(Pssst -- sometimes it might be hard to tell the difference between lazy and content.)
Oodles of friends yesterday pointed out the momastery article Give Me Gratitude or Give Me Debt. I see why: it's perfect. Even when we hide from advertising, even when we eschew trendiness, we're still assaulted by the lusts and desires to have more. That's what salesmen are for. That's what advertising executives are for. And sometimes even our friends push us toward discontent and coveting.
The momastery author was offered pointers on how to update her kitchen. After some self-doubts, after some consideration that she maybe should indeed unshabbify her kitchen, she realized something. She has a refrigerator that works. And is full. While some parents worry about their children being malnourished.
Inside my refrigerator is FOOD. Healthy food ... When this food runs out, I'll just jump in my car to get more. It's ludicrous, really. It's like my family hits the lottery every freaking morning.
She goes on to talk about how we don't have to hike miles to bring back a bucket of decent water. It's at our fingertips. Not only that, but we use clean drinking water to wash our dirty feet. And we have microwaves. And coffee pots. The article is a fun-to-read piece on what's important and what's not.
I have a washer and dryer. At gut-level I can't fathom how much work it would take to launder clothing without our machines. My mind theoretically understands the process: make lye from ashes, make soap from lye and fat, chop wood, haul water, make fire, boil water, wash clothes by hand, rinse clothes by hand, line dry. Oh. That's all? I wash clothes by turning a couple of knobs.
And plumbing. I love hot-water heaters and indoor plumbing!
When our house goes on the market someday, it will be outdated. The only people who'll be interested are those who want to flip it ... or those (like me) who feel comfy in an old house. But hey, no sense updating a house now for the sake of selling it decades down the road. By then, it will be outdated again.
Maybe I'm content.
More likely, I'm lazy.
But either way, I don't have to deal with kitchen and bathroom renovations.
And that's worth a big hooray!
Inside my refrigerator is FOOD. Healthy food that so many parents would give anything to be able to feed their children. Almost 16,000 mama’s babies die every day from malnutrition.
Not mine. When this food runs out, I’ll just jump in my car to get
more. It’s ludicrous, really. It’s like my family hits the lottery every
freaking morning. - See more at:
http://momastery.com/blog/2014/08/11/give-liberty-give-debt/#sthash.IPdEt6uB.dpuf
Inside my refrigerator is FOOD. Healthy food that so many parents would give anything to be able to feed their children. Almost 16,000 mama’s babies die every day from malnutrition.
Not mine. When this food runs out, I’ll just jump in my car to get
more. It’s ludicrous, really. It’s like my family hits the lottery every
freaking morning. - See more at:
http://momastery.com/blog/2014/08/11/give-liberty-give-debt/#sthash.IPdEt6uB.dpuf
Inside my refrigerator is FOOD. Healthy food that so many parents would give anything to be able to feed their children. Almost 16,000 mama’s babies die every day from malnutrition.
Not mine. When this food runs out, I’ll just jump in my car to get
more. It’s ludicrous, really. It’s like my family hits the lottery every
freaking morning. - See more at:
http://momastery.com/blog/2014/08/11/give-liberty-give-debt/#sthash.IPdEt6uB.dpuf
We're doing a mini-reno in our basement and office so that the spaces function better for us. It has been what I consider a decent amount of work, but it's nothing like what a bathroom or kitchen reno/gut-job would be like! *Shudder* No, thanks.
ReplyDeleteMeghan, your project is to make your space functional for your family's needs. That's a LOT different from having a functional space that doesn't Keep Up With The Joneses. I want to be clear that I'm not against renovations. I'm only against the whole concept of being unhappy with what I've got unless my stuff is new and magazine-worthy.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I love the pictures of what you're doing. It looks like you're using the space you have to make everything a better fit for the people who live there and spend SO much of their time there! (And Audrey's right, you do have a talent for making things pretty. I just don't have that knack. I'm glad there are people who do! Some of them at church helped me figure out a few small things here that really helped.)