Re-Homed & Off The Edge: New Choices

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So my very nice and nosy neighbor, who has lived in the building for over 30 years, said to me the other day: 鈥淚 notice you don鈥檛 have much furniture.鈥 I stood there pondering what to say to that, mulling over various responses, when she went on to add: 鈥淭hat鈥檚 ok. Live light!鈥

And she鈥檚 right, without even knowing how much so. Going un-homed was an interesting process of whittling things down to essentials and necessaries. The acquisition of things takes a far-removed back seat to the keeping of simple rhythms. During that time you do realize how little one needs to survive, and more importantly how cavalier we can be in our choices when not pressed by circumstance.

By no means am I advocating a zen-like, monastic setting, but I am noticing that I don鈥檛 feel any rush to collect lots of furnishings and paraphernalia; or 鈥渕ore stuff鈥 as comedian George Carlin would have called it so long ago. Although you go through life acquiring possessions and experiences, there is a point when you ask yourself whether these things are important identifiers of who I am. And it is interesting to come to a point of realization that the answer is 鈥渘ot really.鈥

So, on the one hand there are things that are familiar to me, such as the bowl that has managed to stick around for the last 20 years, or the old bicycle that I salvaged 12 years ago. But on the other hand I now have a new circumstance around which I get to make a whole new set of decisions. What kind of furniture do I even need, much less want? To be completely honest I鈥檓 not really sure.

I can say that I feel a bit more settled and less like this is a temporary stay. Naturally, the lessons of the last year dictate that these things can change, and very rapidly at that. There are always time spans that don鈥檛 line up with our sense of intention and plan-making. But other lessons dictate that I should make a life and not stress about the potential disasters that lurk around every corner. Living through that kind of fear is debilitating, and not a frame of mind I want to be in.

So in the meantime I鈥檓 in no rush to fill my new home with things just for the sake of it. I sit and ponder each new possibility with a sense of appreciation and discernment. I especially am allowing tensions to ease that built up from a year of being un-homed. They accrued so subtly and slowly that only once re-homed can they be noticed. My hope is that I haven鈥檛 allowed those tensions to become habit since they are largely creations of my own mind. It seems to me that was the part that came close to being un-hinged, and thankfully it didn鈥檛. At least I don鈥檛 think so鈥

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About the Author

  • Joe Bright
    Joe Bright
    Joe Bright is a graduate of Iolani School and went on to study art at The Cooper Union School of Art in New York City, and later Chinese medicine at The American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine in San Francisco. Joe currently runs a small acupuncture clinic, Kama鈥檃ina Acupuncture in Kapahulu as the first dedicated low-cost 鈥渃ommunity acupuncture鈥 clinic in Honolulu. Joe has a varied background that has included working as a bicycle mechanic, freelance artist, teaching calligraphy and Tai Chi, a nanny, and even a CEO of a small entrepreneurial company. He continues to create art, even having work recently appear at the Honolulu Academy of Arts as well the Bishop Museum. He also continues with entrepreneurial projects when possible and serves on the Board of Directors for a local Buddhist meditation organization, Vipassana Hawai鈥檌.
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