Originally Posted by
ForestDweller
Yes, I recognize a former self of mine in Jundo's comments. I now call the dis-ease I had a "performance addiction." I wasn't an addict in a material-acquisition sense, but I was addicted to accumulating college degrees, better and better jobs, and higher and higher salaries, all as a mark of my worth, not what it could buy. Now, as many of you know, my husband, two dogs, and I live in a small log cabin in a remote boreal Forest on the Canadian border. Simplify! Simplify! And simplify again! That's what we've done. And the less we have, the more there is. It's always enough. I'm reasonably sure that we now "appreciate and seek the truly important matters in life," but continuous vigilance is necessary. The intangible "things" are always up for attachment. Still, I have to give us some credit, as we've progressed a long way from complexity to simplicity. It is wonderful to simply look out the window and be grateful for the Forest, the red squirrel eating the bird seed we've put out, the hairy woodpecker eating more seed far above the squirrel, my German Shepherd at my feet snoozing, my beloved husband. Yes, everything changes, and all is impermanent. Still, feeling gratitude for what is now isn't the worst way to live, and it's a whole lot less cluttered than it once was. ^^ForestSatToday^^ CatherineS