For a moment in time, I am able to transport myself back to a place I never thought I’d be. The year was 2012 and the place was Kuwait. I really didn’t understand at the time just how much my life was going to be changed. I do recall writing that I expected it would be different both upon leaving home, living there and then returning. I just didn’t know to what extent.
I saw a world where lavish lifestyles were contrasted by poverty and oppression. I lived with minimal material goods and clothing and found it was liberating. The need to manage all the trappings of life were erased and I had a chance to start over in a sense. I had only to be on time to work and keep myself fed, clean, clothed and out of trouble. The adventure overseas lasted just over a year and the adventure hasn’t stopped since I have come home. It’s now 2015. Two and a half years later. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
I’ve learned that having material goods at the expense of spending your life working to pay them off is one of the worst possible ways to exist in this life. Notice, I didn’t say live but rather, exist. I discovered that for that year of being unable to understand the language and consequently, unable to be bombarded with messages that tell me I need to buy things that I really didn’t, I had found peace in living a more simplified life.
While it’s common knowledge that life is more enjoyed when it’s about quality rather than quantity, it’s still a challenging balance to achieve with so many outside influences to the contrary. Flash back to living in a place where that message simply didn’t exist for me. Kuwait.
That year of just living as simple as possible with almost nothing but necessities was the best experience for learning about what’s really important. I quickly discovered just how much the trappings of life can become so overwhelming. That happened when I moved this year. I didn’t realize just how much needless crap one can accumulate in such a short time.
These days, I have been spending time cleaning out the junk that I have been lugging around and finding that I don’t miss it once I have gotten rid of it. Soon I will have room to enjoy the good stuff and I will forget the needless trappings long since disposed of.
Just know that if I could impart anything on the readers, it’s this. We are marketed to, told we need things we cannot afford. We are told it’s something we can have with just ten easy payments and then we have to work to buy that thing that we will eventually wonder why we ever bought it in most cases. We must go to work to pay it off and somehow, we think we are free. Freedom doesn’t have to come in the form of having nothing but more in considering carefully what and who you bring into your life. Be it people or material possessions.
Here’s to future nights of barbecuing on the deck with good friends, a fire in the pit and a glass of well aged scotch or good wine enjoyed in the summer evening air.
Rowland Ramble - 