stuff

wake up, sleepy head.

We spent fourteen nights away from home in July--on the road to California, back to Utah, on to Montana. Each time we had a few days in between, but I never really felt like we were "home"--we were constantly going and the month just FLEW by. Our time away was spent camping, so we brought only necessities. A few shirts, shorts, swimsuits. Food, jackets, a couple pairs of shoes. Ok we DID bring fun stuff like bikes, kayaks, fishing gear and all the makings of a good s'more, but for the most part, it was only what we needed. 

We've been home these last few days, and I've spent all my time catching up around the house-- doing mounds of laundry, unpacking gear, trying to finish projects I started in June (whoops). I can't help but look around our house and think.....why do we have so much STUFF?

I feel like the world right now tells us we need MORE. And everything must be BIGGER. More clothes. Bigger house. More "likes". Bigger cars. 
More things = more happiness, right?

No!

Over the last few years we have downsized, and downsized again. Our house is twelve hundred something square feet--my kids' bedrooms are so close I can hear them snoring at night. Robby and I share a closet that I can touch both ends of at once, which is fine I guess--I hate shopping anyway. Don't get me started on our bathroom--big enough for only one person at a time--and it's still tight (and we are small people!) 

I'm not the most organized person, but I'm learning to keep what we need, and get rid of what we don't. (It's a process! I'd love to hear how you do it!) I'd rather fill my home with books to read and rocks we tripped over in the desert, than things that have no meaning or serve no purpose. 

And for now, it works for us. But occasionally, I crack. I hear the world screaming "more!" "bigger!", and I start to feel a little lesser....and smaller. And it slowly chips away at my confidence in how we live, and what we prioritize....and I feel like I NEED more...and bigger.

But then we head out in our little camper, and I cook in the same pot for every meal, and hang our towels to dry between the trees. I'm again reminded that it's not the "stuff" that makes me happy, but the people I'm with, and the world that I am experiencing--and I really don't need much to do that, do I?

I think, I have everything I need.