Freedom in Free Items

I was moving from the place I had lived in for five years in Los Angeles. I glanced around the house. Room divider, $20. Bed, $250. Dresser, free. Record player, $20. Living room furniture, free. Book shelves, free. Comforter, $10. Futon, free. Office furniture, free. So, I furnished my entire place for $300. Hmmm, could probably sell the bed alone for $300, but instead I just give it away to dear friends that need it. Most of the items were given to me, and to complete the cycle I think the best thing to do is to give them back to people that can use them. This is the easiest move ever. I realize the freedom that comes from not investing a lot into stuff. I don't feel weighed down, I feel that life can take me if it needs me, it's all OK. I move up to Seattle. Living room furniture is given to me, free. Couch from a neighbor, $30. Chair, free. Dresser, free. The cycle continues. There is an abundance of goodness out there if you open your heart to it. I like to have everything that is of value to me be able to fit in the back of my car. Perhaps this is a useless point for those of you that have a family, I recognize that, but I think the basic concept remains the same. The less you invest in external items, the more freed up you are to invest in your soul, and be moved as needed to put your time, energy, and money in more important matters.

Feminist Flexible

"I would clone her if I could" he says. "When her boyfriend went over seas for a year she didn't even really leave the house to show her loyalty to him. He asked me to go check in on her - strictly in a platonic fashion of course - so I did."  I am silent. I resist the urge to ask him if he fed her wet or dry food when he went over to check on her, and how often he had to change the litter. Maybe I am crazy, but that doesn't feel like loyalty to me, that just feels silly. Am I a feminist? Maybe. I think we are beyond the time when a woman doesn't leave the house to show her loyalty. And, vise vera, if I went away for a year from a man I loved (which I have done) I would hope he would do something exceptional and interesting in the freed up time without my presence. I don't like labels though. Am I vegan? Vegan flexible. Am I Heterosexual? Hetero flexible. Am I a feminist? Feminist flexible. I like to change up the roles. One day a bread winner, one day a bread maker. One day wearing a suit and tie, one day rolling barefoot and playing with the baby. But staying in one's house for a year while their partner galavants around the world just seems absurd. I'm sure I must not have the entire picture, it can't be so. But, all I have to say is for me loyalty is not based on a location, it's a state of mind. I know I'm in love when I'm at a party dancing and all sorts of people are hitting on me and all I can think about is I wish my man was there to enjoy it with me but he couldn't go that night. Or, at times I remember loving someone so much I'd miss them when they stepped into the bathroom. Missing them, yes. Proudly reporting to a suitor that I was off the market because I was in love, certainly. Staying in my house for a year? No. And, I would question someones' love for me if they needed me to sacrifice  the fullness of life in that way to feel secure. No real man would do that, and certainly no man of mine.