RCS – Business Default

Maybe you yourself have experienced that after a day full of anger, buying a new dress or a new shirt made you happy. But when is enough to feel completely satisfied?

Even while preparing for the trip, we had to choose what we really needed. After a few stages we knew that this too was too much. We could barely walk, my shirt was bloody from the abrasions caused by the heavy backpack on my hips. But that day we were lucky: we found a post office from where we sent a lot of extra junk home.

Only with the pain and the urgent desire to get rid of as many things as possible, we saw how much unnecessary ballast we had in the backpack. That day I sent home two pairs of socks, a book, my selfie stick, a can opener, a dress and a bunch of trinkets. I felt light and unburdened. When we finally had only the things we really needed with us, we felt a sense of freedom.

Since we came back home, I look at my things completely differently. I feel like a lot of things would suffocate me. When I go shopping now, I no longer have the desire to own something or buy something new. In all honesty: thinking that I have everything and don’t need anything else makes me feel completely happy.

We constantly meet new people with whom we share our time, and they either follow us or are simply next to us. Most of the time we don’t even think about it. Not even when those people make us feel negative—perhaps by making us feel like we should be different than we are, or make us feel that they think differently than they speak. In everyday life, we rarely take the time to understand such insights, and we do not devote our thoughts to relationships.

We were alone on the road for a month and the few people we met we would never see again. We went bare and did nothing to divert our minds. This newfound freedom created clarity and space to question the taken-for-granted. I thought about the people at home and our time together. I could no longer hide from unresolved questions.

I remembered conversations in which I momentarily doubted myself and my dreams, which dragged me down and were full of negative energy. I wondered if there would be anything wrong with avoiding these people. The answer was easy: No. There is nothing wrong with saying No. Not to people who make you feel bad or around them you are not you. This doesn’t mean you have to cut off all contact with them, just that it’s okay not to spend more time with them than necessary.

It’s such a simple realization – but only along the way, when we were completely detached from structures and daily operations, did we have the time and space to create a clear picture of our lives and relationships and recognize the people who drag us down and those who that make us feel good.