Living lighter
Do we own our things or do they possess us? Jacqui Lewis and Arran Russell embarked on an experiment to answer this question when they downsized from a huge designer rental in Sydney to a cottage in Palm Beach, north of the city. It was a quarter of the size of their previous home and adorably retro, with a sunny garden and glimpses of the ocean.
They gave away or sold almost all their possessions, donating the proceeds to charity. “I had thought this would be a beautiful experience, at once both cathartic and charitable,” writes Jacqui in their book High Grade Living. “In truth, it was gruelling, sweaty and devastatingly disappointing. No one wanted our things even though we had paid a fortune for them … It was a giant lesson for us in consumerism.”
There were upsides though. Living without a dishwasher meant discovering how wonderful it was to wash dishes in a tiny sink while looking out onto a beautiful garden. There was more time together as a family to lie in the garden or swim in the ocean.
The experience is reflected in a chapter in their book,
