Less is More

Yesterday I ran into a friend who told me she often reflects back on the time she visited us when we lived on a sailboat.  She brought her daughter for a tour aboard which as you can imagine, on a sailboat, is rather a short tour.  However, my husband decided to show them what was behind every nook, cranny, cabinet and floorboard.  To this day, the now 16 year old recalls my husband lifting one of the floorboards to reveal her where he stored his shoes; all two pairs.  The mantra “everything has its place and every place has its thing” is an essential way of life when living in a confined space.  What struck her was not only the creative storage solution, but also the realization that he only had two pairs of shoes.  To this day, 8 years later, she still recalls the two pairs of shoes.  In our world of material possessions, one should ask before purchasing a new item, “do I really need this?” or are a few pairs of shoes enough.