a new year of no new stuff

this story begins in a kitchen, in the cozy chaos of a cottage in huntsville. in this kitchen, friends were busying themselves with breakfast on the first morning of 2011. it was bright and snowy outside, and hopeful inside. it was a new year.

this annual new year's celebration at this particular cottage, with this particular collection of family and friends is so filled with the big things - hilarity, gratitude, ideas, conversations, love, warmth - it becomes easy to stop noticing the sheer number of little objects that accumulate when 20 people get together for a weekend. boots, stray mittens, flashlights, soap, tubes of lip balm, iphones, ipods, books, journals, socks, skates, hockey pucks, cameras. these things occupy every surface, change hands, are borrowed, returned, topple off tables, are lost, are found. these objects dictate when the cottage is clean, and when it's a mess. when we've arrived, and when it's time to go. these objects decide what we do - and more important, don't do - with our days. these objects are far more in control of us than they should be.

none of this was really forefront in my thoughts until lex suddenly told me that in 2011, she would embark on a year of buying nothing new. she described the reasons why - to reduce needless consumption. to be more environmentally conscious. to be less wasteful. to become mindful of the difference between needs and wants. to challenge herself to fulfill her needs more creatively than simply going out and buying more stuff from a store.

lex and i are very like-minded when it comes to living lightly on the earth, and immediately her words felt stirring. i decided right there, sipping piping hot espresso in the kitchen, to join her on the journey. i decided this before i'd fully considered it rationally. it was an idea that suddenly made so much intuitive sense, i knew the logistical details would fall into place once i got onboard.

...so.

here's to a new year of no new stuff!