I am a highly visual person. If you show me an image or some text, I am likely to remember it. If you tell me something, I might remember it for a day (assuming it seemed important). Much of the tiny house movement involves self-discovery. In a world where the average American watches more than 5 hours of a TV a day, it is easy to be driven by what marketers tell you is cool.
Self-Discovery Process
You might be asking yourself what does living in a tiny house have to do with self-discovery? The first step for most people when transitioning to a smaller space is adopting a minimalist attitude. When we can store fewer possessions, we are capable of learning what items truly bring us pleasure. I use this process in my daily life whenever I make a new purchase. About a month after buying an item of any significance, I ask myself did that purchase make me happier or did the item simply find its way to a shelf somewhere. Often, I’ve been guilty of buying an item, even though I already owned a perfectly good version of the same item. Headphone are an example of an item that I had to break myself of the habit of buying new versions when the old versions were perfectly good.
After downsizing, people have to plan and build their tiny house. Most people will never have the opportunity to have a custom home built, yet alone build it with their own hands. Creating the plans for year you plan to live day in and day out makes us think a lot about how we live and what we desire. Many of us get so caught up in our daily routine that its easy to not ask why we do certain activities and most importantly, what do we actually like. Since the cost of a tiny house is so low, owners can add much more of their own flair.
One of the main objectives of the small house movement is to get out more and to treat nature the same way you used to treat your living room. When I am in nature, I see myself as a connected part of the Earth and my normal individualistic focus fades. I can’t help but think this is a sense that our more mystic minded ancestors frequently enjoyed.
Finally, by needing to work less to support our artificial needs, living a minimalist lifestyle gives us the ability to regain our lives. I can’t tell you how often I’ve worked 60+ hour weeks. I wasn’t living. I was simply hitting the fast forward button on my own life. Living with less gives us the opportunity to slow life down and enjoy the ride.