The Fête/Life Project / No.28 A Packing Party / Unpack a Simpler Life

THE SOLUTION TO A SIMPLE, MEANINGFUL, WELL-DESIGNED LIFE /

THE F Ê T E / LIF E PROJECT NO.

28

A PACKING PART Y / UNPACK A SIMPLER LIFE Welcome to the Fête/Life Project – a collection of helpful, useful and practical articles that can be applied to life at any time, but especially now.

Sourced from the many magazines we have released, our message has never been more relevant or needed by our community today… let’s embrace the simple life and treasure what is truly important – human connection, community, self care and pure acts of kindness.

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health / W E L L - B E I N G

PHOTOGRAPH / SERAINA SIL JA HÜRLIMANN S TO R Y / R YA N N I CO D E M U S

A PACKING PART Y / UNPACK A SIMPLER LIFE What makes a rich person rich? When I was a teenager, I thought it was $50,000 a year.

When I started climbing the corporate ladder in my early twenties, I soon earned 50 grand. Something was wrong though, I didn't feel rich.

So I went back to the drawing board and

When I didn't have enough cash in the

But why? We had worked side-by-side

discovered my error – I forgot to adjust

bank, I paid for expensive meals, rounds

at the same corporation throughout

for inflation. Maybe $75,000 a year was

of drinks and frivolous vacations with

our twenties, both climbing the ranks

rich. Maybe $90,000. Maybe six figures.

credit cards. I spent money faster than

and he had been just as miserable as

Or maybe owning a bunch of stuff –

I earned it in an attempt to buy my way

me. Something significant had changed.

maybe that was rich.

to happiness.

Whatever rich was, I knew that once I got

And I thought I'd get there one day.

there, I'd finally be happy. So, as I made

Happiness had to be just around

more money, I spent more money, all in

the corner.

the pursuit of the ‘dream'. All in the pursuit of happiness. But the closer I got, the further away happiness was.

But the stuff didn't fill the void – it widened it. And because I didn't know what was important, I continued to fill

Five years ago, my life was different from

the void with stuff, going further into debt,

what it is today. Radically different. I had

working hard to buy things that weren't

everything I ever wanted, everything I was

making me happy. This went on for years

‘supposed' to have – an impressive job title – a demoralising cycle. at a respectable corporation, a successful career managing dozens of employees.

I earned a six-figure income. I bought a shiny new car every few years. I owned a huge three-bedroom, two-bathroom, two-thousand square-foot apartment.

It even had two living rooms. (Other than maintaining several play rooms for my cat, I have no idea why a single guy needs two living rooms.)

By my late twenties, my life on the outside looked great, but inside, I was a mess.

I was several-years divorced. I was unhealthy. I felt stuck. I drank – a lot.

I did drugs – a lot. I used as many pacifiers as I could. And I continued to work 60, 70, sometimes 80 hours a week, forsaking the most important aspects of my life.

I barely ever thought about my health, my relationships, my passions. Worst of

My cat and I were living the dream.

all, I felt stagnant – I wasn't growing and

Everyone around me said I was successful

I certainly wasn't contributing to others.

but I was only ostensibly successful.

You see, I also had a bunch of things that were hard to see from the outside.

My life lacked meaning, purpose and passion. If you would have asked me what I was passionate about, I would have

To boot, he had just gone through two of the most difficult events of his life – his mother had just passed away and his marriage had ended. Both in the same month. He wasn't supposed to be happy – and he definitely wasn't supposed to be happier than me.

So I did what any good friend would do, I bought him lunch at a fine-dining establishment (we went to Subway). While we were eating our sandwiches, I asked Josh,“Why the hell are you so happy?".

Josh spent the next 20 minutes telling me about something called minimalism.

He talked about how he'd spent the last few months simplifying his life, getting the clutter out of the way to make room for what was truly important. And then he showed me an entire community of people who had done the same thing.

He introduced me to a guy named Colin Wright, a 24-year-old entrepreneur who travels to a new country every four months carrying with him everything he owns.

