Desiring a Simple Life

    I met two friends for lunch and the conversation quickly turned towards the desire to live a more simple life. We talked about our busy schedules, extra curricular activities, the demands of life, and the large houses my friends had purchased a few years ago. We talked about their expensive mortgages, the time spent cleaning, and how they wished they had made a different decision. One of them mentioned that the move up to a larger home had not been what she expected, and now she was planning on simplifying. We all agreed that life is too complicated. A simple life… sounds wonderful!
    As we talked I began to think back at my own journey towards a more simple life. It all began when I got the opportunity of spending five summers and winters in the beautiful state of Alaska. After two years living in town, we decided it was time to move out of the city and live as Alaskan as possible. So we purchased a home in the middle of the woods, where friendly chickadees, moose, fox, and shy bears became our neighbors. The house was small, but our five acres bordered public land, so we literally had hundreds of acres of Alaskan wilderness to discover and explore.
    During our time there, I learned to slow down and enjoy a different pace of life. One can’t start a fire to warm up the house in a hurry, and getting out the door in the winter required several extra minutes to get all the snow gear and warm clothes on. Plus there is no way to enjoy the northern lights in just a couple of minutes. One must linger for a while looking up at the night sky, while green, red, white, and sometimes purple lights slowly dance in the sky above. Also, what to do when the temperatures go below freezing, but to head indoors and spend time with family and friends while eating cookies and drinking hot chocolate?
    I had been a city dweller for as long as I can remember, living in close proximity to people, with little outdoor space to explore. Alaska was a completely new experience for me, especially after we moved to our little house in the woods. It was there that I gained a deep love for nature and a passion for birdwatching. It was there that I learned to truly appreciate the beautiful natural world God had created and look at my surroundings with different eyes. We would often go for hikes, sometimes to explore a frozen pond near the house, others to find a stream slowly crossing the wide landscape, and yet others to simply enjoy the fresh air and the soft forest floor. I enjoyed all sorts of wild berries that I used in my kitchen in home made delicacies. I would sit on my porch listening to the gentle rain that would fall for many hours during the warmer months, or soak up in the sun in the summer, or wrap myself up in a warm blanket, and watch the northern lights silently dance the night away. Summers were active enjoying the midnight sun, when the state gets filled with flowers and tourists, and the vegetables grow to uncommonly large sizes. When time came to move out of the Last Frontier, we were forced to leave behind many of our belongings and with that it was added to my journey towards simple living, a life with less stuff.
    The fact is that a simple life has many benefits. More time with family and friends, less time cleaning and organizing; more time learning new things, less time worrying. More time to fulfill our dreams and spend time on what is truly important. I like this and I desire more of it.
    After lunch, me and my friends all agreed that we should strive for simplicity, and each left with the desire and a plan to build a better life for us and our family. Now that I’m back living in the city, I want to remember the things learned in Alaska and live a simple life even here. I got home, grabbed a large bag, and started going through some of my things I know I don’t need. Then I looked at my calendar and to do list, and came up with a plan to simplify the rest of the week.