Where does inspiration come from for you? What motivates you to consider changing long standing habits? For me, motivation comes from an endless hunger to learn more about every and anything. And as I learn I am motivated to incorporate a little of what I've learned into my life.
Among other things (like lack of money), living intentionally with fewer physical possessions was encouraged, for me, by things I learned about the principles behind Feng Shui and the Montessori method of education.
Feng Shui teaches that chi (energy) needs room to move or it becomes stagnant and drags you down. It needs gentle movement or becomes forceful and knocks you over. So strategically aligning the things you have - and having not too many things - is very important. Stuff under the bed? Invites dust (bad for chi) and blocks the movement of chi. Lots of furniture in the living room? Blocks the chi, draining your energy. Using dishes with little chips in them? Bad chi. As I looked around my home with an eye toward the movement of energy through my space, I discovered opportunities to open up the flow of energy by eliminating that which blocked chi. Living with less opened up the spaces we are inhabiting, making them more comfortable to be in. That's the beauty of chi.
Like Feng Shui, Maria Montessori teaches that too much stuff overwhelms the young child, blocking their ability to do the important work of making sense of the world around them. One of the guiding principles of the Montessori method is The Prepared Environment. Montessori teaches that children learn best in a prepared environment, a place in which children can do things for themselves. In the prepared environment learning materials and experiences are available to children in an orderly format. Each object has its own place on a child sized shelf, and none compete with any others for space. The open shelving makes all the materials visible and accessible, attracting the attention of the young child and sparking their innate desire to learn by working with whatever has attracted their attention. Learning about the Montessori method has encouraged me to consider what is available to my young children and to make sure that there are a few, well made of natural materials, things for them to work with when they want to. We are big readers and have lots and lots of books, but we put no more than a dozen on the book shelves at a time. Every so often I rotate them out, putting new ones in their place. This lets us enjoy all our many books, without overwhelming our limited amount of shelf space.
I'd love to hear where your inspiration came from! Please comment and share!
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