in the backyard?

Are you hearing the arguments going on in my head?  I hear it all the time, and, fortunately, so far, it isn't enough to have to get prescribed meds.  I think as long as I keep the dialogue going I'll continue to ask the questions to find the right answer.  And I'll continue to read all your blogs and travel vicariously through you, for now.  After my trip to Tucson December 5th, that is.  And...I really do like watching all the "stuff" leave the house because I feel so much lighter as it goes away for someone else to appreciate.  Now that's Thoughtful Contemplation.

More sunshine please,

Jeana