How to downsize a life

There's nothing quite like personal tragedy to get you to rethink everything.

In April this year, my marriage fell apart. What followed was 6 months of deep depression and self-loathing, counselling sessions and SSRIs, and constant introspection. How had I managed to lose myself so fully within my relationship that I could not imagine a future for myself without my husband?

Coming out of this bleakness, I've learned a few things. I enjoy my own company. I need time alone to recharge; being around other people all the time drains me. I am queer - a pansexual kinkster, and I've finally embraced this. These were all surprises, even if they really shouldn't have been.

Most importantly, I have learned that the essence of me is still here, even if I forgot about it for a while. As much as I am now looking back at a teenaged me for guidance on self, I am starting to look forward again for the first time.

Enter Operation Greenrock.

A nasty habit I picked up during my married life was an unhealthy attachment to things. Materialism. Keeping up with the Joneses. Getting to the car, getting to the house, working more hours, stressing about how much I could earn because it determined how much I could buy. Things I wanted to do became cloaked in a fear of loss. Could I really afford to go to a concert, as that would leave me less money for the eventual babies I was saving up to have? Could I really afford to follow my passion, and put the security of my job and my life at risk?

Now that that life has exploded and no longer exists, I am looking a big, fat opportunity in the face.

And so, I am going to downsize my life. On December 1st, I will leave the middle class security of my 2 bed  flat in Wimbledon for 6 months living on a barge on the Thames. Gone will be the big room chock full of stuff that rarely sees the light of day, traded instead for a box cabin and communal living.

Objective 1: Test my values. If I really value the idea of life as a free spirit, I will find out first hand how far I can go in relinquishing my attachment to things.

Objective 2: Find out how far I can go in reducing my spending and in the process discover the bare minimum to sustain comfort and contentment in arguably one of the most expensive cities in the world. Build up the difference in a savings account.

Objective 3: If my values pass the 6 month test, pursue my ultimate and life long dream of living a vagabonding life.

I'll elaborate more later on these salient points. For now, in terms of introduction, this covers the basics of what I am hoping to achieve in the next 6 months. Whether it works out or not, I am sure to learn a lot along the way, and I will share it all here.