I recently had the good fortune of traveling to Paulo Coelho’s setting for his famous book The Alchemist in Andalucia, Spain. There, I spent a good 3 months living in an old rustic villa that overlooked the sloping mountains and the beautiful Mediterranean sea. It was there that I was also introduced to a slower, more simple way of living.
With very little furniture, no internet connection (apart from that of the local library’s), no mobile phone and no car, my way of living was completely changed from a busy suburban lifestyle, to a slow-paced country one.
In those three months I experienced many changes within and also without myself. Today, I’ll share with you the most important lessons I learned first-hand from a minimalist lifestyle.
8 Lessons, 90 Days of Minimalist Living
We wear the “I’m so busy and overworked” badge like it’s a gold medal. Somehow, we got confused and started thinking that always being busy is impressive. Little did we know that “being busy” doesn’t mean shit. ~ Simple Ways To Be More With Less
1# Lighting Psychologically Affects You
The house I stayed in, in Spain like most European houses was open, spacious and painted white inside and out. Soon I discovered that the large quantity of sunlight that I was exposed to made a great mark on my psychological well-being.
In Australia, I was used to living in a dark atmosphere, with the blinds drawn for most of the day like some kind of vampire. In Spain, I discovered that not only does a bright room contribute to positive mental health (e.g. more optimism, happiness, good-humor), but it also serves to create a clean, unobstructed mind. This is especially useful for people who work at home (employees, writers, artists etc.) and who rely on their minds to work.
If you live in a gloomy house, consider opening the blinds or curtains of as many windows as you can. Simple and easy.
2# Seeing Nature 
Expands The Mind
You may like to try this sometime: sit or stand inside a small room for a while, carrying about your daily activities. Then, after an hour or two, go outside and look up at the sky for a few minutes. Chances are you will feel a lot less constricted and distracted by your constant flow of thoughts.
I was fortunate in Spain to have expansive views to the sky, sea and mountains, and this greatly influenced my clarity of mind and inner sense of calmness and peace. Science and psychology has told us that our environments greatly affect the way we function and think. So the more we expose ourselves to the world outside of our brick and wood boxes, the more likely this is to affect the way we approach the world, interact with people and live our lives.
3# Lack of Stimulation Breeds Inner Calm
At first it was really difficult to adjust to such a simplified existence. My days were no longer filled with checking my email 5+ times a day, watching a TV show, surfing and browsing the web, texting, watching some more TV, downloading new eBooks, writing reviews, sending emails, checking Facebook etc. etc. etc.
After a while I grew to highly value such a slow pace of existence, preferring it to the hectic, every-minute-must-be-productive one. If you review everything you do each day, you realize just how much of it is absolutely non-essential. Try reducing the stimulation sources in your life. Like me, you may feel internally healthier, happier and equilibrious.
4# There’s Probably More Negative Energy In Your House Than You Think
The radio, television, music … when we think of “”negative energy” we usually associate it with bad tempers, attitudes and people in our lives. But have you ever considered that the negative energy in your home could be the things we tend to forget about – the background noises in our daily lives?
Our unconscious minds are vast, powerful and extremely receptive, and when we surround ourselves by the background noises of murder reports, the recounts of burglary, sexual assaults, abuse and so forth, we slowly begin to program our minds with fear and anxiety.
The music we also listen to plays a big role in our lives and significantly impacts on the way we think and feel. I’ve often made the mistake of surrounding my work environment with melancholic music, and although it does not immediately impact my way of being, it manifests itself in the way I think and behave later.
In Spain, the only background noise was the sound of distant traffic and birds twittering outside, otherwise, the house was silent. The silence was pure and beneficial, something I had rarely experienced in Australia.
If you have a lot of background noise in your life, consider turning off the TV and radio for starters. Hearing the latest news, or blather from TV/Radio hosts won’t change your life for the better. Also, if you love music, consider filling your space with the gentle sounds of nature.
5# “Minimalize” The Air You Breathe
Yes, this sounds a tad weird, but in my experience, living with “minimalist” air impacted greatly on my health and well-being. Not all of us have the luxury of living in the countryside, where the air is notoriously purer. But we can make the choice to rid the air we breathe of sprays, fresheners and pollutants like dust and mold.
Such a simple decision to live in virgin air can make all the difference.
6# Exercise. Every Day. No excuses.
