'underconsumption' is just another word for living lighter
softer steps; more time for the frivolous
My seven-year-old tells me she’s had a hard childhood.
“Why do you think that?”
“Because when I ask for a cookie, you don’t always let me have one.”
“If that’s your biggest bugbear, your childhood is actually quite wonderful.”
“What’s a bugbear?………”
Sometimes it’s helpful to remember that if we’re having conversations about simplifying and living lighter, we’re only doing so because we’ve got a foundation of privilege.
Last year, I bought two dozen beeswax candles from someone off Instagram who had procured them from the Miellerie honey company, wrapped them in sheets of tissue paper and secured them with a small sticker featuring an illustration of a bee. This isn’t an uncommon scenario in Tasmania; someone knows someone who sells something and they can probably get you a few, if you want?
Sounds suss, but it was just beeswax candles that I’ve watched glow golden, lighting them at all hours to create a flicker of stillness. Margaret Olley suggested another bunch of flowers to detract from the mess but in my opinion, a candle does the job, too. My stash is dwindling; I light them anyway. I no longer save things for special occasions, because that’s the thing about living a little lighter; might as well celebrate today, even if the cause of celebration is a sorted and uncluttered kitchen bench; one sentence in your manuscript that you actually like; a clear day after a week of rain.
I know when we hear ‘living lighter’ we think about our ecological footprint. But what if we considered it a lightness of being; more space in the mind so the third-eye isn’t fraught with worry and your shoulders stay where they are, instead of creeping up to the ears. A softness and sense of fluidity so we can move through the world unencumbered; more ease, less resistance.