WHEN SIMPLIFYING IS NOT VOLUNTARY
Until now, this topic has focused on voluntary simplicity. But many people find themselves in circumstances in which they must simplify, like it or not. Since I tend to write from personal experience, I had neglected involuntary simplicity because I had never experienced it. That situation is now being rectified.
I have always had life's necessities and many of the things that I desired. In my naiveté, I thought that I had been simplifying (albeit voluntarily) by finding less expensive ways to obtain what I wanted and by occasionally cleaning out cupboards and closets and donating items that I no longer used. Those are all positive steps, but simplifying recently has taken on a new meaning for me.
My world was turned upside down six months ago, when my husband asked for a divorce. It shouldn't have turned my world upside down; I had seen it coming, but had chosen to go into denial about it. The alternative to denial seemed to be too painful. In retrospect, I can see that I was afraid to face the reality of being alone, on my own.
The divorce meant that now I was in the untenable position of having to start all over from scratch. All the assets we had purchased during our marriage had been paid for from my husband's pre-marriage savings and investments (this was blind stupidity on my part, I realize, but that's a topic for another day), therefore I had no legal right to anything. The only thing I got out of the divorce was my car.
To complicate matters, I have not been able to sustain full-time employment because of health problems, so I have very little cash flow. I had some major doubts about my ability to support myself financially. In addition, I had to find a place to live; and buy furniture, linens, and all the accoutrements of setting up a household.
I found an affordable two-bedroom apartment where I can have pets. The apartment's square footage is well under half of what I had at my husband's house, leaving much less room for storage. I ended up donating 13 or 14 large bags of clothing, kitchen gadgets, books, crafting supplies, knickknacks, etc., to the free store. Even so, I had difficulty finding room for my remaining crafting supplies and guest-room linens at the apartment. The problem was solved when I bought portable storage units on sale at Lowe's; they fit perfectly into the guest-room closet and serve their function well.
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