My LOVOS
No, there’s no misspelling here, even though I love you all ❤
Anyway! Back to the topic.
LOVOS aka Lifestyle Of VOluntary Simplicity.
I made a conscious decision when I left London a bit more than a year ago to change my lifestyle and shift away from material possessions, to declutter my mind, reduce my impact on Nature, and save money.
Why I wanted to embrace my LOVOS
Partly because I’ve got loads already and when I was packing, I realised how much stuff I had. I gave loads away, and also kept a fair bit. Good pieces, my wardrobe classics, as I never know when I’d need them; and because the first rule in sustainability is to reuse.
Partly because I wanted to make my money last longer.
Partly because I wanted to reconnect with myself who was happiest when I had nothing in Sri Lanka.
Partly because I wanted to drastically reduce my impact on the environment. Which I did. No more 2x return flights a week (even though I offset my carbon emissions). Trains when I could, walking loads. I was shocked to see that, if everyone lived as I did, we would be using resources of 4.2 planets a year to maintain our lifestyle.
What changed for me?
No more eating out at least twice a day, every day. For once, I was at the same place long enough that I could buy food, knowing it won’t go to waste.
That I would have time to cook it. I never used to cook something that took more than 20min. And here all of a sudden, my relationship with food changed radically. For the better!
I always used to buy organic food and have mostly a vegetarian/vegan diet. Now I buy local as much as possible (which means seasonal) and avoid packaging. I still treat myself from time to time to a pomegranate in winter, but rarely. And it becomes a ceremony. Something special. As opposed to just popping to Whole Foods on my home after work and buying avocados from Peru every time.
I made myself a promise not to buy any clothes for a year unless I really needed a sports garment. I was never a fast fashion person but had my platinum Harvey Nichols rewards card. So that was a big commitment! More than a year on, I only bought a pair of liner gloves for less than a tenner. And a locally made cotton mask obviously.
So, in a year, I’ve saved 💰💰💰, and reduced my environmental footprint 4-fold.
Of course, Covid helped massively on all of the above. And I have loved every moment of it. On all levels. The slowing down, reconnecting with Nature, feeling Earth breathe again and find its space. Reconnecting with myself. Reassessing what I wanted to do and where I wanted to be.
With Much Love,
Heidi
Recent Comments