Less stuff making us happy

Today I worked on our taxes and tallied up donations for 20 trips to Goodwill during 2012.  It reminded me just how much stuff we used to have.  I did not see one item in my lists that we have missed.  There was some good stuff there, and at the time, I may have had a little trouble just giving it away.  It makes me happy now to think of who may be using our good stuff.  We didn't need it, but maybe they do. 

Nik and I recently watched a TED talk about how less stuff equals more happiness (thanks, Teness).  Here is a link if you want a little inspiration:   http://www.ted.com/talks/graham_hill_less_stuff_more_happiness.html

We have found what he says to be true.  Having less stuff has definitely given us the freedom to pick up and live somewhere else for a while.  Feeling lighter has opened the possibility in my mind to go back to work (telecommuting of course!).  Without so much stuff, we spend less time being frustrated by messes of toys and random clutter, and definitely less time organizing and cleaning up stuff.

I assume there are many who think that they could never part with their possessions, let alone house, that it is just too radical an idea.  How to know unless you try it?  It was a crazy idea for me in the beginning, and the thought of getting rid of our stuff just too daunting.  But step by step and with much help from friends, Craig's List, Goodwill and SCRAP, we whittled it down to what we fit in our suitcases and our 5x10ft storage unit.  

Now we are living in a rented house with someone else's stuff, with just a bit of our own mixed in.  We are lucky that the house we are renting is well equipped, so we have not been tempted to buy much.  After spending much time and energy paring down our stuff, we are trying to be more aware about not acquiring things.  So far it has not been hard.  We did buy a hammock, but with this weather and the perfect spot to put it, it seemed to fall in the Essential category.  And we should be able to squish it in a suitcase when it's time to move on.

- Erica

One of Sullivan's favorite things is collecting things from our house to put in his store and sell back to us.
 I bought my phone yesterday for only 10 colones!

Sully meets one of his classmates in town.

Henry and his perfect score on math homework… in Spanish!  Way to go!