Living with no car can be a bit of an inconvenience and in Spain, I was forced to walk 2-3km almost every day to do shopping, or to ensure that LonerWolf was running smoothly at the local library. To my surprise, I actually grew to love exercise as a result of a more minimalized lifestyle.
Not only could I learn to appreciate and grow more in touch with the surrounding landscape, but I also felt less of my general fatigue and chronic muscle pain. Exercise has become a bit of a cliche these days, and many of us roll our eyes when we hear people suggest it, sort of like “yeah yeah, I’ve heard it before”. But it works. It really does improve your life.
7# Make Friends With Your Bed
Sleep. It’s one of the greatest joys in life (well, to me at least). In Spain, I was lucky to be able to sleep, a lot, and quickly realized that this was actually very beneficial to my health. Instead of staying awake until late hours watching TV, and occupying myself with all the other simulations a cluttered lifestyle provides, I simply went to bed early.
Soon I discovered that this caused me to be more alert, more good-humored, more resistant to sickness and less likely to rely on constant stimulants through the day.
8# Live Like A Poor Man
The essence of a minimalist lifestyle is no clutter, which is exactly what met me when I arrived to Spain. Oh boy. Basically, the house was near empty, with only the essential table, chairs, beds, stove and washing machine inhabiting the house. After living this way for 90 days, I saw a great improvement in my psychological health.
Basically: the more stuff you have, the more stuff you have to worry about.
***
Do you live a minimalist lifestyle? Please share your tips and stories below!
Hi Luna I am mountain girl budz. I am old soul and empath. Thank you guys for being here. I am no longer on Facebook and need to stay connected to like Minds. I am settled on my soul and learning more everyday. Someone said only other empaths will understand me. Do you think that’s true, and if it is, how do I find them?
Omg , you are beautiful :) Your picture gives a calm and pleasing effect.
And Seriously great article. Gives an idea or two for me to follow . Cheers
Being media free helps out psychologically and energetically. I’m staying with my sister right now, and we live about 5 miles away from town out in the country a bit which is nice. It is a blessing to be able to look outside and see grass, trees, sky, birds, squirrels and breath fresh air when you step outside.
I watch very little TV. I find it depressing, negative and with few exceptions, nothing really worth watching. I just can’t get into those stupid and silly sitcoms, so-called reality TV and the other crap that really does nothing *for* you. A nature show on Animal Planet, where the animals are actually being filmed out in the wild, is one of the few worthwhile things to watch.
At least on the computer, I can pick and choose what I want to see and do. I go to my alternative news & info sites to keep up with what’s going on in the world, read documents and stuff, and play a bit of Neverwinter Nights 2 when I can. Plus, I listen to my music which is more positive and enjoyable than anything on TV.
I live in Kentucky and landscape-wise, there is a lot of beauty here. Hills and knobs, lots of woods, parks and nature to go to. The Natural Bridge State park and the Red River Gorge are awesome nature places to go to. Lots of hills, ridges, rock formations, caves, scenic overlooks with panoramic views make it my favorite place in nature to go to around here.
Thanks Valas for sharing. To me after experiencing this, I realize just how IMPERATIVE it is for every single person with internet access to take a long break from it every now and then. The feelings are really palpable. And you realize many strange things you may never have learned e.g. that some forms of social media make you feel cynical and depressed.
whaaat?! I cannot live out watchin some of my faves… but do definitely would love to live entirely off the grid or live like a ‘poor man’. Alot has changed for me cause there were alot of things I’ve wanted … but I guess over the years I started to think nothing matters. .. they’re just things, didn’t want to be materialistic, I hate money but need to buy personal items, food for me and my fur babies, pay the bills… I definitely wouldn’t mind do minimalist living. :)
Give it a go Steph! Starting with non-internet days is a good beginning.
:) you’re right… I know I can do without Internet for a while … maybe TV too… really I can do without much these days cause if i can do that mean others can… but i see alot take it for granted when there are others out there who cannot afford to have either… same with everything else… it has changed my perspective on alot if stuff… i see a lot of people who cannot I mean absolutely CANNOT live with out either. It’s really sad!
This is so great Luna, Spain sounds beautiful. Being a minimalist is a goal for me as well. I’ve been compelled to get rid of stuff I don’t need for a good chunk of my life, since my early teen years. I can’t stand having lots of stuff that isn’t of use. I’ve been called the “anti-hoarder” by my family.
