What I Learned from Living Primitively For a Year and a Half

Someone once asked the Dalai Lama why people who are poor are so much happier than people who are rich. He answered,

“The less you have, the less you have to worry about.”

This resonated with me for years.

With America’s obsession with materialism, I found myself drawn to a simple lifestyle, yet felt unable to break free from the incessant judgment of not acquiring more and more possessions.

A few years later, and with the Dalai Lama’s words still echoing in my head, I spoke with a new friend in India. She asked how many children I had. I told her five. Her response was, “Wow! You’re rich!”

And just like that, my search for non-materialistic happiness took flight.

When my youngest child moved out, I walked around the empty five-bedroom home and wondered what was next. I began to wonder just how little I could live with and still be genuinely happy.

It didn’t take much thought to decide to sell most of my possessions and begin my quest for a simple life.

My search led me to the remote mountains of Arizona. I got permission to stay in an abandoned RV on a two-acre lot. It took weeks to clean the place to make it livable. Water had to be hauled in jugs from a nearby storage tank. There was no electricity, no air conditioning, and no internet. There were also no people for close to a mile in any direction. The closest thing to law enforcement was a constable 45 minutes away. If any rescue vehicles were needed, it would’ve taken them at least 1 ½ hrs to arrive. When it rained, the dirt road was impassable and so I learned to keep weeks of supplies on hand.

I could’ve died and no one would find my body for weeks.

That’s not an exaggeration.

Conveniences I lived with for decades were gone. While I did miss them, it wasn’t in the sense of my life not being fulfilled. In fact, my happiness wasn’t affected at all by the lack of conveniences. It was this realization which helped me realize my quest was leading me in the right direction.

Hot showers, ice cubes, and a flushing toilet became luxuries. My manicured nails gave way to calloused hands, even with…

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