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Minimalism is sorting through the fog and gaining clarity on one’s purpose, and what is most important while removing everything else that distracts us from this. It is living a life of intentionality. When I successfully got on the road to a minimalist life I realized how many times I bought that something, just to get a charge,  feel better or use it to identify with some unreachable happiness. In reality, happiness I have found comes from within, from the people you connect with, from the silent moments in between the silence. Happiness is definitely not found in things. As a matter of fact, the imaginary joy of buying something quickly wears off leaving an even bigger need to fill that hole. Getting rid of my things and getting down to what is most important to me has been an ongoing process of self discovery. One thing I can honestly say is thus far, I have zero regrets.

How does one get rid of 50 some years of collecting things that overflow in a 2,000 square foot home, with a 10,000 square foot yard and two car garage? How does one get this down to 200 square feet worth of belongings? Well, I found multiple ways, and to be honest am still on the journey. So let me start by telling you about one, the garage sale.

Let me start by saying, I hate garage sales. I had sold my house and had a limited amount of time to get out. Over the last few weeks whenever I touched something it either went in the garage to a throw pile, or garage sale pile, moved to my fancy new apartment ( I downsized in stages), was given away to friends and family or donated to charity, or local organizations. Thinking back on the garage sale, a colossal disaster that taught me about one of the first things I would do differently going forward, I can do nothing but laugh.

It was the day of the sale. Yep. It was almost noon, and I had not put out a shred of advertising. I didn’t do the ad in the paper the night before and have everything set up to go at seven in the morning. Nope. I sat down with my cheap poster board and markers and couldn’t get any of them to work around noon the day of. I was feeling incredibly sorry for myself. Everyone needs that sisterhood (or brotherhood) that will surround them with support and love when in crisis, were what saved me that day. My sisterhood, I loving call my Bristlecone Sisters because, like the trees, they are strong, resilliant, dependable, have your back type of beautiful long lasting friendships that everyone deserves. The Bristlecone Sisters dropped in, took over, and saved the day!

One sister handed me a plate of home cooked enchiladas and instructed me to sit on my behind and eat. She grabbed the very last posteboard and marker and asked me what I wanted it to say. As I was blubbering about nothing working and how useless this whole stupid effort was, she again firmly repeated what should I write. I thought about it, and said “Afternoon Garage Sale” with my address and a big fat arrow pointing in the general direction of my house.  Another girlfriend went to work on setting everything out so that it was presentable. I really was a mess. Getting rid of stuff can be emotional. I told another girlfriend to duct tape the sign to the pole on the closest busy street (five blocks away) so that the arrow pointed the right way.  I figured curious folk would find there way to my house. I had an awesome turn out! Who knew?!

The people who showed up were an amazing crew of interesting artist types all super excited about this afternoon garage sale. They said who is it that thinks everyone wants to go to garage sales in the morning? They loved the afternoon sale. As everything went down to plants from the garden, I gained an assortment of new friends, wonderful folks who had been living by me for the last five years. Along with this new bunch of artist types that I had no idea (living in a very plain suburban like city) lived by me, came a collection of wonderful swapped stories and an all around good time filled with laughter.

Some neighbors really didn’t come to shop, they seriously just wanted to meet the girl they had watched slowly transform her yard into a beautiful drought tolerant paradise. Several came by in the next couple of days, dropping off bottles of wine, gifts, thank you for a fun garage sale. I did make money, but what I really made was the realization that going forward I would always see the people, get to know the beautiful souls who lived around me. I would never bury myself in a household, double car garage full of stuff, barricading myself from humanity. And I do just that, I introduce myself. I listen and get to know folks. My life continues to grow with amazing beautiful people all around me.

My very terrible garage sale taught me I was on the right path and helped me get rid of my stuff. In a future post I’ll share a few more of the nitty gritty on how I decided what to keep and where to get rid of things. And I’m pretty sure I’ll never have to have another garage sale. I’ll just get to know folks up front rather than collecting things.