This expressses an idea I’ve been thinking about for a while now. I’d love to do what you have done, live by myself in a relatively isolated area for a few months or so. I’m wondering how you kept yourself entertained, it must have taken some adjustment going from a cluttered life to such a clean one overnight.
I personally despise television, it dulls the mind and sedates the soul. The internet is a useful learning tool, but it also can be used for hours of drivel. I’d get so much work done without the internet to be honest!
Thanks for yet another amazing article, I love this blog! :)
If you get the time you should definitely give it a go.
It was really hard to adjust at first. I felt restless and impatient. Slowly, after about a month I began to settle in (it was as though my mind had broken the cycle of stimulation). I occupied myself by reading, writing my novel and taking walks in the Andalusian country side.
Thank you Gill!
Zane
To continue, at the end of the day, it’s not so much about what you do. It’s about understanding your part in the bigger picture and finding peace in it. I disagree with luna. We are not the sole architect of our lives. We are given free will to make choices, true, but there is a higher power that directs our lives. Seek God and you will find peace
Zane,
I understand your concerns. I am interested in simple living. I am also, like your mother, a lawyer. I have 3 beautiful boys. Also a mortgage. I am 40 years old. What I would say to you is think carefully about everything. If I were younger, I too would choose to travel more and I still plan to when I can afford it. But I am also interested in providing well for my boys so that they can follow their dreams too. Most likely your mother’s love for you keeps her going. Correct me if I am wrong. I don’t like the 9 to 5 regime but having the office job that I have has helped me to make a positive difference in my country. Using it I was able to easily relocate from one country to another to be with the man of my dreams. What I am trying to say is that everything has it’s benefits and it’s trade-offs. I am an introvert my nature and a cabin somewhere in the woods would have its attractions for me. But life is also about community, not hiding away. There is nothing wrong with a nomadic life for a while. But remember this, it is the people who stay put who make it possible for some to live that life -the lady at the ticketing counter who goes to that 9to 5 who makes it possible for the nomadic to experience their dreams by air travel. It is the old man who has had his corner shop for 50 years who makes one feel that sense of belonging and familiarity every time one visits that particular town.. At
Cool article, I have been having continuous thoughts about this topic for a few years now. The key factor for me that I have noticed all my life is ‘lighting’. Living in the UK good amounts of light is a luxury, one I highly appreciate. Dark class rooms at school and dingy work environments have seriously affected my well being, they are just damn depressing.
Sometimes its nice to notice how the small things in life make such a huge difference. I also seriously agree on the negative energy point and more so on music/noise pollution. I like music sure, but not incessantly like everyone else seems to, like some addiction. Sometimes its nice to walk in the park and listen to the tree breeze. Where ever I go I end up being forced to listen to pop music and it really drains my good mood, people act like it isn’t a big deal, but I really believe it has negative effects on the soul.
I make a conscious effort to appreciate nature, natural sounds/sights and silence when and wherever I can.
Haha, you echo a seemingly crazy thought I have as well justhuman: pop music is bad for you. Perhaps that is a generalization, but most of the topics and themes sung about involve possessive and unhealthy forms of love, attachment to material things, emotional reactiveness and so forth. I do believe music – and light – has the ability to influence the psyche, and that is partly why my most recent article is on the topic: https://lonerwolf.com/sound-healing-therapy/ It’s comforting to know that there are others in the world who feel the same way!
I’ve been doing online reading about minimalism and I find the concept of minimalism to be fascinating. My biggest fear is to end up as the typical American white collar office worker who is overburdened by the stress of their job and who goes to work feeling miserable, is overburdened by work all day, and comes home feeling miserable and angry because of how stressful their day has been. My mother is a lawyer who is constantly overworked and she has been stuck in her job for more than twenty years. I worry deeply about my mother and I don’t want her to die feeling deeply regretful about her life. I am twenty years old and I am still in college but I promised myself that I will never work an office job and come home constantly stressed. American society conditions us into believing that “hard work pays off” and to “race to the top” but the fatal flaw is that “hard work pays off” and “racing to the top” causes people to overwork and be constantly stressed and regretful. Statistically, many American workers are deeply unhappy about their jobs and want to quit. A very common regret of the dying is “I wish I didn’t work so hard,” and “I wish that i let myself by happier.” As an adult, I think that a corporate environment or a cutthroat and competitive environment will drain me and leave me feeling extremely tense, anxious, miserable, and stressed. Rather than follow the traditional career path of working at a large company and “climbing the ladder,” I prefer to experiment with a variety of unconventional lifestyles and teach English abroad. I am strongly interested in traveling around the world and living like a nomad and working around the world. I am very skeptical towards the American Dream and society’s traditions especially the conventional mindset regarding work and the conventional wisdom regarding work. I’m sure that there are other Mature Souls who agree with my viewpoint on work. I strongly disagree with the Young Soul viewpoint of working at a big company.
