…because I have a car, office and sheep wagon. Fortunately I never needed to sleep in the first two.
All summer I stashed stuff in all three places, hoping no one would notice. Oh look, Renee’s clothes are hanging in her car again, she must be moving today. Then my car finally needed replaced, which complicated Where To Put Stuff.
As many of you know, I chucked almost everything last summer and moved through a series of lovely homes offered by friends and clients. I had plenty of time to prepare for this summer when I didn’t have a steady landing pad.
It will be fun. I’ll CAMP! Wise friends determined I wouldn’t exactly be homeless. We decided I’d photo-document the pseudo-homeless summer, monitor how my Hierarchy of Needs was affected, and write about it. Here you go.
It wasn’t exactly fun, and I never camped. As organized as I was with coolers, meal preps, and cat-sitting gigs, life felt scattered. Can we transcend the lower needs Maslow identifies? When meeting lower needs gets wobbly, how can we manage life?
Something has to go. The key is to consciously make decisions that keep you strong. I chose to keep solid meals, plenty of sleep, and attention to my clients. I sacrificed friendship, creative energy, and spontaneity. Go out dancing? Nope.
Key Points~ I was able to hold it together because most of my needs are well-established in the top 4 layers. It was also temporary. So I ran the whole thing as an experiment, knowing there was an end.
In sum, you can lose something really important if you’re solid enough elsewhere to hold it. So, my dears, cultivate that. Dial in what you need to thrive in every single layer of needs.
Most important item I packed? My skillet. Please, my dears, chuck the ones with scratched-up teflon.
Lessons from the Silver Lining
Clothes can go longer than you think without laundry.
When you arrive anywhere new, take a few moments to get oriented and appreciative.
I have, and so do you, kind and generous friends. The kind who want you to stay with them. If you ever have an emergency, you will be held.
During summer traffic, you can bike anywhere in McCall almost as fast as you can drive.
When a friend wants to do something nice for you, accept it graciously.
Don’t take home for granted. Home is the nest~ a place to regroup, have a meltdown, be sick and heal, rejuvenate.
Finally, look at all the places I got to sleep. Hard, so what. Beauty, Friendship, Held.
Hover over each for explanations.
