25 Dec Is happiness sometimes…going without?
IF YOU want to feel content, don't obsess about the "stuff" you want but make the most of what you have.
by Leisa Scott for the Courier Mail
That's the essential lesson learnt by a West End family that decided to turn its back on consumerism for a year and wound up spending more time together, acquiring new skills, and saving $1000 a month.
It was the cushion that did it. When Michelle Taylor came home with yet another cushion and her husband John Tweedy asked why, she couldn't find a good answer.
So in 2010, the couple and their children, Lili, now 13, Scotia, 11, and Sappho, 5, embarked on their Year of Buying Nothing New.
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"We came together more as a family because you have to be a bit more innovative and problem-solve together," Ms Taylor said.
"We'd make things as gifts and we'd connect a bit more with friends and the community if we needed something and we couldn't find it."
If something broke, they learned how to fix it. Cooking became their way of saying thank you to friends, and the family grew closer. And the children learned that the amount of cash splashed on something was not the way to interpret its value.
"We felt a little bit smug that advertising couldn't touch us.
"You need so little to be happy."
Appreciating what you have is a key to contentment, according to a recent US study explored in Saturday's Qweekend…
…read the original article HERE along with some interesting comments