Completely identify with your comment Zane! Intuitively when I was younger, I knew that the traditional way of living and working was never meant for me, because it would never truly make me happy. Every job I’ve ever had I’ve felt restricted in, so I’ve made the giant step of risking it all and trying to make a living online (primarily through this website). Your distaste for the American Dream will work towards you if you put enough effort and time into making an alternative lifestyle work. It is only those who don’t possess this dissatisfaction who are complacent with walking head-first unwittingly into a life of slavery and unhappiness. It really is a blessing to have seen through this.
Luna, i’m so glad you agree with my strong views against the 9 to 5! Our society pressures us to buy expensive homes, expensive cars, and designer clothes. I never cared too much for materialist possessions but I don’t consider myself to be anti-materialist. As an adult, I won’t invest my money in stocks or the stock market. Instead, I will invest my savings in funding my nomadic lifestyle. I might alternate between teaching in China, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and other lucrative countries and I would invest my savings to travel. I have no interest in settling into a mundane lifestyle in the suburbs. As I travel, I will have the opportunity to explore the world, and constantly change locations. I don’t like being stuck in one place for long periods of time!! Fortunately, there are plenty of other people who are escaping the 9 to 5 and leaving the rat race. The rat race is futile because I will never win! I will be crushed and eliminated by the cutthroat competition. The rat race is like a branding iron branding me as a loser. I will travel and experiment with unconventional lifestyles. I have always had a strong interest in highly self-expressive women who have unconventional methods of self-expression like brightly colorful hair dye. I’ve always been a square peg in a round hole in the education system! I might live a minimalist life in Costa Rica or Thailand and enjoy the beautiful weather and live small and work as a teacher but I’ll never have to worry much about money. A major problem about the conventional working life is worrying about money. Many office workers fantasize about rising to the top but the problem with these dreams is that as a CEO you will work longer and you will be even more burdened by work and obligations. My work philosophy is to reduce your workload and avoid imbalance. In college during my earlier years, I suffered from a lack of balance in work, social life, sleep, and eating healthy and this affected me badly but I am developing a better sense of balance in my life as I transition into adulthood.
I love that you are the visionary and architect of your life Zane. These are such important qualities, and qualities that sometimes require a lot of courage to have and maintain. One day I would love to hear how this transition in your life goes!
One of my biggest urges is to find an abandoned lost place and live in it. Make it a den. I want to survive and make it a home. Only me and nature. Block out the “civilized” world. Live like it just ended, and see, just see how much of the pain my soul feels slips away.
I’m sensitive to nature and the energies around it. I’ve had spiritual moments alone in the woods so strong it pained me to leave. My soul animal. I know because every dark desire I have isn’t truly dark if you look at it. It’s just nature, Hunt, protect, and live. The night sky is one thing that means a lot to me. Moonlight is valuable to me. A breath taking moment was seeing the night sky in the outback outside of Darwin. a place where there was no light pollution. I saw the stars the way people have for thousands of years before we cut them off, and it was beautiful. Between my experiences in the outback and the Aboriginal people who we had the honour of spending a day with I took alot back and I realized just how much I admire and yearn for the potential to just live off the land.
Since you live in Australia I beg of you. Just one day go to where the stars will all be there where you can see just how small you are, and just how vast nature is and feel it. Remove the restraints and the desires. Open up your soul and see. For me and my animal soul it was a yearning like home to curl up and stay there. For some people it was awe… for most in the group it was just another night. I feel for sympathy for those people. They don’t realize what they missed, then again not everybody wants to shed their skin and look at the world through the eyes of a wolf.
I’ve heard the sky of Uluru is one of the cleanest and purest in the world … something which I dream of someday seeing and experiencing. What an honour to be able to experience something like that, something which most people live their whole lives to never witness. Visiting the heart of the outback is one of my dreams, not so much for the landscape, but the feeling of expansiveness, and also to experience its beauty at night. Thank you so much for sharing, and reminding me of this, Black Wolf!