Then there was Joshua Becker, a 36-yearold husband and father of two, with a full-time job and a car and a house. Next

Even though I earned a lot of money, I had

looked at you like a deer in the headlights.

heaps of debt. Chasing the dream cost me

What am I passionate about? I had no idea.

old wife and mother to a teenage daughter.

I was living paycheck to paycheck. Living

And there as Leo Babauta, a 38-year-old

a lot more than money – my life was filled with stress, anxiety and discontent. I was miserable. I may have looked successful, but I certainly didn't feel successful. It got to a point where I didn't know what was important anymore. But one thing was clear, there was a gaping void in my life.

So I tried to fill that void the same way many people to – with stuff. Lots of stuff.

I attempted to fill the void with consumer purchases. I bought new cars, new

he showed me Courtney Carver, a 40-year-

for a paycheck. Living for stuff. Living for

husband and father of six.

a career I didn't love. I wasn't really living

Although these people led considerably

at all though. I was depressed.

Then, as I was approaching age 30, I noticed something different about my best friend of 20 years – Josh seemed happy for the first time in a long time.

Like, truly happy – ecstatic.

different lives, they all shared at least two things in common…

First, they were living deliberate, meaningful lives, they were passionate and purpose-driven and they seemed much richer than any of the so-called rich guys I worked with in the corporate world.

electronics and new, expensive clothes.

Second, they all attributed their improved

I bought expensive furniture, home

lives to this thing called ‘minimalism'.

decoration and all the latest gadgets.

ISSUE NO. 23 / FETEPRESS.COM.AU

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health / W E L L - B E I N G

So, being the problem solver I am,

After three weeks, 80% of my stuff was

I decided to become minimalist right

still in those boxes. Just sitting there.

there on the spot. I looked up at Josh

Unaccessed. I looked at those boxes and

and excitedly announced, “Alright, I'm

I couldn't remember what was in most

in. I am a minimalist! Um, now what?".

of them. All the things that were supposed

You see I didn't want to spend months

to make me happy weren't doing their job.

slowly paring down my possessions like

So I sold some of it and then donated

Josh had. That was fine for him, but

the rest.

I needed faster results. So we came up with a crazy idea… let's thrown a Packing Party. (Everything is more fun when you put ‘party' at the end of it.) We decided to pack all my belongings as if I were moving

And you know what? I started to feel rich for the first time in my life. I felt rich once I got everything out of the way, so I could make room for everything that remains.

and then I would unpack only the items I needed over the next three weeks.

Josh came over and helped me box up everything – my clothes, my kitchenware, my towels, my electronics, my TVs, my framed photographs and painting, my toiletries, even my furniture. Everything.

We literally pretended I was moving.

After nine hours and a few pizza deliveries, everything was packed. There we were, sitting in my second living room, feeling exhausted, staring at boxes stacked halfway to my twelve-foot ceiling.

My apartment was empty and everything smelled like cardboard. Everything I owned – every single thing I had worked for over the past decade – was there in that room.

Boxes stacked on top of boxes stacked on top of boxes.

Each box was labelled so I'd know where to go when I need a particular item. Labels like ‘living room', ‘junk drawer #1', ‘kitchen utensils', ‘bedroom closet', ‘junk drawer #7'.

And so on.

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I spent the next 21 days unpacking only

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the items I needed. My toothbrush.

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My bed and bedsheets. Clothes for work.

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The furniture I actually used. Kitchenware.

A tool set. Just the things that added value to my life.

JOSHUA FIELDS MILLBURN, WHO HAVE BEEN FEATURED ON THE TO D AY S H O W, T I M E M A G A Z I N E, NEW YORK TIMES, WALL STREET J O U R N A L A N D L . A . W E E K LY. T H E Y HAVE WRIT TEN THREE BOOKS, INCLUDING THE BESTSELLING MEMOIR, EVERY THING THAT REMAINS. THEIR #1 INDIE FILM, MINIMALISM: A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT THE IMPORTANT THINGS, IS AVAIL ABLE TO PURCHASE THROUGH ITUNES AND G O O G L E P L AY.

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FETEPRESS.COM.AU / ISSUE NO.23