There's a story in my culture about a poor man who lived in a small house with his family, and went to his mentor to ask him what to do because his family was feeling overwhelmed and claustrophobic in his small home. He was told gradually to bring in one animal at a time into his house, until he eventually had cows, a goat, and chickens in his home in addition to his family in their tiny home, and when he was finally advised to take them all out again, the house felt so spacious and comfortable for his family.
I was reminded of this story this past weekend.
My family of 5 lives in a pretty tiny home- only 484 square feet- and I sometimes wonder if we should move to a bigger place. Mostly its actually family and friends telling us that we need a bigger place, that we can't possibly be comfortable living in that size space with that many people.
We spent the weekend with my friend, Cara (yes, that same one who wrote this
guest post on using bikes to save money on transportation) and it was really nice, because we've got similar outlooks on life, including a desire to live within our means and not always being out to keep up with the Jones.
I found it really amusing that Cara read my blog post on how to have
guests on a budget before we came, and implemented the same tips I talked about. She did a superb job!
Cara and her husband live in an apartment that is 225 square feet. Over the weekend, it was my husband, myself, and our three kids, together with Cara and her husband in that tiny space. We were a little cramped, not much breathing room (and we slept at a neighbor's), but other than the small space, we had a really nice time.
When we got home, however, we realized just how spacious our apartment was! If we ever felt cramped here before, after the weekend, we feel blessed by how large our home is! Kind of like that man who felt how "large" his home was after removing all the animals from his shack.