(I hope that this post will let you know a little more about me, my background, and my personal aspirations)
A few weeks ago I received the most amazing compliment. It came from my dad.
My dad is a born-and-raised farmer and almost every stereotype that goes along with that. His wardrobe consists of three flannel shirts, two pairs of overalls, and a well-worn set of workboots. He could easily live off of naught but the fruit of the earth, and in reality is not far from it. But he's also intellectually curious, studious, well-traveled, and culturally adventurous. You'll believe me when I say, he's my hero.
Unfortunately, he went deaf when I was 9 years old. For most of my life, he's used email to communicate with our very large immediate family (I'm the youngest of nine kids) that's spread out across the globe. Every few days he sends out funny little emails about life on the farm (now a distant and exotic memory for most of us) or links to news article with glib asides.
A recent email he sent out to the whole gang was an article entitled Study: Happiness Is Experiences, Not Stuff. His comment was "Hey, we have known that for a long time haven't we, AMD?” (*Gasp!*, that’s me!)
Now, this man must well recall my teenage bedroom, overflowing with clothes. He could never forget my constant petitions for money during college. But I'm so flattered that he's also noticed the careful transition I've been making for the past several years. He's seen me as an adult living well below my means in order to be able to pursue my professional and intellectual passions. He's knows that my greatest expenses by far are my annual or biannual trips to Latin America, a region he taught me love, whose primary language he taught me to speak.
I'm still beginning my journey of learning to live simply but with passion, but it's so gratifying to know that my efforts are noticed.
Have you made (or are you making) a transition to simple living? How do your friends and family respond? I know many of us are bombarded with nay-saying, but have you received any validation that really hit home?
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That's a great story. For my part, I started out feeling that I had mostly naysayers in my life. But I think I've gradually won them over--in the economic crisis, for example, we're not freaking out because we don't have debt--instead we have an emergency fund. People notice the perks of simple living more in a down economy, I think.
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