There was a time in my life that I had no car, no phone, no tv, and no internet. It was my first foray into living simply.

I can’t say that it wasn’t truly difficult at first. If I wanted to see somebody, I had to go outside, start walking, and try to find them. If they lived several miles away, this was not an easy thing to accomplish! If I wanted to talk to somebody, I would look for a pay phone. I’d have to plan in advance exactly where and when I would see friends. (No last minute changes were possible in my situation) In order to read the news, I’d go to the library. If I wanted to travel a considerable distance, it would be an all day event. And so on.

But I learned to live in this situation. And I eventually began to appreciate it. Here are some of the things i learned:

• I learned to live without things that initially seemed to be essential.
• I was able to fully appreciate certain conveniences that I had always taken for granted.
• I realized how much unrecognized reliance we place on those conveniences.
• I gained a better understanding of our ability to choose what we really need in order to live our lives

I’m not advocating that we should shun modern society, and start living like cave men and women. But what I do think is important, is having the ability to recognize what it is that you truly rely on and why that reliance is there. This knowledge is essential if you wish to cultivate a greater sense of autonomy, and gain more insight into yourself, as well as the world around you.

(If you stick around for a little while and follow my posts, you’ll learn very quickly that I like to test the limits.)