Great read. I know I need to spend less time online and away from the TV. Even harder when the computers is hooked up to the TV….
If your like me and can’t fully quit the habit, there are steps to take to greatly improve things. I myself will probably never 100% get rid of my audio/video gear. Its been a hobby and lifestyle way too long, but I have learned to greatly improve the situation. Here are a short list of things I stopped doing or do with caution.
Stop watching all company owned TV based news. Its fake, depressing, and contains mind programing and invokes indifference, separation, and arguing. Drop that crap yesterday.
Ditch cable TV and never watch commercials. Either use Netflix, over the air reception with a DVR so you can fast forward commercials, or use services where you only pay what you want to watch. Pick your movies and TV shows carefully. Do they have a positive message, is it something healthy to watch? Shows like The X files and Fringe were actually deep thinking anti-government mind blowing TV shows. I wonder if Fox would have even allowed them if they knew what they were really going to be about. Be weary of a movies overall message. It could have mind programming or suggesting in it.
Avoid forums that have negativity and online arguing or trolling. Kick that crap out of your life.
Avoid negative music or music with dark messages. Try Jazz, Bob Marley, Enya, just to name a few.
If you are a bit of a techie like myself, you can greatly simplify, but will always have a computer or TV or stereo. The life and gear can be difficult to balance, but I’m doing a lot better then I used too. A few quick tips for anyone like me. Avoid smart TVs. I was able to get a basic TV without any extras really cheap. Avoid spending a lot of money on anything. Find DIY speaker kits, use monoprice.com and avoid high cost low value “premium” brands.
I hope this can help simplify life for anyone who isn’t ready to give it ALL up just yet. Or maybe never will.
Some really excellent and valuable advice here William – thank you! I completely agree with the “stop watching news and commercials” habit of so many of us. I stopped watching these about 3 years ago and it really does benefit you (much less mental and physical tension!)
I love this piece! I have been living minimalist, nomad, etc., for a long time. Right now, I am in a motel room in Nakhon Pathom, Thailand. It’s hot like a living hell here right now. So, I afforded myself the luxury of a room full of conditioned air as I write my day and night away…
I own very little. What little I do own, things near and dear to me, is stowed away in a small storage locker in the U.S. I have no home, no rented apartment or other facility.
Even my computer operating system is minimal! Puppy Linux Precise Puppy 5.7.1 running on an ancient Dell Latitude D531 is about as minimalist as you can get!
I’m a nomad and I like it that way. I love to travel and tell stories. It’d be nice to know how to make money doing it, so that’s my latest adventure in life; learning how to make money writing. I have been having a lot of crazy-good ideas since I came to this site. Thinking about getting a logo and a site of my own, and to starting building it. There is this great, great thing inside of me that is just pounding the walls to get out! The only way out for it is one word, one song, one story at a time. This is something I must do! What a great inspiration this place has been!
Thanks to some help from some of the pieces on this site, I have found my theme in writing and in life… Misery. Miserable. Miserables.
I couldn’t be happier.
The one thing I had the most of and the one thing I knew the most about eluded me forever. Now, that’s miserable!
#1. The lighting in here is good. White walls, plenty of windows. The sun isn’t out today, but that’s quite common for Thailand. My mind is clear and clean, despite the diet of baked pig, boiled egg, and some greens I had for brunch. I try to stay away from eating like that, but my host is so good to me, how could I refuse? I could not. I eat excellently 99% of the time anyway, so a little piggy in my belly is OK once in a while. In fact, it will be helpful and provide protein and energy for the rugged walk I’ve planned for this after.
#2. I love my walks here in the afternoon. The nature here is amazing. And there is a man-made canal that runs on the north side of this property with a smooth gravel road on both sides that makes walking easy. The ditches of this road provide small hills to climb and obstacles to bound in my workouts. It’s the summer season here in Thailand and everything is brilliantly green. Birds, lizards, snakes, fish, dogs, toads, frogs, an endless supply of wildlife everywhere. All of this offers a fresh new daily perspective for the taking. I don’t even have to bother asking. The only obligation I feel is to be grateful for all of it. And once I feel and express gratefulness, I no longer feel obligated. I am a laborer. Just as many others have benefited from my labors, so, too I benefit from theirs. Just as I am grateful for the efforts of men of the mind, there are those who have benefited from the works of my mind as well. It’s a good trade we’re all in. Work, think. Think, work. Thinking and action. Action and thinking. Think first. That is the way of the world. So much better than the horrors of wars. So much better than the laughable corruption, greed, and stupidity of politics. So much better than laziness. One hand shakes the other and everyone benefits. It takes all kinds of people to build a world. I am grateful for every one of them.