The Parsonage

The Cabin

My Airstream

I started on the planet in the foster care system obviously owning absolutely nothing.  Very early in life I was fortunate to call home where I lived with my new adopted family. I’m standing on the steps of the parsonage in Chicago with my big brother in the picture to the far left.

My dad was a pastor and back in the day, pastor’s families often lived in a “parsonage”. A parsonage was a house owned by the church, typically on the property, loaned to the pastor and his or her family. Folks working in that industry did not bring in big salaries, the reason to work as a pastor was more about a calling to serve and connect with people and a shared spiritual journey with the grand creator. We didn’t grow up comparing ourselves to others based on the size of our house or things we owned, since we didn’t own much. We just thought of home as a place you live.

Like the minimalists of today, people came before things, and so did lots of joyful memories.

Also, in the summer time, when we went on vacation we’d head twelve hours north to a small lake in Canada where we had what I would consider the original of tiny homes, a cabin! Our cabin was especially small as it was made of an old gun shack, no more than 100 square feet. So as you can see having my two hundred square foot home all to myself is really living in luxury!  In the cabin, the bed folded up into a table in the daytime. The windows and porch extended the size of the building as it brought the outdoors inside. We didn’t have insta pots back then, but we did have crock pots and electric fry pans. Paper plate vs washing dishes was often the choice we made. How we were to get our water and deal with sewage were all things that had to be thought out. Water came from a nearby well and using an outhouse was normal. Granted I don’t have a composting toilet today but there are definitely similarities. And somehow when I think of doing that activity in an outhouse vs right inside of our living spaces, the old fashioned, or tried and true way, somehow seems cleanlier.  Every space had multiple uses and was creatively designed. The middle photo from the right was one view of the cabin. It was much more charming than this picture, but this is the picture I have.

In spite of the fact that others around us had bigger much fancier cabins, my memory of this as a kid, was not one that lacked for anything. No matter how many family and friends would come over to visit, magically they all fit inside, and conversation and connection and community were the most important things, not whether or not we had a good internet connection or hundreds of channels on the TV. As a matter of fact, there was no TV, and the radio only played on a couple of stations, some of the time. In my current RV park and in the postings of those who are out and about boon docking, internet really only comes up when someone is talking about using it for their source of income, and their are creative ways to make that happen.

Like my modern day Airstream, shown in the picture on the right, the small cabin structure also encouraged us to get out and about, enjoying the nearby adventures in the forest, or out on the lake, or hiking to visit neighbors. The community, in this case a coop of other folks in small trailers was an important part of our existence, and demanded that a diverse group of folks learn how to get along and work together when it came to decisions that effected the whole community. Like days long gone by, in todays modern day RV Parks, Nomad groups etc, you will find more diversity in every aspect of the word and an incredibly strong caring community that looks out for each other, in spite of our diversity, unlike a lot of the silo building we are seeing today dividing us into groups of people who are just like us.

Night time stories around the fire gifted me with many fond memories of those days. As I look at my current RV life, it is all very familiar. When thinking about downsizing into a Tiny House, my dad thought it a good idea for me to first try out living in a trailer to see if I liked it. Even though I thought it was a great suggestion, I smiled, as I already knew, this was how life was when I was small and I loved every minute of it, and am loving every minute now, including the modern day environmental friendly fire pits in RV living and the community building that happens around them.

My neighbors all look out for each other, support and help each other and enjoy each others company. I learned early on, talk to folks, get to know them and give back.

Did my early life and homes teach me about living tiny or did tiny living make me appreciate my early life? Who knows! But I’m glad I found my way here on this journey.

Thanks again for following me! Feel free to comment, like, share this blog, as well as communicate with me if there is any particular aspect of this life you are curious about and would like me to share stories on.

On to the topic at hand….Did you know, that we can live in a national forest for free? In the beginning when I first started reading on the tiny movement, that fact definitely caught my eye. I wasn’t sure that I wanted to live so far out and isolated, but free?! Yes, the national forest is considered to be owned by all of us… citizens. There are apps, methods and ways of figuring out how to locate specific spots for boon-docking. I talk about this here because knowing that had me thinking about money in a new way.

