Hamilton said to facilitate that life, “I basically stopped buying things — it really helps.” That has freed up time for her other pursuits, including work on a novel. Eliminating what she termed lifestyle inflation — where “work’s so crazy, on your lunch break you need to go do some retail therapy” — felt in line with a broader goal to be more intentional and ethical about her consumption.
This is the world I want to live in. And it really is so true in my experience. Despite the fact that I am a relatively "minimalist" person and have always been frugal my whole life, I notice myself justifying pointless shopping or consumption during periods where I am working more/not doing work that feels truly aligned but maybe earns a good paycheck. It's almost like this balancing the scales thing that happens so sneakily it's not until the consumption has passed that I realize what I did. Same thing with travel and taking trips/vacations. I used to spend so much money on vacations, festivals, concerts because I really felt that I needed/deserved/craved it. But in the periods of my life more recently when I have scaled back my work, I don't even desire that stuff as much. I walk down the street and am immensely entertained by common hummingbirds and butterflies like a 5-year-old.
This is the world I want to live in. And it really is so true in my experience. Despite the fact that I am a relatively "minimalist" person and have always been frugal my whole life, I notice myself justifying pointless shopping or consumption during periods where I am working more/not doing work that feels truly aligned but maybe earns a good paycheck. It's almost like this balancing the scales thing that happens so sneakily it's not until the consumption has passed that I realize what I did. Same thing with travel and taking trips/vacations. I used to spend so much money on vacations, festivals, concerts because I really felt that I needed/deserved/craved it. But in the periods of my life more recently when I have scaled back my work, I don't even desire that stuff as much. I walk down the street and am immensely entertained by common hummingbirds and butterflies like a 5-year-old.