#3. Thinking is meditation. Thinking is Freedom. Free-thinking, free-thinker is redundant. If you think, you are free. Thugs and “authorites” can thug you into repeating whatever stupidity they would like for you to recite, but so long as you think, and so long as you know better, you are free.
#4. I never watch television. Ever. Radios are for music, fun! and emergencies! When I want news, I read it.
#5. The air is good here. Plenty of trees for good oxygen by day. Sometimes someone is burning brush or some other kind of wood and it smells wonderful. Sometimes they’re burning grass or trash and it stinks. You can’t win ‘em all.
#6. I could not live without my exercise. I have to run up and down hills every day, trek, adventure, sweat, twirl my bamboo, operant fighter, explore, roam, think, look, learn, listen. It’s how I keep my boyish figure.
#7. The bed in here is rock hard. I love it. Women hate it. I usually sleep on the floor. Feels good on my back.
#8. I am an intense person. Very intense. Very highly intense. The poorer I live, the more intense I become, the better I become, the more fun I become, the more I laugh and the less I take myself seriously. The better writer I become. The better person I become. Though I have to say, I don’t want to become so enamored with living as a poor person that I never want to look at any other way of living. Money is a good thing, a powerful thing when it is in the right hands. Power is the ability to make change. You can change a lot of stuff with money. It can be a great tool.
One of the things some of the more common sense sort of people around here complain about is all the money spent on building more Buddhist temples. The costs of school for their children is skyrocketing, a new hospital is desperately needed, tourism and the economy are way down due to all the political unrest and stupidity-while the temples thrive and new giant Buddhas rise up into the air all over the place. The temple operators taking much, but giving little, and they all get a tax free ride. And they never stop coming around shamelessly asking for more. The monks aren’t supposed to be carrying around iPhones and iPads, or wear shoes or street clothing, but they all do.
I’m more of a monk than the damn monks-and I’m not even a monk! I don’t practice Buddhism (neither do they), I take work and pleasure with electronic devices and the Internet (so do they), and I take women to my rock hard bed with me (I have no doubt that many of them do, too).
It is I, Blackfish, the modernized, electrified, anti-theist, skeptic, warrior monk. LOL!
Hi again Blackfish :)
Once again, I’m delighted that another article here on LonerWolf could pique your interest, stirring up many vibrant and interesting thoughts within you.
The fact that you’re thinking of starting a website of your own thanks to the inspiration of LonerWolf is also a great complement :).
Thank you for providing such a well-rounded vision of yourself for all of us here to read and enjoy.
-Luna
Blackfish, i would love to talk to you!! You are living my dream of a nomadic lifestyle! Please get in contact with me because i would love to talk to you about your lifestyle.
I love this.
I want to minimalize my life and live nearerer nature… that is a goal.
The other thing for us to think about is simplifying our diet.
Hey Keith, nice hearing from you!
That’s an interesting concept: simplifying our diets, one that I would love to explore in the future.
I remember Sol telling me that many of the greatest Spiritual masters had very simplistic diets. This was because it allowed them to develop self-discipline, both over their bodies and minds. It’s good to have a healthy variety of course, but most definitely thinking about clearing out our fridges and purging our cupboards of all the really disgusting foods we eat is an intriguing and exciting idea. Thanks for sharing it!
-Luna
I will add it’s something I love the idea of, but haven’t begun to master (yet).
Though I do try and cook from scratch as much as possible and try not to have procesesed foods as the focus of my diet.
I really liked your pages I found. and I’m encouraging my wife to take a look too.
Mike, that is excellent to hear. :)
I hope that you both get a lot more out of this site in the future!
-Luna
Dearest Luna,
One of the reasons I moved from Australia was to find myself, we have an easier life down under, in comparison to Europe, which is getting hit pretty hard, but there’s something about the Mediterranean people that keep me intrigued and frustrated at the same time.
We are all on a journey in this life, dare to live your dreams and you will be the one with the last laugh. No matter the obstacles, envious and negative energies. You hit your pillow at night with your thoughts.. You are you, unique, and there is no right or wrong. Mistakes are natural.