Typical expenses like (in California) our way over priced house payments, plus paying for Gardners, cleaning ladies, pool guys, exterminators, painters, Air Conditioner and Furnace Specialists, Roofers, and the list goes on…. All adds up. Sure one could do a lot of do it yourself… but who has time for that when working full time?

People kept trying to understand how the expenses work and saying things like, can you really live for less?  Isn’t your diesel truck gas going to cost you a ton?! Yes, you can live a great life on very little and yes, gas can add up, but now I simply pay one payment that covers a parking space, electric, water, and cable as well as fantastic security guards who welcome me home everytime I drive in and amazing service from all of the park employees. They are like family. And I don’t have all of those huge house maintenance or repair costs. I will have RV repair. Costs, but that’s not as bad. There will be other expenses like vehicle registration for my RV and my truck that may determine what state I call home down the road. And I drive a lot slower with eight thousand pounds behind me, so gas is not as bad as it would seem… and diesel is way worth it. But overall, I live on a lot less. Seriously, it would be insane to hire a cleaning lady when it takes me ten minutes to fully clean the inside of my home. But…. If I wanted to they have those services for RV folk too.

I live in a pretty fancy RV park. We have our own breathtakingly beautiful lake, miles of wilderness hiking yet 30 minutes out of downtown LA, a couple of swimming pools and more. Thus the higher end rent. This next year I’ll be on the road and living in an RV park  as a full timer for five months of the year to escape the cold. I will live right on riverfront property. My “rent” will cut in half. My goal will be to own my own land to full-time on, taking trips at will.  Eventually, I’d like to provide parking on my land and possibly invite an artists’ community of nomad glampers. 🙂 My  adventures begins.

How did it begin? It began with a bad ass real estate agent whose efforts to sell my house were like a finely orchestrated, well choreographed dance. Her name is Valerie Hoffman, and she now sells houses in Texas. You know your service is good when you become friends with the people you do business with. In a nutshell, she quickly got me good money for my home. She was creative with her methods and it paid off. I was so impressed I contemplated changing career directions for a flash and learning from her, but in the end I stuck with early retirement and the money making ventures I’m currently doing. So the house sold, I made enough money to be ready to buy my trailer and truck, a shift from a tiny home and land…. and I began downsizing.

By the way… as I type this I’m listening to two guys at the bar downing drinks dreaming about the day they near retirement how they want to live their life and it’s making me chuckle because they are describing what I do. I am grateful for my life.

Nefelibata – My Current Home, a 200 Square Foot Airstream

“Cloud Walker” One who lives in the clouds of their own imagination or dreams or one who does not obey the conventions of society, literature, or art. WBCCI #11418

“Why did you do this?”, was the awesome question I was asked. Why would anyone do this? Why would anyone choose to live full time in one of the crazy teeny tiny houses?

I’ll briefly tell you my why, here and hopefully my why will unfold more, as I share more stories, as well as some of the lessons I’ve learned along the way in The Tiny Adventures of ElisaMG.

You know at social gatherings when well meaning folks look at you puzzled and start asking inappropriate questions and sharing unsolicited advice?  You know the type! Like, have you found anyone interesting? “There has to be someone who would be just perfect for you! You are an amazing, beautiful, smart girl!” I didn’t want to wait to live my life, just because I had not found that person they all thought I should be with. I figured carving out a different kind of lifestyle that acknowledged some of the realities that go with being single and, looking at my options for taking care of myself were important to me.

Everyone thinks everyone wants to make a bunch of money, buy a big house with a picket fence, get married, have kids and live the life! Arriving in California after landing that great job made me think I might just get to do that.  As my income went up my opportunities went up and hey, we live in America my materialism went up. It crept up on me slowly. I didn’t really see the enormity of it until now looking back. Although my job involved me in things I was passionate about, it was very demanding and it was just me so I quickly learned I needed a pool guy, a gardener, and a cleaning lady to help maintain the house, as well as a good chiropractor, massage therapist, sometimes physical therapist and a traditional therapist to maintain me. Stress! Stress was costing me a lot of money and taking from me my precious time. Anyhow, I eventually saw the toll this lifestyle was taking up on me and I decided I needed my life back. I needed to know I could walk away from my job whenever I wanted and be fine with the finances I had.

