Oh, that is exactly my reason, too, Val! To simplify my daily routine, make it easier to keep things clean, make it easier to get to doing things I like to do -- play with the kids, get out of the house with them, sew some clothes, read a book -- without feeling guilty because there is so much the house needs.
I also don't even know what I have, and I feel like a fat-a$$ed, spoiled-brat American when I think of all the stuff I have that isn't getting used, that someone else could use. Or when I go out and buy something because I know I already have one, just can't find it. (Happens rarely, but still!)
Also, I just get near-panic attacks when I think of moving...and when I think of how light I used to live, just my Bus, lightly packed, nothing else. When we were packed to go to Alaska, my friend Sarah looked inside my Bus and said "Wow, I'm so impressed -- you got your life pared down to this...it looks so good!" And it did...and I need to get close to that again. It is freeing, to have few things.
I am reading Little House in the Big Woods to Katie, and we are both marveling at the simplicity. Laura and Mary got one pair of red mittens and a stick of peppermint candy for Christmas. That was it. That was heaven!!!! Katie's mouth dropped open. Simple as we do Christmas and Solstice (three gifts each), it looks perfectly decadent in comparison. I read about how they butchered their pig and used every last bit of the meat, and I'm in awe.
Ok, enough...it's time for me to go to the beach for Mother's Day.