Your article is evidence to me that there indeed exist others on the same wavelength!! I recently moved from central Rome traffic congested to a residential area, still in Rome centre but a couple of metro stops further. The sound of birds and silence wake me, for the first time in many, many moon cycles. I am so relaxed. I go to work with a smile.
Exactly as you wrote.. Music, sleep, exercise. Sleep meditation music, classical in the day, minimum eight hours sleep – try a nap on the weekend, we all need to re-energise our batteries whatever our sign, fire, earth, water, air, being too busy to rest is not beneficial to our health in the long run, note, stress-related illnesses eg diet intolerances, insomnia, depression. Everything is linked, mind, body, soul. The Spanish nap in the office, not because they are lazy, but because studies have shown you function better re-energised, not taking caffeine shots of coffee. Rest. It is not a guilty pleasure.
I had to adapt from always having a car in Melbourne to haha no way in Hell will I drive in Italy, and I clock an average 5kms a day on foot with public transport – that teaches zen. Sometimes more. I eat everything – carbs, sweet, salty, meat, veg, fruit, and walking is good for your heart as well as circulation. We in Oz, and the States, are the World’s leader in diabetes and obesity – the silent killer. We have distances, true, but we have the space and wonderful clean air to get out on weekends and evenings to enjoy exercise. In apartment blocks and limited space in European cities, the smog can choke you if you run. Parks are always crowded, because nature and trees give life. We all need it.
Luna, you are wonderful!! Thank-you for reminding me about what I preach, we may feel often alone, due to the way we are programmed to think in *developed and civilised society* but in this Universe, we are never, ever truly alone. We can take the good from how we have revolutionised our way of thinking and link it to always being interconnected.
Sending love and light
Alicia, thank you. Rome. What a beautiful place to live in, so much history and life. I was fortunate enough to travel to Rome, and one of the biggest things that lingers in my mind is the insanely congested traffic!
I enjoyed reading your comment and the rest of these comments immensely. It shows me that there are many people in the world who, as you say, exist on the same wavelength. Who are slowly raising their consciousness to see how we are harming ourselves, and each other.
Many thanks for sharing these thoughts with me. They’ve been a delight to absorb. -L
Despite living in the suburbs, I try to maintain a minimalist lifestyle. My condo is clean, uncluttered, filled with only things that I actually use on a daily basis. I refuse to collect junk and let it build up in my living area, because all it does it create distraction and drains my energy.
I never have the TV on in the background, and only rarely watch it at all. I avoid watching the news at all costs, because it’s depressing and irrelevant to what matters in my life. Also, I make a concerted effort to do only one thing at a time, which allows me to fully enjoy and experience whatever I’m engaged in. When I eat, I do so in peaceful silence. When I listen to music, I become fully immersed in it.
My dream scenario would be to live in a log cabin in the forest, away from all the overstimulation of modern life, similar to what you just experience in Spain.
Red, your life exemplifies the kind of life I’m trying to live, and I’m sure a lot of other people’s as well. I’ve recently gone on a junk-cleaning-rampage and was horrified to see how many things I’d hoard and tuck away.
Thank you for sharing a piece of your life here!
I love what you’ve say here and you are spot on… it’s the kind of thing I keep saying I’m gonna do.
I live in the country side but have been finding the isolation lonely. In some ways I have too little stimulation. From reading the above, I shall now focus on the positives to be found. Thank you.
Hello Marion. I’m happy that this article could help change your mindset. Many would kill to live in the countryside. It’s easy for us to find the negative in any situation, even the most heavenly, so it’s really about analysing your mindset. The eyes we look through really do colour the world around us.
Thank you for visiting!
I live with a hoarder husband. It is well-nigh impossible and I am miserable because of it. He knows it is a source of unhappiness for me but can’t seem to do anything about it. I wonder if my living conditions will ever change.
Tess, your husband can’t do anything about his hoarding without professional help. It is an illness. You can however focus on yourself and your needs – and create a clear space for yourself. He does not have the right to hoard over the whole house.
Tess, Marion has stated it perfectly. Hoarding is a psychological illness. If you haven’t seen the TV show called “hoarders”, you may want to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoarders. It may also be a good idea to talk to your husband about it, but as diplomatically as possible (e.g. explaining that the issue is his behavior, not HIM). ;) -L