less is more...thanks mies

as i have consistently contemplated my life in the future, i have set aside some thoughts and goals that i find fitting for the life gabriele and i will have with our family. i want a simple life. and that doesn't mean we have to barely make things work within our means because in all honesty, i don't think that will be the case. always seeing people with insatiable desires makes me want to have all the money in the world and still choose to live a simple life. why? because money or lifestyle do not make you happy. and those who seek to keep up with the jone's can never get enough of anything to be truly happy. and i want to be happy. another reason (and most likely the reason why i write this entry) why i want a simple life: i HATE clutter! my days are spent cleaning out our house. there are things we buy but never use or have never used. nice things sometimes, but useless. once you get a "big" house you fill it up. even when you're in a small place, somehow you end up acquiring a whole bunch of crap. where does this all come from? and paper? don't get me started about paper! i want to apply mies' less is more principle in my daily life. is that book cool? yes, but i don't need it. is that sweater 80% off? yes, but i have enough already. shoes of course will be my weakness. and i will love living with the satisfaction that no, i don't care what you have or how much you have and how much nicer it is than what i have, i love the little that i have. and because i have so little my house is clean! or my tiny apartment, whatever the case may be. :) of course if you love what you have too, then i'm happy for you, and most likely excited that you have what you want and that it makes you happy. ;)

and now that i'm just babbling...why do we get so attached to THINGS? i mean sometimes i hesitate throwing something away or giving it away because even though i paid 10 bucks for it it's worth 60. or someone gave it to me but i don't like it, but they gave it to me. obviously there is way too much that goes on in this head of mine. maybe my mind is what needs de-cluttering. (or whatever). in any case, part of this idea is really having power. the power to choose. i always think of that scene in schindler's list when schindler says that real power is having every justification to [do something] and you don't do it. i know it's a stretch, but i've always loved that scene because i think we can really change our lives if we see the power we have. i repeat what i said earlier: i would love to have all the money in the world and have every justification to live a lavish life, and choose simplicity instead.

p.s. i adore this picture of mies.