The Essentials

I have had a couple of days in the shops getting essential things for my new home. I didn't fully stick to the essentials but I now have more nice things to surround myself with. I don't yet have a car, bed or sofa but who needs transport or furniture when you have beautiful china, a cake stand and a selection of scatter cusions.

A friend has commented that my purchacing patterns may reflect a lack of confidence in putting down roots - I can't imagine where they got that idea. Is it odd to be content living out of a suitcase? I have found that a limited wardrobe makes morning decisions about what to wear much easier. I acknowledge that living alone will be different to sharing with my sister, a lot less borrowing/sharing potential and I don't just mean clothes. By default I will have to have my own stuff. Can one person really justify a whole set of household things? I have to have my own ironing board, iron, sweeping brush, pots and pans etc. All these things which can be shared between quite a few without compromise are still needed if you are just one. I feel guilty about the impact on the planet, the energy and effort that has gone into making these things that will just be dust collecting for most of their time. The economics of this is also not in favour of solo living. I have no one to share the cost of this with. I get the to choose exactly the sweeping brush and bathroom scales I want but have to pay 100% of the bill. I have found a few things in the Hospice charity shop, buying second hand eases my concience and saves money as well as helping out a charity, unfortunately they didn't have everything on my list.

An upside of solo living is getting to choose not to have things, top of this list for me is a Television. There will be no TV in my house. I can't be bothered buying one for a start, that whole zone of electrical shops makes me tired. I think this feeling must be captured and brought home in the box. When there is a TV on in the room it is so easy to get hooked into watching rubbish instead of doing something else like going for a run. When I am solely reliant on my own motivation to get up and go it will be harder to resist just flopping down infront of the TV and letting it take care of my free time. I have a laptop to watch DVD's so if I need to veg out I still can. Internet and radio should provide all the news I need and there are so many books out there to read I should not be short of home entertainment. There is a risk that I will lose touch with what the rest of the world are talking about, e.g. what happened on Desperate Housewives last night etc.. but its a risk I am willing to take. After all I can always choose to change my mind and get a TV.