Through Compact Gratitude I aim to:
· cultivate a more grateful and gracious life
· reduce my personal baggage, de-clutter and make more room for the things that really matter
· find a renewed sense of freedom and connection through a simplified existence
· travel more lightly through life and to let these gorgeous big hoofers of mine, be the only ‘footprint’ I have to worry about
I hope to achieve this by:
· abstaining from buying anything new for 12 months
· not acquiring anything(recycled or used) that is not necessary or life enhancing
· actively being grateful
· finding ways to express gratitude, both personally and globally
· physically and emotionally cleaning out all that is unnecessary
· learning to clearly differentiate between all that is unnecessary, time robbing, weighing me down and that which is necessary, life enhancing and uplifting.
I’m looking to find that type of freedom I had as an art student, where I never understood what all the fuss was about moving house (As I did it every six months to avoid paying rent over the holidays) as all I had was a back pack, a sewing machine and a box of books! I never seemed to worry about money, as I never had any but the thing I did have was the best time of my life…there was time for friends, family and creativity. A lack of money and things saw us live creatively and joyously and now………………and now I’ve found myself feeling isolated, isolated from all that really brings me joy, isolated by the trap I’ve fallen into of believing that I need things to be happy, grown up and responsible. Things that cost me money and then they cost more money to maintain and insure and most of all the pursuit of these things ‘cost me my precious time.…and I say bugger that for a bunch of banana’s !
So this is how I’ve arrived here at Compact Gratitude!
Not buying anything new for 12 months
This idea was inspired by an article I read a few years ago about a group of friends who made a pact and vowed not to buy anything new for a year. They formed ‘The Compact’, which had its own set of strict guidelines and rules. Initially I was going to post their guidelines here but after looking into it a bit further decided that ‘The Compact’ was motivated more by environmental issues, and while I too like to think I’m a fairly good green girl, this is not the primary motivation behind me taking this on. My motivation is much more personal as you can see above.
My guidelines for not buying anything new:
· Consumable items are allowed eg, shampoo, toothpaste, food etc
· No more consumable product to be purchased until the products etc that I already own are fully utilized
· Where possible borrow or buy used, recycled and local
· No unnecessary items - Consider if the purchase is at all necessary
· Medical or health related items are allowed if deemed necessary
· New items may be purchased if needed for hygiene reasons and deemed necessary eg, undies, bathers (The verdict is still out on shoes as I have similar feelings about wearing second hand shoes as I do with undies, ewwww!)
Although the focus here is for me personally, I will also endeavor to stick to this professionally.
