At the beginning of this year, when I decided to go on a Personal Revelation Revolution, I started reading "Simple Abundance" by Sarah Ban Breathnach. While I'm sure the author is a very lovely lady, I was ready to slit my wrists after a few weeks of daily readings in the book - it just wasn't speaking to me at all. So I stopped and started reading Brene Brown's books, which I loved a lot.
One thing I did take away from "Simple Abundance" though, was a series of questions the author asked her readers to work on; I wrote them down to ponder whenever the mood strikes. One of those questions is:
"Imagine moving into a new house. What are the absolute essentials you need in that house to be happy?"
(The instructions are to write down what would make you happy and bring you joy, money is not an issue. And she is talking about things, not people.)
Almost 6 years ago my family and I moved from Germany to Canada; we started our new life with a total of 8 suitcases and 14 boxes (7 of those boxes were toys, duh). We bought a house and furnished it with some new and some used furniture. Nothing fancy, really, but functional and comfortable.
When I started pondering the question above, I expected myself to list a bunch of expensive furniture, huge rooms and nifty electronic features for my dream house. But the thought of living in a house that looks like it should be featured in "Elle Home Decor" did not make me happy. Sure I like nice things and I find it fascinating that technology makes it possible to turn on your lights with your iphone, but it's not what I need to be happy in my home.
Here is what I need to be happy:
These four. Definitely. I know the question is aimed at things, not people - but things just don't matter that much to me and I don't see the sense in thinking about what I need in a house if I lived there alone...
However, there actually are a few things that make me happy as well:
- a separate bathroom for the kids
- a bedroom that's out of the kids earshot (ahem)
- my own office
Wait, I have all those things! And it really doesn't matter a whole lot to me what they look like. There is a time for interior design and that time will come for sure, but for I'm enjoying it just like it is.
What do you need in your home to be happy?