I wanted to dive fully into a life that I had avoided because traditionally it is looked down upon, undervalued… a life exploring the arts. For me, that meant I had to live on less money, therefore… downsize. Thus began my journey from my lovely home, to a snazzy apartment in the arts district of downtown Pomona which I’ll tell you more about later when sharing what it was like to get rid of stuff, to the home I am currently living in, a 2018 Airstream Globetrotter.

My Airstream is a 200 square foot RV in the most glam and gorgeous of RV Parks. I share a beautiful view of the lake with million dollar mansions. My costs are still not down to what they could be living this life, but I’m taking baby steps. I have cut my costs to a third of what they used to be. I can get up and go whenever I want a new view! I live in a gorgeous, stress reducing wilderness but I’m seconds from several main freeways and not far from city life. And I’m in a safe space to explore and learn all of the technical and systems involved in operating my Airstream.

Yes, I was tired of working crazy hours to earn the money I needed to live the lifestyle I was living and still not have enough money, or things.  I had plenty of things but they somehow always fell short of brining me true joy.  I was super passionate about the work I did, however I knew I could take the work on the road with me and do it in a different way and get more satisfaction from it without the paycheck. I craved to be more in control of my time. I realized I didn’t even really know my immediate neighbors, who had been my neighbors for the last five years. I had dreams of following all kinds of artistic endeavors that I was daily letting go unfulfilled? In my journey so far letting go of things and living smaller has forced me to reassess my values, and ask what brings me lasting sense of well being. It’s not about getting rid of belongings and never shopping again. Its about refocusing on what is truly important to me. It has been about decluttering all of the mess in my life that did not bring me joy.

As Joshua Fields Millburn puts it “Love people use things. The opposite never works.”

Hi! My name is Elisa and I am here to tell you about my downsizing journey. I’m thrilled that you have decided to check out my blog and will try to share my story, how and why  I came to this and why you might want to join me! I will follow this up with stories along the way outlining my process. I hope you find my words entertaining and informational. Enjoy!

All of this work on downsizing immediately is allowing me to do things that in the past I might not have, due to, not enough funds, not enough time, too many other things I have to get done. The whole point is to make my time quality time. I get to be in the moment, doing whatever I really want, and that is great!

Driving to Santa Fe New Mexico from LA for the first ever Creative Reboot Conference, was quite the drive. I didn’t know it then but I was headed to a life-changing event that would take me on a journey I had been waiting for all of my life. It took thirteen hours to get there, to be exact. So, I did not do a lot of stopping except for gas and stretch brakes.

The drive in as the sun was setting blew me away. There was so much color in the sky. I believe every color in the rainbow and it showed in such a layering of textures. All I could do was grab a hint at what the experience was like. My cell phone, blurred, filled with bug guts whizzing down the freeway photos do not even begin to do the scene justice. But they would capture the beginning of me really venturing out to find my creative self which had long been lost in a story of the houses I have lived in.

I was finally commiting to following my creative heart! And blogging about it for all of you to see! I did not know it would take me another four months to gain the courage to publish it publicly! That said…. I preface this with… I am not a writer! I am not an English Teacher or a publisher. I am just figuring out how to be a blogger. So if you read this I am honored, and if you read this, please be patient and kind as my writing might seem simple, or I may make grammatical errors once in a while.

Thank you Angela, Brenda, Nicole, and especially Traci for encouraging me, pushing me to go forward. Thank you to my Creative Reboot brothers and sisters for building a network of creative love for me to do this in. Thank you to my Improv friends for teaching me courage and how to jump in and be in the moment!Thank you to my Julia Cameron and my Artist Way sisters for supporting me to move past myself and my stuff and get to writing! Here I go!