Simple Living Creates New Luxuries

I want to introduce you to my newest favorite blog, Seeking Simplicity, (whose author is a woman named Sasha,) I wrote the following in response to Sasha's post, A World of Luxury.

Even though my father was killed by a drunk driver when I was 4 and this caused my mother much hardship in providing for my brother and I, we were always well cared for and never really went without anything. Indeed we received most everything we wanted until I became a teenager, my mother went back to school and became a single parent of my younger siblings.

As my husband and I have tried to raise our large family, both coming from financially stressed families, we began to see about 5 years ago that we needed to do something drastic in order to buy our own home and better provide for our children.

Living on the brink due to paying exorbitant rents in California ($1500 a month) then moving across state into a small cabin without running water and electricity has surely made us all very grateful for so many basic things. Luxuries have changed for us.

I have thought of this often. Like when I watched an edition of Extreme Makeover this fall. It is a show that I enjoy watching occasionally, not because of the luxuriousness, but because people's lives are so drastically changed. For instance, during this one episode this mother of 5 walked into her new kitchen and looking at the dishes in the cupboards brought tears to her eyes. She grabbed a frying pan and held it to her and just sobbed.

I wondered how many people have experienced that kind of gratitude for something so basic. How many people truly appreciate running water, a warm house, wholesome food in their belly, basic cooking ware in their cupboards?

We've thought about people around the world living in impoverished countries and realized that although their lives are difficult we don't believe that American's lives are truly happier or more fulfilling.

Though life in the country has been an adjustment and been very stressful at times, we feel an overall heightened sense of appreciation for our lives, for our family and our blessings. We have cultivated the enjoyment of simple pleasures like fresh produce, long walks and a good book. Simplicity is a good thing.