Every Monday I post Real Life Minimalists, a profile of one of my readers in their own words. If you’d like to participate, click here for details.
Today we have an update from Wild Poppy, who was featured in this series a year ago. She explains how a recent experience hosting some friends gave her new insight into her minimalist lifestyle.
Wild Poppy writes:
How can one lone egg radiate such a sense of accomplishment?
I enjoy my minimalist aspirations. I’m sure we all do. This, however, has an impact on how others view us. Take, for example, a recent enlightening encounter.
I had a couple of friends come to stay for a few days. Prior to their arrival they told me they would take care of their own meals, simply using my home as a base, somewhere to crash.
This suited them, and me, perfectly.
They weren’t restricted by my schedule and routine, and I didn’t have to be at home preparing and cooking meals. They could go to the theatre, visit museums, browse the many department stores in Oxford Street or Kensington or simply enjoy afternoon tea in a plush London hotel. All without the constant inconvenience of having to head back outside the North Circular for lunchtimes and evening meals.
They got on with their holiday and I carried on with my life.
This simple arrangement worked well.
Due to the fact that I was not expected to provide meals, but rather was pretty enthusiastically requested not to, I did not stockpile groceries and baking ingredients before their arrival. My pantry, fridge and freezer remained true to their usual minimalist state. There was no necessity to add to their contents.
This being said… do you ever suddenly see something through the eyes of someone else?
I say ‘suddenly’, as that was precisely how it happened.
My guests settled in happily and planned their five activity-filled days in this great bustling city of ours. True to tourist tradition, they were up and away early each morning, returning late, tired and happy every night.
I saw little of them, they saw little of me. The perfect guests.
Then it struck. Like an electric shock. Sudden, instant and with intense clarity.
I opened the door of my fridge and there, amidst the bare, vacant shelving, sat a lone egg. One humble little protein snack in its beige oval shell.
Until this point I hadn’t fully perceived how others see us. But there, in the vast clean white space of an empty fridge, sat a stark reminder that my minimalist pursuit is so far removed from the life of even some of our closest friends.
Conversely, it was also a reminder of the progress thus far accomplished on my quest for a more minimalist lifestyle.
We don’t live under the conditions our grandparents and great-grandparents survived, restricted by the ‘ration book’ of a wartime era, yet somehow we yearn for the sheer simplicity of that time.
And that yearning conveys an innate sense of striving, a striving for a contentment, not dependent on ‘things’, but on the sheer joy of being alive.
My encounter with the lone egg reminded me of this.
{If you’d like to learn more about minimalist living, please consider reading my book, The Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide, or subscribing to my RSS feed.}
I truly happy Poppy is happy with her lifestyle. However, we must be cautiousabout blurring the distinction between simplicity and few possessions. I doubt my mother thought her life was simple when she outgrew her kindergarden shoes but the ration stamps would allow purchase of new ones for 6 months. Grandpa to me a story of his car tire blowing yet not being able to by replacement bc of stamps and total lack of availabilty of tire bc of the war effort. Simplicity is not about the stuff but the aligning one’s heart-head-possessions.
Hi Poppy
Thanks for your post. Did your friends comment on your lone egg?
While I can see your comparison with the simplicity of post-war living, I’m not sure everyone would view that as a simple life mindset. I think life then was “simple” out of necessity and hardship rather than the refreshing, relaxing perception I have of simple living today which is a way of life we can either choose to live or not. No choice back then.
Good to hear from you again and I enjoyed reading your update.
Helen :)
I second the comments above.
I would also add that not only are things often in short supply during wartime, but enjoyable experiences as well — experiences that it’s easy to take for granted when living in peaceful conditions. As one example, my mother never learned to swim even though she wanted to because of wartime travel restrictions and danger from bombs on the beaches near where she lived.
When my mother visited one of her relatives who lived in East London after the war, she was greeted with devastation everywhere in the neighbourhood — hardly any homes were standing. That her relative’s home was the only one on the street that hadn’t been destroyed by bombing made it a very lonely egg indeed!
I’d question the need for a refrigerator and the electricity to power it if it only contains 1 egg! And why keep eggs in the refrigerator anyway? I live in the UK and don’t refrigerate eggs, they are sold on the regular shelves in the supermarket and don’t need to be kept cold.
I wondered that as well, but then it occurred to me that maybe since she is in England, her fridge is not huge like the typical American fridges are. It is more likely a small fridge, not much bigger than the ones we call “dorm-size” here. American college students often have these dorm fridges in their dorm rooms when they are away at college, hence the name. One of my really good friends lived in London for 7 years and she said that she stopped by the market on the way home from work several times a week to buy food for meals rather than going to a bigbox store and stockpiling weeks’ worth of food as many people do here. She said that her fridge was maybe 2 feet tall and could hold the necessities like lunch meats, eggs, milk, butter, cheese, but not much else. I’m not sure if that was the case with Wild Poppy, but it might be:)
Linda,
Sorry, I missed that part where you said you live in the UK. Then you already know about the fridges there vs. in America.
My fridge is filled with food so I can obtain it once a wk rather than several times. I eat all produce that needs to be refrigerated. I use to be able to go 2 wks when I had a larger fridge & different food needs. My pantry has much less in it since there isn’t much I need otherwise. My meals are simple & healthy. I feel that cutting back on the need to do things multiple times contributes to my minimalist lifestyle.
Thank you for reading my entry :)
However, if my simple story gave any cause for offence I apologise.
It wasn’t intended as a piece glorifying the ravages of war, nor a thesis in scientific research into egg storage in the UK.
Simply an innocuous observation of a moment in time, a snapshot.
Nothing more.
Hope all your minimising endeavours are progressing well.
Have a good weekend :)
I loved your story. It’s so true that a lot of people near to me don’t know anything about my minimalists intents. We can learn a lot by seeing ourselves through the eyes of other people!
That’s so true Kellya. Thank you for reading my entry :o)