It's not how much you earn, but how little you need

I was inspired by a local TV documentary (HERE if it works for you) which told a story of two men who had given up their jobs and live in nature. They are both uni-grads, who could earn from their profession and yet choose to retreat to a life of peace, non-materialism, happiness and simplicity. And before you ask, no, I don't intend to live in a homestead or retire right now, I won't eat what others have left at their fast food plastic trays (not even for the sake of wastefulness), I can't DIY nor make a fire out of the bush etc, but I appreciate a simple and happy life. Whether you aspire to live a life like theirs or not, there are certainly lessons for everyone in the logic/wisdom/principles behind.

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Here are a few memorable quotes:

"Why make ourselves busy? The goal of living a life is to be happy, peaceful and healthy"

"Aligning with nature / Getting close with nature means meeting your own needs and NOT harming the natural environment"

"City dwellers have lots of resources but are lacking in consciousness, thinking if they have the money they can throw away things at their disposal. Being rich has nothing to do with wastefulness"

"I eat leftover food from others not because I"m poor but because I want to reduce the burden to our Earth"

"It only gets more ironic when the stuff/junk I pick up from others' unwanted trash is getting newer and newer. Why do we dump things that are so new? I haven't bought any new clothes for 10 years, but I could find brand new clothes from others' trash (still in bags/tags)"

"Wearing clothes is not about satisfying others' sight / eye pleasure"

"Happiness coming from consumerism or shopping is a pleasure that puts the earth's resources on expense"

"I never ask how much I earn per month, but ask instead how little I spend"

"The less you own, the more freedom you have because you don't have to worry. I don't ask everyone to do the same but I challenge myself how little I can live on.

"I consider myself rich since I have the right and freedom to choose the way of life I want"

"Simplicity means not to let MONEY have control over TIME, nor control over what we DO"

"I do DIY home-perfecting projects and am not bounded by time. I wait for the materials to come, sometimes it means waiting to find it in the trash or waiting for people to give them to me, I see it as a training for Patience"

"City dwellers tend to think that money solves everything, hence they make themselves busy because of Money. I don't busy myself for Money, I use my brain to solve problems (life), hence I'm not bounded by money nor am I a slave for money"

"A life of simplicity is an attitude, it does not a definitive standard. You don't have to live on an island. It doesn't mean you have to burn the wood logs to get fire to cook, you just reflect on your life (how far you've come) and take the opposite direction"

"Living in nature doesn't mean not spending a dime on anything, it's about avoiding unnecessary consumption, purchasing it in the greenest manner (bringing our own containers when buying food). We don't refute civilization, we're just don't want to create wastefulness (plastic grocery bags and packaging)"

"I don't think my way of life is 'bitter', in fact it is the city dwellers' way of life being 'overly sweet' (saturated with materialism and its abundance)"

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Please allow me to say that I haven't been touched or felt moved by a documentary for a very long time. The last time was probably about polar bears losing their homes in the arctic, starving and died because they are forced to move somewhere they're not familiar with. 

"How do I want my life to be?" is a fundamental question for me, unfortunately it's not an easy one to answer either. Too many people have lived their lives in a breeze and chase after things that they don't intend to, at the end they might not get anything they want from it - because most of the times they haven't even looked and asked themselves what do they want from it? Sure, life gives everyone their share of sh*t now and then. ..Anyhow this is a reminder of why I need to live my life with a clear purpose (aka consciousness above everything I do). I hope my life would be more than just working and spending money on various things in life "mindlessly", and those things might mean nothing to me at the end!